Mar
When you buy food for your dog, how do you do so? If you’re like most pet owners, you may merely walk down the aisle at your local pet store, read a few of the ingredients, and select a bag that’s on sale. However, you may want to put more into consideration into your dog food than this. Unfortunately, over the past couple of years, thousands of dogs have died after eating food that you’d find in your local store.
What’s In Your Dog’s Food?
Large conglomerates own many dog food companies. The dog food industry is worth $25 billion, and the industry is backed by big money. For instance, Colgate-Palmolive owns Hill Pet Nutrition – more on that below. Colgate-Palmolive is also responsible for producing products such as:
- Toothpaste
- Deodorant
- After-Shave
These companies are concerned with their bottom line, and nothing more. They’ll often take shortcuts to cut costs, even if it comes at the expense of your pet’s health. If a dog food product is cheap, it’s for a good reason. There’s a strong chance that it contains inferior materials and dangerous substances. Studies have found that cheap dog food can include ingredients such as animal:
- Beaks
- Bones
- Intestines
- Brains
- Offal
Furthermore, manufacturers often load these products with vegetables and grain because they are inexpensive and provide filler calories. However, your dog does not need the carbohydrates provided by these ingredients. Dogs’ carbohydrate consumption has increased by more than 500 percent since we’ve domesticated the animal. This is for no reason other than the fact that these calories are stable, cheap, and accessible.
Hill Pet Nutrition Recall
The inexpensive ingredients used to make dog food often comes with disastrous results. A perfect example of the deadly effects that dog food can have comes from Hill’s Pet Nutrition, which recently had to issue a recall over its canned dog food. Numerous dogs became sick or died after eating the food, which contains extremely high levels of vitamin D. The company recalled more than 13 million cans of the food.
Attorney Nyran Rose Rasche told CBS News, “We believe that hundreds, if not thousands, of pets have died or become seriously ill as a result of eating Hill’s foods with toxic levels of vitamin D.”
Hill shares a manufacturer with other food companies, many of whom have also had to issue a recall lately. Perhaps most concerning is the fact that the FDA has not been able to identify the source. Many companies believe the source to be Sunshine Mills. But, this shows that companies like Hill receive food products from multiple manufacturers, and there’s no way of truly knowing what’s in the food.
What Type Of Food Is Best?
The type of food that you need to feed your dog depends on numerous factors, including its:
- Breed
- Health
- Age
- Size
There’s no clear-cut answer to which food is best for your dog. However, if you want to ensure that you feed your dog food that is wholesome and safe, there are a few things you can do. First and foremost, be sure to talk to your vet. Your vet should be able to provide food recommendations while not only considering potentially dangerous products but while also considering the above factors as well.
Secondly, always research a product before buying it. For instance, the FDA offers a website highlighting all of the pet food that’s been recalled or withdrawn. Additionally, a simple internet search of your product’s manufacturer should provide further information. Sites like the Dog Food Advisor are excellent resources that allow you to learn more about the food you’d buy for your pet.
