Another link u want to read up on to be horrified by what is really in commercial pet foods, read this very good link.
www.api4animals.org/79.htmEven if u choose not to feed BARF, this is a good link to read up on to help u make a more informed choice about which brand of dry food to feed.
I will quote some excerpts -
" What most consumers don't know is that the pet food industry is an extension of the human food and agriculture industries. Pet food provides a market for slaughterhouse offal, grains considered "unfit for human consumption," and similar waste products to be turned into profit. This waste includes intestines, udders, esophagi, and possibly diseased and cancerous animal parts.
Three of the five major pet food companies in the United States are subsidiaries of major multinational companies: Nestlé(
Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog, and Ralston Purina products such as Dog Chow,
ProPlan, and
Purina One), Heinz (9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles-n-Bits, Nature's Recipe), Colgate-Palmolive (
Hill's Science Diet Pet Food). Other leading companies include Procter & Gamble (
Eukanuba and Iams), Mars (Kal Kan, Mealtime,
Pedigree, Sheba, Waltham's), and
Nutro."
"hen cattle, swine, chickens, lambs, or other animals are slaughtered, the choice cuts such as lean muscle tissue are trimmed away from the carcass for human consumption. However, about 50% of every food-producing animal does not get used in human foods. Whatever remains of the carcass -- bones, blood, intestines, lungs, ligaments, and almost all the other parts not generally consumed by humans -- is used in pet food, animal feed, and other products. These "other parts" are known as "
by-products," "meat-and-bone-meal," or similar names on pet food labels.................................
Many of these remnants provide a questionable source of nourishment for our animals. The nutritional quality of meat and poultry by-products, meals, and digests can vary from batch to batch...."
"You may have noticed a unique, pungent odor when you open a new bag of pet food -- what is the source of that delightful smell?
It is most often rendered animal fat, restaurant grease, or other oils too rancid or deemed inedible for humans....................................................
These fats are sprayed directly onto extruded kibbles and pellets to
make an otherwise bland or distasteful product palatable. The fat also acts as a binding agent to which manufacturers add other flavor enhancers such as digests. Pet food scientists have discovered that animals love the taste of these sprayed fats. Manufacturers are masters at getting a dog or a cat to eat something she would normally turn up her nose at."
There is also a section on how wheat, corn and soy are among the many cheap carbo fillers used by pet food companies. Dogs are carnivores and do not process carbos well,if the dog food u're feeding contains more carbos than meat in the fdirst 5 ingredients, it might cause problems in ur dog's system, either short or long term.
More worrying
"
Potentially cancer-causing agents such as BHA, BHT, and ethoxyquin are permitted at relatively low levels. The use of these chemicals in pet foods has not been thoroughly studied, and long term build-up of these agents may ultimately be harmful. "
This means that u might not see the side effects of a low quality dog food on ur dog immediately but only years later. And when ur dog does get cancer, kidney probs etc, would u even think back and think its caused by the dog food it's been eating for years?
there is a lot more to read on this article. Will post another link also from ANimal Protection Institute on selecting a good commercial dog food.
