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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: one_less who wrote (93921)	1/18/2005 4:29:05 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

You obviously know nothing about the horrific ingredients in commercial pet food: Where does pet food come from? It's a question many of us don't think about. We see pictures of whole grains, prime cuts of meat and human grade vegetables on the bag, and we assume there's some chef in a pet food kitchen cooking up the best for our loved ones. Unfortunately, this is far from the truth. Most of what makes up dog and cat food comes from the rendering plant. To render, as defined in Webster's Dictionary, is "to process as for industrial use: to render livestock carcasses and to extract oil from fat, blubber, etc., by melting." When chickens, lambs, cattle, swine, and other animals are slaughtered for food, usually only the lean muscle is cut off for human consumption. This leaves about 50 percent of a carcass left over. These leftovers are what become what we so commonly find on pet food labels, such as "meat-and-bone-meal" or "by-products." So basically, what pets eat are lungs, ligaments, bones, blood and intestines. Some other things that may go into rendering are: Spoiled meat from the supermarket, Styrofoam wrapping and all Road kill that can't be buried on the roadside The "4 D's" of cattle: dead, dying, disease and disabled Rancid restaurant grease Euthanized companion animals When dead animals from cow pastures are picked up, they may not be rendered until up to a week after they are dead. Because of this, it is estimated that E. coli bacteria contaminate more than 50 percent of meat meals. The rendering process destroys the bacteria, but it does not eliminate the endotoxins bacteria release when they die. These endotoxin, which can cause sickness and disease, are not tested for by pet food manufacturers. When all this comes to the rendering plant, it's put in a huge vat and shredded. Then it's cooked at 220 to 270 degrees for 20 to 60 minutes. After it cools, the grease is skimmed off the top. This is "animal fat." The rest is pressed and dried. This is "meat and bone meal." Dogs wouldn't eat this stuff in the wild, so why will they eat it out of their bowls? Their noses are tricked by the smell of it. The smell of animal fats for dogs and fish oil for cats is sprayed on the dry, bland kibble bits to make them appetizing. These flavors usually come from rendered restaurant grease, animal fat, or other oils unfit for human consumption. Huge conglomerates use pet food companies as a cheap, and even profitable, way of disposing of the waste from their human food companies. Three of the five major pet food companies are owned by these huge corporations. Who owns what? Corporation Pet Foods Nestle Alpo, Fancy Feast, Friskies, Mighty Dog, Purina One Heinz 9 Lives, Amore, Gravy Train, Kibbles-n-Bits, Nature's Recipe Colgate-Palmolive Hill's Science Diet Proctor & Gamble Eukanuba and Iams Mars Kal Kan, Mealtime, Pedigree, Sheba, Waltham's iml.jou.ufl.edu

To: one_less who wrote (93921)	1/18/2005 4:46:42 PM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

Oh, and this is an article from a British site about what is probably the world's oldest dog, a 27-year-old VEGAN dog. So you really don't know what you are talking about here: 27-year-old vegan collie could be world's oldest living dog A border collie said to be 27 could make it into the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest living dog. Bramble's owner Anne Heritage says she's still alert and active and goes for a walk four times a day near her home in Bridgwater, Somerset. The 43-year-old says she feeds her a vegan diet of rice, lentils and organic vegetables. Her partner Roy Franklin takes her swimming once a week at a canine hydrotherapy pool. A Guinness spokesman says the dog could be the oldest living and they are keen to examine any application. The Daily Mail reports Britain's oldest dog was a pedigree papillon called Fred who died at the of 29 in 2000. The world's longest-lived dog was an Australian cattle dog who lived to be just months older than Fred. Ms Heritage says Bramble nearly died last year after injuring her back in a fall, but has become better with the help of the swimming sessions. She said: "She loves exercise and has a real passion for being outdoors. She can be a thorn in my side when she's restless, but it's what keeps her going." ananova.com