The Right to Good Pet Food

I posted the following response on Itchmo Opinion: The Right to Good Pet Food:

WTG, Itchmo. Right on all counts.

A first step could possibly be to require each manufacturer to have their products tested by an INDEPENDENT LAB, thoroughly tested and not just for %protein, %ash, %fiber, %moisture, etc. This would, I admit, be expensive. It’s been proven necessary. Let it come out of the salaries of the owners of the companies themselves. They were greedy and negligent. Let them bear the financial burden. This is not to let the FDA off the hook but to provide a first step in the remedy of our current situation.

I know that some of the producers of dog and cat food are innocent of recent tainted ingredients being added to their foods. I don’t mean to punish them in my proposal but rather to give them a mandate to insure the products are safe for us in the future also.

Our Jake, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, ate his first home cooked dinner last night and loved it. No ill effects tummy wise, either. I’m still in process of due diligence to make his food complete and balanced while hoping that I can return to dry kibble, which I think is better in the long run for his teeth. There were NO problems at all reported regarding the company we buy his food from. They own their own plant for their dry food and will build or buy a canning facility in the wake of this Menu foods disaster. I simply want more safeguards in place.

As a matter of fact, I’d like more safeguards for our human food. For that we must turn to the FDA and make ourselves heard. Many of the dog food companies do use human grade ingredients, so that would also go a long way towards giving us safe manufactured dog foods products to select from.

Itchmo, thank you for all your very hard work and a job well done,
Carol