What is the news for cats, dogs and owners to completely trust that pet food is safe and wholesome?  I noticed one large manufacturer has changed their ads on tv to show the appearance of a new and improved product.  I saw healthy dogs jumping over fences, and running due to this new and improved product.  But when I went to the store to investigate I found the same old foul smelling words on the package:

By products, chicken by products, beef by products, chicken meal, and all those chemical sounding names that I would not care to try to pronouce let alone bring them home to my dog.

The lawsuits are still in the courts, and losses mounting for companies such as Menu Foods which cost the company over 45 million dollars. Menu Foods also supplied the other larger cat and dog food purveyors with the same tainted product ingredients.

What is reflected in the cost savings measures they took to import ingredients from unregulated suppliers in a foreign country, what prompted these companies to take such risks with their reputation and their customers pets?

What did they actually save on the bottom line by compromising the lives of dogs and cats when the losses are greater than the savings. What prompted them from straying away from quality and resorting to including pure unadulterated garbage in their products?  Did pet food ingredients really have to change from what they used twenty years ago which caused less harm to cats and dogs?

So what has really changed in one year of this travesty of corporate greed to protect our cats and dogs?

Two things really which are the wheat gluten from Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology Development Company have been banned. But does this really protect us from further problems with other suppliers.

Secondly suspected dog and cat cans and pouches were taken off the shelf – 60 million cans and pouches for Menu Foods alone.

 I do not feed my dog commercial pet foods that is not organic, or that contains harmful chemicals, preservatives, colors, dyes and basically what I call garbage. 

I did not feed my dog any of the foods in question from any of the manufacturers mentioned before the recall, now or in future.  They do not meet standards that the educated consumer wants, therefore they are fulfilling none of the needs of their market.  In a business sense consumers are not swayed by the new ads thats claim the world ” natural” – be very aware that the word natural means nothing today it is used far too often to portray the ” appearance” of organic foods.   

What changed is basically a promise from governing authorities to keep an eye on what large corporations are doing to the pet food supply, but really nothing much has changed. 

It is a world where these occurrences gain some media attention, people mourn the loss of a pet – but nothing really changes.

Written by:  Teri Salvador

Tags: news for cats, dogs & owners, national dog, cat & pet info, dogs, cats, pet food recalls & safety, by- products, chicken by products, chicken meal.