Trust the Hand That Feeds You
March 16, 2007, may have marked the tipping point for the pet food industry, the day the general public began to question how pet food is manufactured and the reliability of the claims made regarding its wholesomeness and safety. One of the most important tenets of our social contract with our dogs is to provide them with food that's good for them. Many dog guardians believed they were doing just that by feeding their dogs some of the products removed from the shelves by the Menu recall. Even people who have long been concerned about the pet food industry and who don't feed their pets commercial food were surprised by the enormity of this recall. How could this have happened?

There are many reasons, starting with lax FDA oversight and the self-regulated, non-governmental nature of the Association of American Feed Control Officials, which sets nutritional standards, label requirements and feed-trial protocols for pet foods. Many of its members come from state agriculture departments as well as from within the industry itself. The pet food market is controlled by huge multinational conglomerates, and five companies dominate: Nestlé (Purina, Alpo, Friskies, Mighty Dog), Del Monte (Gravy Train, Nature's Recipe, Milk Bone), MasterFoods (Mars' Royal Canin, Pedigree, Sensible Choice), Proctor and Gamble (Iams, Eukanuba) and Colgate-Palmolive (Hill's Science Diet, Nature's Best). What seemed the most surprising to consumers was that some of the "premium" brands, such as Iams, Hills and Nutro-beneficiaries of greater consumer confidence-like the others, don't always produce their own food. Instead, their recipes and "formulas" are jobbed out to contract manufacturers, companies like Menu Foods, Diamond and Doane, who actually make the foods and purchase raw ingredients in cost-saving bulk. This is a much cheaper way of producing the food because each brand doesn't have to invest in expensive manufacturing equipment themselves. Which is how wheat gluten (a low-quality protein source) appeared in so many products, under so many different brands (co-packers like Menu also make store-brand pet foods for Wal-Mart and Kroger, among others).

So what is a responsible dog caregiver to do?
Beginning with our May/June 2007 edition, we will be taking a closer look at the issues we face as we make our pet food-buying, or feeding, decisions. Because Bark is a bimonthly publication, we can't be a source for late-breaking news, but luckily, outstanding work is being done by many other organizations and bloggers and we urge you to track the information being provided by these resources online. (See resources.) Look for Bark's ongoing series of interviews and investigations into this important topic.

Acticle from The Bark Magazine

This post has been edited by clementcpteh: Apr 22 2008, 12:03 AM

say no to "low graded" food
thats all i know...

y everytime after my dog ate eukanuba...his poo will be very smelly..

So does smelly poo = bad food?

sometimes maybe the food jus not ngam them??
bcoz different food will suit different furkids
but i know someone who taught me how to read ingredients b4 i buy food dy so basically now i oso jus learned to be very choosey on the ingredients involved in the dog food

My Winter is having orijen and innova evo (coz my ferrets is eating) but the poop doesnt smells at all.. She poop in the afternoon and we come back in the evening, we almost need to search for the poop ler..

hahahaha...
mikey de poop now quite smelly...
he is on regal...
later change to orijen + drink green tea and the pee n poo deodoriser then oni see how...

Drink green tea ar?? Seriously your mikey is healthier than me lar...

how do u know what ingredients is good?can teach me?


wahh...got green tea....what type of green tea ler? so many types of green tea..hehe...

umm...wat of the ingredient only consider nice for them?
green tea ohh...drink how many times for a week?

lolx...
i so far just know a few ingredients thats a no no for them la...
especially by products is a definately big NO!

green tea im intending to let him drink maybe once a week or twice a week maybe...green tea im saving up to buy the best one i can find bcoz i takut inside those cheaper once got caffeine or whatever i don know whether is it possible got caffeine in green tea or not but im the better safe than sorry type so saving now

sean...u always eat makan, sushi, spagetti n KFC!! obviously not healthy la

Casper and Moonie took bath today. After bath, we feed them. They are on Blackwood Chicken now (Blackwood 3000).

