The Aftermath of the Dog Food Recall

In 2007 healthy dogs and cats started dying. No one really knows how many pet needlessly died, but finally, there was a dog food recall. The killer was an non-food ingredient called melamine, that was used to cheaply boost protein in the dog food. This was definitely the largest recall affecting a large number of dog food labels, but there have been other dog food recalls before this one (possible problems caused from BHA preservative in 2003 and aflatoxin contamination in 2005). And there have been other dog food recalls since (salmonella from contaminated peanut butter in 2009).

What has this done to the dog food industry? Well, luckily for our pets, many more pet owners now really look at what kinds of foods they are feeding. And many companies have responded to our concern, providing us with more organic, natural, and holistic dog foods to choose from.

As we ourselves are now getting used to looking at our own food ingredients label to see what is healthy for our own consumption, we must also start to scrutinize our dog food ingredients. Yes, the organic, natural, holistic dog foods are a little more expensive, but in the long run they are worth it! These are companies that trying to provide healthy foods for your dog, rather than conglomerates that are only interested in their bottom line and their profits.

Don’t get me wrong, these super-premium dog food companies (ones that provide organic, natural, or holistic foods) are also in it to make a profit, it’s a business, not charity. It’s just that they don’t want to make a profit at the expense of your dog’s health. The conglomerates are using the almighty dollar for slick advertising, constantly telling us that THEY know what is best for your dog and cat. But the reality is that the pet food industry is actually the primary outlet for human by-products – they manufacture food for humans and what is left over goes into dog food. I wouldn’t feed that kind of crap to my kids and I sure won’t feed it to my dogs either!

These dog food recalls are our wake-up call. No longer can we just trust a company to provide safe and healthy food for our pets. It is up to us to check our dog food ingredients and demand the best for our dogs.