Bad Dog Food – Are You Killing Your Dog and Don’t Even Know It?
December, 2008: Domestic ticket sales exceeded $100,000 in just four days for the motion picture “Marley and Me.” The film obviously hit a nerve with dog lovers everywhere. Audiences were reportedly leaving crowded auditoriums sobbing. Probably many of them had experienced the loss of a beloved pet. Now you are probably asking: What has a movie to do with bad dog food? I was just getting to that.
Just because we can’t spend as much on food for our pets as we do for our family, it doesn’t mean we should give our four legged friends bad dog food. Those that use a can opener to feed their dog, or rip open a 20 lb bag, might be shocked to find out what their pet is actually eating.
I’ve always been told that if you saw how bologna was made you would never eat it again. Recently on the Discovery Channel, Mike Rowe, the host of “Dirty Jobs” went to work for a bologna making company and we got to see, up close and personal, what goes into bologna. I doubt that I will ever want to eat it again. I kept thinking of the old TV commercial justifying what went into a chicken nugget: Parts is parts, it said. Yeechh.
If I would have asked you what goes into bologna, you would have probably said “mystery meat.” And that would be a pretty accurate description. But thankfully bologna is not made up of the carcasses of dead animals scooped up off the roadside. Or from dogs and cats that were euthanized at an animal shelter.
No, I am not kidding. The City of Los Angeles, by itself, sends some 200 tons (that’s 400,000 pounds!) of euthanized cats and dogs to pet food companies every month. Zoos and highway departments rid themselves of their dead animals in the same way.
Now, on the one hand, I am very glad that isn’t going into our bologna. But it is being fed to our pets. Our dogs and cats are eating euthanized dead carcasses when they are eating commercial pet food. How could you describe it as anything but bad dog food?
There are safe alternative choices. You can find organic dog foods that are wholesome and healthy. But the best choice is to prepare natural homemade dog food. It is often less expensive than commercial food, can be prepared once a week and frozen, and there are simple recipes available in books and on line.
We don’t go around breaking into scientific facilities and freeing the lab rats. We are not radical animal activists. We know dogs are not humans. But we do love our dog. She is a precious part of our family. Our dog depends on us to give her a healthy diet. Certainly no one wants to cause their dog harm by feeding them bad dog food. Consider your healthy alternatives and your dog will thank you for her life!
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