Documentary - 'Pet Food: A Dog's Breakfast'

[jenv101]

I'm not sure if this is a new video, or how valid it is, but it just came up on my Facebook wall and I thought I'd share. Please let me know if it's been posted before or if it is poor info! I'm not through watching the whole thing yet:

[xellil]

It seems to me that people have kind of forgotten the melamine poisoning.

It was sure what opened my eyes - i didn't go to raw food then because I didn't find this site or another like it, but I did go to a dog food where the ingredients supposedly came from the US, and none from China.

Everyone should watch this. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to post it on my facebook wall. I think people just don't get it, still.

And the pet food companies have done a darn good job of increasing prices while giving us "high quality" dog food so we will have faith in their products again. But has anything really changed since 2007?

[xellil]

Well, the woman who used to work for the pet food industry and now denounces it feeds her animals raw only - then the documentary goes on to say how difficult and trouble-prone raw feeding is. Bacteria, lack of nutrients, hard to do, etc. etc. etc.

[Unosmom]

I like this video, my only issue is that they never explain what ingredient to look for in commercial foods and they also consider premium and grocery store brands to be of the same quality. Since a lot of people consider IAMS and SD to be premium, then yeah, probably is the same. They should have compared actual premium to cheap foods. Also, its one thing to evaluate the nutrient analysis and say that it makes no difference what you feed as long as it fits the criteria set by AAFCO for minimal requirements. But they dont consider bioavailability factor. Corn protein is not the same as meat protein and so forth.

[magicre]

It seems to me that people have kind of forgotten the melamine poisoning.

It was sure what opened my eyes - i didn't go to raw food then because I didn't find this site or another like it, but I did go to a dog food where the ingredients supposedly came from the US, and none from China.

Everyone should watch this. I'm going to see if I can figure out how to post it on my facebook wall. I think people just don't get it, still.

And the pet food companies have done a darn good job of increasing prices while giving us "high quality" dog food so we will have faith in their products again. But has anything really changed since 2007?

yes, i started feeding my dogs raw :)

[xellil]

yes, i started feeding my dogs raw :)

I was, unfortunately, alot slower than you. I should have done more research at the time. It never crossed my mind to feed raw food, although I have dabbled in home cooked since then.

I remember them talking about it being in canned foods, and I thank God didn't feed canned food. And it was a shocker that it was in Alpo and Iam's alike - i think it opened people's eyes to the fact that a few small companies make ALL the dog food. But when I see those people who were poisoning their pets - my goodness, the guilt must be horrible.

Like when I gave Snorkels the medicine that destroyed her hearing - I trusted the vet but it sure didn't make me feel any better that I was ignorant. I felt like I should have figured it out.

The only difference I have noticed is that there are quite a few more expensive dog foods out there - more money for the pet food companies, but little change in reality.

[magicre]

don't give me too much credit...i didn't start looking at labels until that recall....then it took me six months to realise it's all garbage, so i home cooked.

at least i was in control....but never sure they were getting every thing they needed, so started putting everything including the kitchen sink into their food...

they liked it, at least.

i didn't actually move toward raw until 2010.

not the smartest in the class.....but that recall is what started the journey for me.

[xellil]

not the smartest in the class.....but that recall is what started the journey for me.

Me too. It just took me awhile to get here. I think things may be different for some dog owners like us, but I don't really think anything is different for the pet food companies. I don't remember any stricter legislation being passed as a result of the melamine.

They just added some products, changed their marketing a little, and kept raking in the dough.

Although I'm not sure if I'd like everyone around here raw feeding. It sure would make it hard to buy meat.

[pandaparade]

Wow, when I watched the part about "ingredient splitting" my jaw dropped. How smart of them to do this...

I will look at low quality brands even beyond the low level I did now.. my goodness.

[SubMariner]

This documentary reinforced how consumers must educate themselves. It's really no different buying our own food: READ THE LABELS AND KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SEEING!

A few points:

- ingredient splitting doesn't just happen in pet food. Read the labels in the supermarket & you'll see how it's present in YOUR food as well. Just how many versions of sugar is in that particular product? Or different versions of rice, wheat, etc?

- yes there are marketing gimmicks/buzzwords that hit all the right buttons for consumers. Don't forget all those yummy looking pictures. Oh wait... we're talking about dog food, right? Same thing applies for YOUR food!

- there are cultures that have no problems eating the parts of the chicken (or cow or pig) that North Americans think are refuse or not fit for human consumption like chicken feet, necks, or fish heads. No one ever really defines what "human grade" really means in this broadcast. Just that THEY wouldn't consider eating this part of the animal, so it must not be "human grade" or "fit for human consumption".

- yes, there have been recalls on pet food. Same thing happens on human food. How many times this year has ground beef been recalled? Spinach or lettuce? We need to keep on our toes...

I don't feed raw and probably never will. But that doesn't mean that I don't do my homework & feed my dogs good food. Plus we will often put in additional protein sources or foods to their diet. However, like others who have a dog with a sensitive stomach, switching foods is not always an option.

CAVEAT EMPTOR!