Pets Guide

Where can I find Safe Dog Food?

With the recent manufacturer recalls on dog food, people have wondered where than can find safe dog food. The fact is, it is not easy to find. Commercial dog foods do not offer many safe formulas. The labels are confusing and difficult to understand. And no wonder. The grocers, food processors, and pet food manufacturers have all fought the FDA for years to keep the labels from being easily understood.

When you break down the ingredients in most commercial dog food, you will understand why they want to keep you in the dark. Pick up a can or bag of dog food and peruse down the label. You may notice a rather innocuous sounding ingredient called meat meal. That sounds rather wholesome: sort of a cross between wholesome meat and perhaps a high fiber cereal. Meat meal. But what is it?

To make meat meal, which is brought to us by our friendly next door rendering plant, they slowly stew the carcasses of dead animals. Many of these animals are cats and dogs that were euthanized at animal shelters or other animal control facilities. Many of them were wearing collars (some even flea collars) with I.D. Tags. Some were wrapped in plastic bags. State and county road departments pick up road kill, and those putrid carcasses are also sent to the rendering plants. Don’t forget many zoos that dispose of dead animals. All of these are slowly boiled and processed into an ingredient they call meat meal. Does that sound like a safe dog food ingredient?

Many vets and animal activists have warned that commercial dog food contains residues of the very lethal chemicals that were used to put the animal down. Dogs and cats that eat this meat meal have been riddled with diseases of the liver, kidney, immune system, and other vital organs. Cancers are common and vets report dogs loaded with tumors whose life spans are cut in half because of the dangerous nature of commercial dog food. Not exactly safe dog food.

There must be a solution to this terrible health risk to our pets. And there is. Dog food that is made at home with natural ingredients is safe dog food. Perhaps the idea of making your own dog food is daunting. But it isn’t really. Making natural homemade dog food is a fairly simple, inexpensive task.

Pet owners that make their own natural homemade dog food generally make it in batches and freeze it. The ingredients are not expensive (can you say leftovers?), and using the right recipes can insure a balance meal for your pet. Hundreds or recipes are available in books and on line. And all of them insure your furry friend is getting safe dog food.

The next time you fill your dog’s food bowl, think about what you are feeding her. Why not try making some mantural homemade dog food? Her health depends on you providing her with a nutritious, safe dog food that will extend her life.