Why would any choose a dog food that lists "Animal Fat" or "Meat By-Product" in the ingredients?When an ingredient is listed as "animal fat", the chances are that the animals that are used to make this "animal fat" are of the 4-D varied (dead, diseased, disabled or dying prior to slaughter). There are no regulations against this. They can (and do) use dogs and cats that are euthanized at shelters, restaurant and grocery store refuse (meaning food past it's expiration). It is even well-known that they don't even discard the dog tags, flee collars or bags that the dead dogs are put in. They just grind all that up to. That is disgusting. In other words, some of us are allowing our dogs to be cannibals.
Then they have ingredients listed as "By-Product" which by definition means that a company is using the discarded remains of an animals carcass that is deemed inappropriate for human consumption which includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents.
I would like to hear from the people who feed stuff like Science Diet, Royal Canin, Iams, Purina, Pedigree, Kibbles N' Bits and so about why they are ok feeding their dogs these kinds of ingredients?
Is it just a matter of being cheap? Not caring about your dogs well-being? Not considering your dog important enough? Just laziness?
Edit: Chez, I didn't give you a thumbs down. I'm just wondering what goes through peoples heads. The proof is right there in front of people yet they still feed their dogs this stuff. On top of that, Taste of the Wild is 10 times better of a food and costs $ 15 less per bag then Science Diet.
EDIT: Lauren I feed Taste of the Wild and Orijen. They use no fillers, no by-products, and no corn. I don't feed my dogs the bodies of other dead dogs. That's gross.
EDIT: Robert, if you notice, it's the commercial brands that meet the bare minimum standards. Corn is indigestible to dogs yet they all use it. The other ingredients are extremely low quality and extremely cheap and then they charge an arm and a leg for them. Research? Really? Look at all there "specially formulated" brands. They are exactly the same as far as ingredients go.
EDIT: Actually Cat, if a company lists something as "Animal Fat" or "Meat and Bone Meal" or "Animal By-Product" and not with the actual animal listed, they can come from 4-D animals. Rendering plants don't discriminate with what they put into there stuff and that's where the commercial companies get these ingredients because they are cheap.
EDIT: Very good arguments so far. I love this question. It's like arguing Republican vs. Democrat. The problem I have so far is that the Science Diet, Iams and so on crowd is only saying "my dog is doing good on it". How do you know? Have you ever considered the long term effects? My parents had a Cocker Spaniel and Springer Spaniel die of kidney failure on Science Diet but they seemed fine.
EDIT: Julie, I really like your response. I was more pointing out the disgusting aspects of commercial foods. I know corn is really bad and so is soy and all the other wheats and fillers in those but I was focusing on the gross.
EDIT: For Ashleigh, let me change my intitial question for is it laziness and so on, to is it a matter of taking your veterinarians word for it? Is it a matter of not reading the bag? Is it a matter of assuming a big company would cut corners?
EDIT: Ashleigh. Well said. I gave you a thumbs up. My question is more geared around people that CAN afford the better foods yet for some odd reason they pay $ 55 for Science Diet. In my opinion, if you can afford Science Diet, Eukanuba, Royal Canin or any of the other expensive commercial brands, then you are just throwing away your money because the ingredient in them are the same as the cheaper commercial brands. It's all corn, soy, animal by-product, animal fat and fillers. Just the expensive brands have good marketing to go along with a bad product.
EDIT: Schmeemers, I like this comment: "What do you think they'd eat in the wild? The slowest, oldest, sickest or dead animal in the herd."
My question to you is, do you see a lot of wild dogs eating corn and soy as their main nutrition source because that's what people are getting from those commercial companies.
Posted by Efaa
Thats manky !!!
Posted by Chula Lula
not me.
Posted by Certain Stars
Because deep inside all dogs are wild animals who love to hunt and eat other animals...including other dogs. The owners who buy these foods are just trying to satisfy the wild animal inside their precious pet.
Posted by Julie
Mostly it's that they don't know, or that the risks are understated. Sometimes they're suckered in by a good commercial (if we all went by commercials alone, I'd be feeding my dogs beneful lol... those are good commercials!) or are told by a vet that these foods are healthy.
Vets are often given a paycheck by these companies too, so some vets will recommend them! Then some vets will recommend stuff like Purina because it's better than Ol' Roy or kibbles & bits... kind of choosing a lesser evil when they know their clients aren't going to afford/want to spend that much for dog food.
ADD-- the corn and fillers bother me way more than byproducts, at least the byproducts are animal-based. I'd sooner feed something with byproducts than a food with corn or soy. Of course I prefer neither, but don't label organ meat as bad food. Liver is very very healthy and many raw feeders will look specifically for it.
ADD #2-- for those of you who have dogs who eat that crap and say they're fine... well my Grandpa smoked for 50 years then one day he got lung cancer and died. My other grandpa smoked his whole life and is now 92, no issues. Feeding a low quality food is like smoking... it might hurt you, it might not, but it almost always lowers your lifespan.
And yes, not all natural/organic/holistic foods are good or nutritionally balanced. Many are, and those are the ones you should be feeding.
ADD #3-- corn is not undigestible, it is however extremely hard to digest and is a common allergen in dogs.
Posted by Chez
I feed my dog Hills Science Plan and has never been ill in 14 years!
Never had a problem with this product, think it's great!
Yeahhhhhhhhh go Hills!
By the way I care about my dogs well-being!
Orignal From: Why would any choose a dog food that lists "Animal Fat" or "Meat By-Product" in the ingredients?
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