Pet Food: A Dark and Dangerous Business

Live Holistically is a multi-author site.
This post was written by: Gailstrail

Last week I attempted to do an update with regard to the Pet Food Recall and got side tracked: Pet Food Recall: Trail of Tears, which gives a heart wrenching account of the loss of my Golden Retriever, Annie Oakley.

This week, I’m taking a long look into centuries of food industry practices. Practices which began innocently enough, but, in many instances have developed into a dark and dangerous business; bringing disease and death to the planets inhabitants!

The Truth Will Sit You Free!

There are hundreds of reports and stories about the ongoing Pet Food Recall and its continued impact to our pets. What seems most important after reading these reports is to pass on what I’ve learned and to keep linking together with others who have similar concerns; doing so gives more credibility and a more effective means of convincing people to change what they and their furry friends eat!

The sense to be made of the Pet Food Recall and the ongoing tragedy is not something most people want to know. Knowing means you find a truth. What you do with the truth is what counts. My advise is to take a journey. Take time to take a deep look into the Pet Food Recall before you make any decision. For me, the journey has taken some horrific and outrageous trails.

Rocky and Dirty Trails

The food industry trail is rocky and sometimes dark and dirty.

From Rendering Plants to our dinner table! Ever thought about what a job looks like at a rendering plant or slaughterhouse facility? Probably not. I only recently discovered the name ‘rendering plant‘ last week.

“Rendering plants perform one of the most complementing functions for modern slaughterhouses. They recycle dead animals, slaughterhouse wastes, and supermarket rejects into various products known as recycled meat, bone meal, and animal fat. These products are sold as a source of protein and other nutrients in the diets of dairy animals, poultry, swine, pet foods, cattle feed, and sheep feed. Animal fat is also used in animal feeds as an energy source.”

I knew there was a process, but didn’t know what it was called.

Rendering plants have different specialties. Some product-label names are: meat meal, meat by-products, poultry meal, poultry by-products, fishmeal, fish oil, yellow grease, tallow, beef fat and chicken fat.

A 1991 USDA report states that approximately 7.9 billion pounds of meat, bone meal, blood meal, and feather meal was produced by rendering plants in 1983. Of that amount:

· 12 percent was used in dairy and beef cattle feed

· 34 percent was used in pet food

· 34 percent was used in poultry feed

· 20 percent was used in pig food

Scientific American cites a dramatic rise in the use of animal protein in commercial dairy feed since 1987.

If these truths don’t set you free, I can’t imagine what could. If you have not done so, change your families diet. Read the label on your pet’s food and see if any of the above ingredients are there.

Change: How Difficult?

Extremely difficult! Don’t believe everything I say. Take time to read each of the links I’ve placed in this post. Each link tells a different story, but have a similar ending.

I have a neighbor whom I have been living near for almost two years. We have a lot in common. We’re educated and bright; know about homeopathy, essential oils, organics, care about the environment and we love our furry companions! I have a great deal of respect for these neighbors.

My neighbors are aware of the Pet Food Recall and were feeding their canine a high quality food until recently. Last week my friend told me they switched food. They bought dog food from Sam’s. I was extremely surprised and asked why. My neighbor said that a highly educated person told her there wasn’t much difference in any of the pet foods on the market. I agree! The majority of commercial pet food manufacturers have much in common. They buy at least 34 percent of the approximately 7.9 billion pounds of meat, bone meal, blood meal, and feather meal from rendering plants to enhance pet food! That was in 1983.

Even when answers are made clear…industry can justify anything. Reading and defining the fine print on labels takes time. Who has the time? Who wants to take the time? Isn’t that what we pay our tax dollars to do? We put our trust in the United States Government to safeguard its people! To take the time to monitor and inspect what is meant no nourish its people.

Warning from the Past and Present!

The Jungle (1906) is a novel by American author and socialist Upton Sinclair. It describes the life of a family of Lithuanian immigrants working in Chicago’s Union Stock Yards at the beginning of the 20th century.

Silent Spring is a book written by Rachel Carson and published by Houghton Mifflin in September 1962. The book is widely credited with launching the environmentalism movement in the West.

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001)is a book by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser that examines the local and global influence of the United States fast food industry.

Chew on This is a book for younger readers by Eric Schlosser (author of Fast Food Nation) and Charles Wilson on the subject of fast food.

Amazing Discoveries reports, “Food borne illness is on the increase worldwide and in most cases animal products are implicated as the main source of infection.”

There are simple and direct answers

To what seem like a mountain of complicated and controversial catastrophic ingredients. It doesn’t matter what industry; the bottom line is the end all. Every company strives to cut costs and expenses in order to increase profit. GREED seeps in a sea of muck! This will become very clear if you are brave enough to follow this slippery trail.

Vote with your Dollars!

This is something you can do this very instant! Vote with your pocket book. Truly, this is the only language industry understands…that’s how we got ourselves into this tragic predicament; we bought into industries glossy color ads and their promise of miracle foods’. Read the labels. Ask questions.

Currently I’m feeding Pieper ‘Wellness’ dog food. I’m still reading and trying to understand their label and hoping there is nothing harmful. I want to believe what they say: “Live Well, Eat Well and Be Well!” Wellness is manufactured by Old Mother Hubbard. They say they would ‘love to hear from me’. I do have questions. What is their source of Chicken Meal? Old Mother Hubbard says they use ‘ethoxyquin-free protein sources’. What does that mean?

I’m buying more organic food for myself…and believe I will move in that direction for Pieper. The organic industry is a realistic approach to many of my concerns about the health of Pieper, myself and the environment.

MSNBC reports, “This year, retail sales of organic foods are expected to exceed $15 billion — with more than $32 billion projected by 2009. While the conventional food industry still dwarfs the organic sector with $550 billion in yearly sales, it is producing an unappetizing 2 to 3 percent annual growth rate, while the organic industry has savored several years of 17 to 20 percent growth.”

What does this growth say about ‘why’ people are buying more organic food? I have good idea, but will speak more about that next time.

Happy Trails!