One major thing that needs to be on this list is Avocado. Avocado will and does kill animals. The toxic component is called Persin. Humans are able to break this agent down during digestion, most other animals cannot. If you have ever fed your chickens a bunch of table scraps and come out next morning and found them dead, (as one of my co-workers did) then check if avocado was in the scraps.

Regarding Onion and Garlic, I wish these two plants were discussed separately. Simply put, the compound in onions that is toxic to animals is called Thiosulphate. The levels of thiosulphate in onion compared to garlic is massive by comparison. Here is one of the more realistic and accurate articles I’ve come across. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/garlic-for-dogs.html

A quote from the article: “Though garlic also belongs to the onion family, there are slight differences between them. Garlic does not contain the same high concentrations of thiosulphate as onion and so is not very harmful for dogs. In fact, it is barely traceable in amounts and gets easily excreted from the body.”

http://www.kroger.com/services/Pages/recall_information.aspx

Beef & Bone Meal

AAFCO: The rendered product from beef tissues, including bone, exclusive of any added blood, hair, hoof, horn, hide trimmings, manure, stomach and rumen contents, except in “such amounts as may occur unavoidably in good processing practices”.

A byproduct made from beef parts which are not suitable for human consumption. It can incorporate the entire cow, including the bones, but the quality cuts of meat are always removed. This is an inexpensive, low quality ingredient used to boost the protein percentage.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients

Lard

AAFCO: The rendered fat of swine.

Very low in linoleic acid but very attractive to pets, used to make poor quality food more appealing. Few nutritional benefits.

http://www.dogfoodproject.com/index.php?page=badingredients