raw feeding!!!

ok i posted on another site asking what people thought about barf as i currently feed burns.

Anyway, this was the response of the admin who is a 'dog behavioursit'.

i did of course send him several links clearly stating his beloved brands hes sayin r great are tested on animals.

Since when has JWB tested on animals except food testing? I would be really interested in where you get this information? because if true I will remove the food from my website.

I am actually a fan of Royal Canin but to hear that people think that JW is being cruel to animals or is using illegal testing is to me ludicrous.

I am against the BARF diet as very few people can quantify the correct ingredients and levels of proteins and minerals on an amateur basis.

Dr Ian Billinghurst (a Vet not a nutritionist) based in the Australian outback has made a fortune from his book “Give Your Dog a Bone.” He is the doyen/guru of the BARF diet. Depending who you speak to BARF either stands for Bones and Raw Food or is an acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food. With today’s cattle that is a contradiction in terms on a par with Military Intelligence or Social Worker. Unfortunately it is also an American and Australian word for someone who has vomited. Perhaps Dr Billinghurst is having the last laugh on his fanatical followers?

What amazes me is I am supposed to listen to the likes of Billinghurst who has nothing to do with nutrition. I deal will the effects of food on behaviour every day. By his own admission and I quote: “Dr. Billinghurst acknowledges that there isn’t any scientific data backing up his claims:" To date there have been no scientific trials conducted to determine if the re-introduction of dogs to the diet they all ate until about 60 years ago as having any benefit. Many veterinary specialists warn against the diet, arguing that Dr. Billinghurst’s claims aren’t substantiated with adequate if any medical research, and that the BARF diet actually has the potential to be life-threateningly dangerous.

Julie Churchill is a specialist in companion animal nutrition at the University of Minnesota She says “"I am very much against the raw food diets," Dr. Churchill said. "Many dogs can do well on a raw food diet. However, [the diets] have the potential to be life-threatening. Any food that can potentially kill even one animal is not worth the risk." Sarah Abood, assistant professor of small animal clinical sciences at Michigan State University’s veterinary school: Said "To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never seen anything in the veterinary literature suggesting a documented health benefit of raw meat diets."

Widely regarded veterinary textbooks, including Craig Greene’s Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat, have long held that animals—immunocompromised or healthy that eat raw meat are susceptible to bacterial infections. E. coli and Salmonella are among the more serious infections transmitted through meat that isn’t properly cooked. 2/3rds of all chicken in Britain has salmonella.

I hear the argument that dogs are basically scavengers and eat from our rotting waste, that may be the case with feral or village dogs, see Ray Copingers excellent book “Dogs” But it is certainly not the case of our pampered pedigree pooches. These village dogs are not eating meat full of additives, antibiotics from cattle with boluses stuffed down there throats, the meat is not from animals that have grazed on land sprayed with insecticides and agrochemicals. The chickens are not stacked ten high with the top ones defecating and passing on salmonella and other noxious diseases to the ones below, they are free range.

I have a real problem with the apparently natural diet which is not natural, at al it is clearly artificial.

Stan

Dog do seem to manage fine on what ever is feed them unless it is extreme in some way. Sure those who get it right will find their dogs do fine on a raw meat diet, I prefer to let those who know that they are doing to sort their food into the right amount of the required ingredients.

Mine are fed on Arden Grange with the occasional treat or leftover, and have in my time used many different complete food as and when I find something new, the content of which I approve, have even fed the raw ‘meat’ that is available for dogs until I saw what it was and how it was treated and then decided that although the same thing may well go into the complete food at least it was steam treated and not done with chemicals. Now the only raw meat they have is that sold by my butcher, one hopes the worse that may have happened to that is it has been on the floor.

PS - would hope that all dog food is tested on dogs, how else would one know it was palatable and that they thrived on it, have in my time done some testing of a new dog food too. If you mean tested in some unplesent way now that would be different or that the company who makes the food tests cosmsetics or soap powder on animals then that is a different matter, of course.

Have read before somewhere,(don't shot if i'm wrong)
JWB has been linked with unethical(sp) treat of animals
Isn't JWB a masterfoods company same as Pedigree and a number of other brands

Don't know to be honest, don't take that much notice unless it is thrust in my face. Of late I have fed Burns and Arden Grange but in my time have probable tried food from most the larger manufactures and a good few of the small ones,

James Wellbeloved are one of the companies you are supposed to avoid, found this info:-

Brands to Boycott
As mentioned above, the main culprits for cruel and unethical animal testing are the major international 'pet' food businesses.

IAMS / Eukanuba owned by Procter & Gamble
Hills Science Diet owned by Colgate Palmolive
The majority of pet food brands available in the UK are produced by two animal testing companies - "Nestlé Purina/Friskies" and "Pedigree, Masterfoods (Mars Inc)."

Nestlé Purina/Friskies: Alpo, Bonio, Felix, Go Cat, Gourmet, Omega Complete, Proplan, Spillers, Vital Balance, Winalot.
Pedigree, Masterfoods (Mars Inc): Bounce, Cesar, Chappie, Frolic, James Wellbeloved, Katkins, Kitekat, Pal, Pedigree Chum, Royal Canin, Sheba, Techni-cal (US & Canada), Whiskas. Pedigree also manufacture Thomas rabbit food and Trill bird food.

NB Techni-Cal (Europe) although not owned by Pedigree, Masterfoods (Mars Inc) is still a company to boycott as they have not signed up to the BUAV No Animal Testing Standard.


It's here if anybody would like to have a look

www.uncaged.co.uk/petfood.htm

well by now dog food companies already know what ingredients they can use in dog food. Companies such as burns dont test on animals for example. In this day and age it is not needed. imo

This debate was on a thread a while ago about Iams and as far as i know many dogwebbers including myself have changed which foods we feed. I refuse to fuel such a business.

sites:

http://www.helpthedogs.org/home.html
http://www.buav.org/pdf/PetFoodTesting.pdf

http://www.uncaged.co.uk/default.htm
http://www.stopanimaltests.com/AnimalResearchInd.asp
http://www.iamscruelty.com/


Brands not tested on animals

Recommended 'pet' foods
COMPANY TELEPHONE WEB/EMAIL

Arden Grange 01273 833390 enquiries@ardengrange.com
Burns 01554 890482 info@burns-pet-nutrition.co.uk
Europa Pet Foods Ltd
(Brands: Europa - please note: this is NOT Europa supermarkets)
0845 658 0987 www.europa-pet-food.co.uk
info@europa-pet-food.co.uk
Fromm Family Foods 01531 633 985 available from: www.postalpetsproducts.co.uk
Naturediet 08700 132960 info@naturediet.co.uk
Top Number and Happidog 0800 0182955
Trophy Pet Food 01367 243434 www.trophypetfoods.co.uk
sales@trophypetfoods.co.uk
Vegecat/Vegekit 01424 427393 info@vegansociety.com

Some of these brands are available from www.veggiepets.com.

previous topic link
http://www.dogweb.co.uk/talk/viewtopic.php?t=3172

Think you will find they do, it is not just a matter of ingredients it is palatability and if it produced the sort of finish that people want.

Think there may be some misunderstanding with the term 'tested' I have been asked by several respectable firms to trial a food on my dogs and so have any number of people, this is to test the food in the domestic/kennel situation. Do not think this is what is meant in these circumstances although it is testing on dogs.

I cannot understand why a commercial pet food company needs to test its 'latest' invention on dogs by removing body parts to see how they react or survive! I am just glad that I feed a natural diet :P