We poured out a handful of kibbles onto each dog bowl. Then we poured hot water on them to make them soft fast. Before we even add the canned food, we saw W-O-R-M-S crawling out of the kibbles. We were shocked.

I bought 15kg Blackwood (orange color bag) before CNY. The expiry date is Dec 2008. We poured 1/4 into a non-air tight container. We poured another 2/4 into those gold color tin (buy from pasar malam cookie seller).We have nowhere to put the remaining 1/4, so we left it in the bag and just tie rubber-band.

Usually, when the non-air tight container runs out, we will refill from the bag, so when the bag finish, can throw away the bag. We dont open the ones in the gold tin. While refilling and pouring onto the dog bowl, we discovered worms. So we threw the 1/4 that was in the bag.

I went out to buy Eaglepack Salmon & Fruits. I am going to check the remaining Blackwood 3000 in the gold tin from pasar malam to see if there's worm there too.

---

Added on April 22, 2008, 10:18 pmMy dad advised buy two small bag of kibbles - different flavor (example: Chicken and Fish). Feed them chicken in the morning, fish in the evening. I think it's a pretty good idea but I'm wondering if their tummy will be able to take it.

By the way, has anyone ever seen a dog kibbles dispenser that comes with a timer? I am looking for one of these.

This post has been edited by Pennywise: Apr 22 2008, 10:18 PM

i did see it in one of the websites b4 to buy online one...
it looks cool but quite pricey for me...

bcoz i am always at home in time to feed him so i never thought of buying that yet...if not mistaken i think that thing is about Rm100-Rm200+ i forgot dy the price...

Cool cool... sometimes just too lazy to wake up on Sat / Sun mornings to feed them because those are about the only times I can sleep. THerefore, thought about the time pet food dispenser.

Anyway, my dad advised buy two small bag of kibbles - different flavor (example: Chicken and Fish). Feed them chicken in the morning, fish in the evening. I think it's a pretty good idea but I'm wondering if their tummy will be able to take it.

i thought of that b4 but then i decided against it just in case his tummy upsets too much...
im finishing regal now and going to change to orijen soon...
many say orijen smells very nice and i guess i won have any problem making him eat that

if mikey is ok with the orijen dy, then im going to dig some money to buy a gd air tight container to fill 7kg++ orijen

Because my pack of Blackwood 3000 screwed up with worms, I went and buy Eaglepack Salmon and Fruits today. I am going to open the pack tomorrow. THis weekend, I will check my remaining Blackwood 3000 in the golden tin.

Yes, I am worried about tummy upset too. Let me reconsider or ask Hun. Thank you.

im still wondering where can buy such a big air tight container to fill up 7kg++ or dog kibbles

Oh yea me too. These things dont come cheap. I think there is one container sold in Jusco called Lock and Load or something... Squarish type with blue plastic corners. My friend's gf use this to tapao soup and each time it roll in the car also wont spill. That's great but $$$ pricey! It doesnt fill up to 7kg though.

From now on, I wont buy 15kg dog kibbles liao. 3kg or 7kg max. Blackwood all spoilt, wasted. Some more buy the Blackwood last time kena con. I went PJ and ppl wanna sell me RM153. Then, I came to this shop called Ramsden in Bkt Tinggi, Klang. I asked price and told them PJ quote me RM153. They said got discount la, opening discount, etc. Said RM146 I think. OK lor, I buy.

Then, her colleague swipe my credit card for RM168 without ANY discount. Then tell me sorry, her previous colleague who quoted me gave me wrong price. That price at RM168 is veli cheap liao. So there kena scam, and now all rotten. I will never stop into that shop again and never buy 15kg again. I know Blackwood is a good brand and I will continue to buy it but in smaller packages.

lol....
i now oso a bit cham bcoz i got a packet of blackwood 3 kg now...but im trying to sell it off la...bcoz my bf n i was hoping to jump from regal to orijen...

so im going to see if anyone wan or not later...if no one wants it then i jus let mikey finish it also lo no choice

Ei?? I tot Blackwood 3000 is lamb and rice formula??