It made me cry

[Jake2006]

Hi everyone

I was surfing the net earlier today and peeked at the BUAV website. I read the article about Pet Food testing and it really upset me. I was just wondering if any of you had any opinions on this?

Carole & Jake xx:eek:

[Becky]

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the article, do you have a link?

[Jake2006]

Hi Becky

The site is
http://www.buav.org/campaigns/petfood/companies.html
(hope I am allowed to post that - )
Just to set the record straight I am against animal testing in most of its forms, cosmetics, etc etc - but I'm not an activist and appreciate that some may be necessary in pharmaceuticals. However, the good news there is that I believe computer simulations using artificial intelligence are now being used for some tests.
But why for cosmetics, dog food etc.

Carole & Jake

[skunkstripe]

Jake I can tell you why for cosmetics. I have done some paperwork on getting wound dressing approved by the FDA so I know a little bit about it. Specifically it was for products that help wounds heal faster after an operation or after severe burns.
First there is a common misconception that the drug companies want to do animal testing. They do not. It costs money and takes time and if it were up to them they would mix the stuff, put it in jars or tubes and sell it.
The FDA insists that safety issues be resolved. This means that they want to make sure that no one is allergic, no one will get a rash, skin irritation, and they even need to know what happens if someone uses the cosmetic on the skin where there is a cut or burn or pimple.
There are some tests you can do in a petri dsh, but the fact is that no one can predict what will happen in a complex situation like you have on someone's skin from what happens with a reaction from a single type of cell. So the other options are clinical trials (meaning you test on human volunteers) and animal testing. Since humans are reluctant to be volunteers that leaves animal testing, although often you see both. After you prove that the product works on animals, you find that doctors are willing to try it out on humans.
The FDA assumes the worst, which is that people will take the product and smear it on an open wound etc etc even if it is suntan lotion so they have to protect themselves. If a lot of people get a rash then there is a big investigation. Look at what happened with Vioxx in the US. Somebody at the FDA messed up and a pain relieving drug was put on the market that caused heart disease.
Sorry this was rambling. If I ruled the world we would not need any of this but as long as you have a "need" for cosmetics then this will happen.

[Jake2006]

Hi
I hear what you are saying, but you can buy Beauty without Cruelty comsetics. I know that an american car company used to use pigs and large dogs in crash testing - of course now they have crash test dummies. When my friend found out (she was the sales manager of a pharmaceutical company) she refused to buy any further cars for the sales force manufactured by that company. Ironic - but she did make a difference.
You are right, its not an ideal world. But I really honestly don't want any animals to suffer so that I can feed my dog and I would rather feed him a product I know has not caused another sentient (some people may argue that animals are sentient) being suffering.
I'm grateful that such organisations highlight the pain and suffering caused by some Multinational companies.
I know this could run and run and I do respect everyone's opinoins.




Carole

[dogdaze]

Just another good reason to make your own dog food. It's easy to do, and you aren't supporting these awful practices.

Also, my dogs don't need to eat chicken digestive tracts and other disgusting stuff.

[Jake2006]

Hi

Can you give me your recipie as I would be worried i wasn't giving Jake all the nutrients.

He'll eat anything and I always give him lots of veggies, eggs, fish (organic)

In my attempt to avoid animal cruelty I feed him Burns - but I would welcome any suggestions on how to make his food.

Thanks

Jake & Carole

[dogdaze]

Hi

Can you give me your recipie as I would be worried i wasn't giving Jake all the nutrients.

He'll eat anything and I always give him lots of veggies, eggs, fish (organic)

In my attempt to avoid animal cruelty I feed him Burns - but I would welcome any suggestions on how to make his food.

Thanks

Jake & Carole

It's pretty easy, actually. I get ground turkey or boneles chicken and cook it in a little saflower oil in a large skillet (boil the chicken and food process it). I do cook the meat even though some people don't, because of food safety reasons. I make angel hair pasta (Barilla - it has ALA Omega-3) and put it in the food processor with flaxseed (milled) from the health food store, and frozen veggies (uncooked) like green beans, yellow squash, peas, yellow beans, fresh carrots, garbonzo beans, fresh parsley. Then I mix it up all together and bag it up in single serving ziplock bags. I freeze most of it right away. I make about 2 week's worth at a time.

Just keep the ratio close to this: 1/3 meat, 1/3 pasta (or brown rice), and 1/3 veggies (food processed and very fine texture). You can play around with this depending on how active your dog is. More protien for very active dogs, etc.

Finally, I do add Solid Gold Sea Meal and Digestive Enzymes each time I prepare their food, and I warm the food up in the microwave just a tiny bit so it's not cold and then add the two supliments.

My Gus was a mess with food allergy problems before I started making the dog food. I'm certainly no expert on this topic, I just know what works for us. My dogs are both healthy, good weight, no itching or red skin, good poos (watch this, it's gross but it really tells you a lot.)

Look up homade dogfood on the web. You'll be reading for a very long time! Good luck!

[skunkstripe]

dogdaze, that sounds good enough for people to eat!
And here I am just cutting up beef heart or fresh tripe into chunks and tossing it on top of the Nutro!

[Becky]

You might be interested in the website http://www.rawdogranch.com

Even if you cooked, you should follow the basic outlines the she uses. You really need to use organ meats for many of the vitamins and things. I haven't looked into it in depth because I'm not quite ready to make the "jump" to raw/homecooked. Also, sorry to disagree, but I don't think that a dog's diet should consist of 2/3 plant matter and 1/3 meat. They are carnivores (I venture with some omnivorous tendancies) and need to be fed a diet that reflects that.

You might also be interested in 8 Weeks to a Healthier Dog

I don't know the author, though, sorry.