<< on one level, I am glad to hear that the bodies of
these dogs and cats are being used in pet food.  Not
cancerous growths, dog collars, packaging and the
like, but  why not use the fat and protein? >>


The carcasses of animals sent to rendering plants are
not sorted by those who died of disease versus those
who died from euthanasia, injuries, or old age.  They
all go into the same rendering pit, along with all
kinds of road kill, animals rejected by
slaughterhouses for human consumption due to disease,
etc., and the result is that pet food manufacturers
are provided with a product called "meat meal" for
their formulas -- an ingredient found in many (but not
all) dog foods, especially grocery store brands.

(See "Food Pets Die For" (Oct. 1997) by Ann Martin.)

If you think it's a good idea to recycle fat and
protein from the carcasses of dogs and cats by feeding
it to your dog, why not avoid the "who knows what it
is" rendering plant product and go straight to the
source -- ask your neighborhood vet (the ones who have
their own cremation equipment get lots of carcasses),
look for road kill.  Serve it up to your pet au
naturel and then observe his interest in eating it.

However, you may have some competition in collecting
those carcasses.  There was an Internet web site that
advocated the use of dead dogs and cats to feed
homeless people with the logic:  why let all that
perfectly good protein go to waste when people are
starving??


<< But back to pet food, what is much, much more
harmful for dogs and cats is the addition of cereal
grains. >>


Yes, pet food formulas heavily laden with grain
products are bad for dogs, who are primarily
carnivores.  The grains in pet foods are often the
rejects for human consumption -- such as sweepings
from grain mill floors.  A few years ago, a number of
dogs died from eating pet foods that included corn
contaminated with aflatoxins.  The corn had been
rejected for human consumption and was shipped off to
-- where else -- a dog food manufacturer.



Lynda Bryson
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