A story made for ChiefsPlanet

[BigMeatballDave]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2...dogs/23991779/


A class-action lawsuit claims that the popular Beneful brand of dog food from Nestle Purina is killing dogs, reports the Top Class Actions blog. Plaintiff Frank Lucido alleges that one of his three dogs died and two others became seriously ill because of the dry "kibble" food, which the lawsuit blames on unsafe levels of propylene glycol and mycotoxins; the Daily Beast explains the latter are essentially a "toxic byproduct of mold." The former is an FDA-approved additive that also happens to be a chemical used in antifreeze, though it's a stand-in for the more toxic ethylene glycol. WLWT reports propylene glycol is barred from cat food per the FDA, but a vet tells KTUL it hasn't been proven as dangerous for dogs. One of Lucido's attorneys says the suit has become a class-action one because of similar complaints that have been piling up over the years.

[BigMeatballDave]

I don't think Purina did anything intentional.

I think someone has tampered with the products.

[Psyko Tek]

Originally Posted by BigMeatballDave

I don't think Purina did anything intentional.

I think someone has tampered with the products.

bet the shit is made in china
and they will put anything in what they make

[Saccopoo]

Originally Posted by Psyko Tek

bet the shit is made in china
and they will put anything in what they make

It has nothing to do with China.

There have been numerous undercover investigations of the pet food industry which reveal absolutely horrific production processes.

I remember one such deal where a company was found dumping euthanized dogs and cats into the kibble vats, plastic bags and all. Another guy filmed a company backhoe'ing piles of chickens into the vats that were covered in green, cancerous blisters and mold.

All that material that is unfit for human consumption? Right into the dog and cat food. They refer to it as the 4D - dead, dying, diseased and decayed.

You don't ever wonder what "meat by-products" are when they are listed on that bag of dog food? Road kill? Dead zoo animals? Anything to bolster the bottom line.:

Let's start with what usually appears as the protein source and the primary ingredient in pet food: Meat byproducts or meat meal. Both are euphemisms for the parts of animals that wouldn't be considered meat by any smart consumer. The well-known phrase "meat byproducts" is a misnomer since these byproducts contain little, if any, meat. These are the parts of the animal left over after the meat has been stripped away from the bone. "Chicken by-products include head, feet, entrails, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, liver, stomach, bones, blood, intestines, and any other part of the carcass not fit for human consumption," writes Henry Pasternak in Healing Animals with Nature's Cures.
Meat meal can contain the boiled down flesh of animals we would find unacceptable for consumption. This can include zoo animals, road kill, and 4-D (dead, diseased, disabled, dying) livestock. Most shockingly, this also can include dogs and cats. That's right, your pets could be cannibals. Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser writes, "Although leading American manufacturers promise never to put rendered pets into their pet food, it is still legal to do so. A Canadian company, Sanimal Inc., was putting 40,000 pounds of dead dogs and dead cats into its dog and cat food every week, until discontinuing the practice in June 2001. "This food is healthy and good," said the company's vice president of procurement, responding to critics, ''but some people don't like to see meat meal that contains any pets."

Rendering practices aren't just gross; they're also dangerous for your pets. The chemicals used to euthanize zoo animals, dogs and cats can survive the cooking process, which means these chemicals end up in pet food, and ultimately, in your pet. Martin writes, "Euthanized cats and dogs often end up in rendering vats along with other questionable material to make meat meal, and meat and bone meal. This can be problematic because sodium pentobarbital can withstand the heat from rendering. For years, some veterinarians and animal advocates have known about the potential danger of sodium pentobarbital residue in commercial pet food, yet the danger has not been alleviated." In short, that means the poisons designed to kill pets are the same ones being fed to them.

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

It has nothing to do with China.

Oh, I wouldn't say it has "nothing" to do with China, even if there's any problems here. There's been pet food recalls on food for pets made in China.
I remember one from about 7'ish years ago.

See if I can find something on it:

The 2007 pet food recalls comprise the contamination and wide recall of many brands of cat and dog foods beginning in March 2007, and the ensuing developments involving the human food supply. The recalls in North America, Europe, and South Africa came in response to reports of renal failure in pets. Initially, the recalls were associated with the consumption of mostly wet pet foods made with wheat gluten from a single Chinese company.

One month after the initial recall, contaminated rice protein from a different source in China was also identified as being associated with kidney failure in pets in the United States, while contaminated corn gluten was associated with kidney failure with pets in South Africa. As a result of investigating the 2007 pet food recalls, a broader Chinese protein export contamination investigation unfolded, raising concerns about the safety of the human food supply.

The growing number of recalls has motivated at least one well-known animal protection organization, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) to recommend "until this crisis is resolved ... pets be fed products containing U. S.-sourced protein supplements only."[52]

More info in the link with Nestlé Purina named.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_pet_food_recalls

[BucEyedPea]

Originally Posted by Psyko Tek

bet the shit is made in china
and they will put anything in what they make

I was wonderin' the same thing. I won't buy supplements made there, due to the garbage that's in them.

[Rausch]

Lovely...

[Eleazar]

Wellness only for my boy.

[Coochie liquor]

Dogs eat poop, vomit, etc and aren't getting sick from that?? Must be some ****ed up stuff in dog food.

[bobbymitch]

If you ever go through a large beef slaughtering operation (think the likes of IBP), one extremely gut spasming area is the cooking area where all the "by-products" are rendered down for dog food. The smell is right up there with a hide cleaning plant.

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by bobbymitch

If you ever go through a large beef slaughtering operation (think the likes of IBP), one extremely gut spasming area is the cooking area where all the "by-products" are rendered down for dog food. The smell is right up there with a hide cleaning plant.

IBP is now Tyson.

[jspchief]

Pretty much everything that goes into pet food is some factory's byproduct. Defective/contaminated pasta, etc.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by jspchief

Pretty much everything that goes into pet food is some factory's byproduct. Defective/contaminated pasta, etc.

This is why I feed my Labs very small helpings of dog food and supplement their diets with baby carrots, lettuce and broccoli.

[stumppy]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

This is why I feed my Labs very small helpings of dog food and supplement their diets with baby carrots, lettuce and broccoli.

Same here, I make my own dog food.

[lawrenceRaider]

I gave Beneful a try for my dogs once. It made them both sick, runs, vomiting. I now go with the store brand grain free stuff from Costco/Sams. I think the Sams variety actually has the better ingredient list.