There is no doubt that our pets are very important to us. What we feed
them may be just as important. What is inside that food, though, may not
be what you think. This installment of the Allman Report has some
surprising information about what may be in the food you're feeding your
dogs and cats.
Their names are Blacky, Scoop, Puffy, and Diamond. Some are just a few years
or a few months old. They are mostly dogs and a couple of cats.
"It's the most undesirable part of our job," says one city pound worker.
This sunny morning in the city pound is the last day of their lives. It is a
cruel but necessary routine played out every morning at the pound. A dozen
or more former pets are put to death because no one wants them -- alive
that is.
Unwanted by their owners, their bodies are in high demand. Loaded into a
city refuse truck, they are taken five miles across the river to
Illinois to a rendering plant in Millstadt. Along with dead cows and
road kill, they will be piled into a vat and boiled, turned into raw
tankage or protein.
We were asked to leave the property before we could ask where it all
eventually goes. But it soon became evident as a tanker truck made its
way into the plant to be filled. The truck was from a southern Missouri
company, its mission spelled out on the tank itself: "serving the pet
food industry."
"It may be objectionable. People may not want to know what goes in
there," says Don Aird of the Food and Drug Administration
But the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees pet food
ingredients, allows dead dogs and cats in pet food, saying disease or
the drugs used to sedate the animals dissipates through cooking.
"Well, we don't believe it's going to cause problems for the animals. If
we did, we would not allow it to happen," Aird says.
However, the Pet Food Institute, which represents major pet food labels
such as Purina and Alpo, says it strictly forbids member companies from
using materials from dead companion animals in pet food.
As for other pet food companies, well, there's no requirement they
divulge exactly what's in their product or where they get the raw
ingredients. The Food and Drug Administration says legally, it's none of
your business.
"That's what keeps the prices down and I think it keeps the health
down," says Dr. Christine Crosley, a veterinarian.
Crosley insists companion animal parts are unhealthy as are the other
things allowed in pet food like scraps from slaughter houses, ground up
chicken beaks and feathers, and recycled grease from Chinese restaurants
and fried chicken stands.
"It is food. I guess it's food by definition. It goes in the mouth and
out the other end. But, it's not nutritious," she says.
Crosley advocates feeding your pets what you eat. Some of her clients
swear by it.
"So we started steaming vegetables for her and brown rice and chicken
broth. She didn't leave any dandruff residue and her skin wasn't dry
anymore and she wasn't always scratching at herself," says Karen Heyden,
a pet owner.
If you do choose commercial pet food, Crosley suggests you reject food
with animal by products or bone meal or meat meal in them and choose
foods that have natural products in them.
"Flash frozen green beans and half of a good dry food. That's much
better than this package," Crosley says.
None of the pet food companies we talked to would sit down and be
interviewed for this story. The company that owns the truck you saw at
the rendering plant refuses to tell us who buys from them. We talked
about other things you could feed your dogs, but remember cats are
carnivores and feeding them just vegetables and grains will not be good
for them. Foods containing real fish and other meats are recommended.
