Pet Food Warnings. . .what next?

Warning, you, your neighbor or someone you may know could be feeding their dog a Raw Meat diet and causing a potential health risk–you should turn them in. . .report them so the FDA will be vindicated in considering new laws to prevent people from feeding their animals anything other than mass-marketed, chemically enhanced, corporate sponsored  Road Kill. 

To quote an article in Boing Boing: The FDA has taken note of the health risks posed for people who feed their pets raw meat, fearing they could contact salmonella and e-coli. With the practice growing in popularity, the agency has issued guidelines for companies marketing raw meat to pets: "FDA does not believe raw meat foods for animals are consistent with the goal of protecting the public from significant risks, particularly when such products are brought into the home and/or used to feed domestic pets.

Raw meat foods. . .not consistant. . protecting public health–WTF??? Despite the articles ridiculous bent against wealthy people feeding their pets better than they themselves might eat, and the fact that there are bunny ranches out there specifically for providing free-range, organic, non-modified pet food, these words stand out to me.  What does the FDA have to do with what I feed my pet if I don’t want to feed them crappy kibble? If I want to spend $15 a pound on naturally raised chickens pampered by virgins and fed on asses milk then that’s my right as a citizen of a free country and Democracy. If I happen to be STUPID enough to not take precautions and give myself or my family E.Coli or Salmonella, then perhaps our genes shouldn’t be in the breeding pool anyway.

This is exactly what happens when some pencil pushing asshole decides to take an interest in something which can move his sorry ass up the butt-kissing ladder.  "Oh, I got a law passed which keeps people from feeding anything to their pets, except XYZ brand dog food. My boss is very pleased as they sponsored his campaign. . . ." I mean really.
Instead of regulating and limiting, our government should be educating and instructing people. Raw meat IS dangerous. But only if you leave it out to fester and smear it all over your door handles and then chuck a carcass in the public swimming pool. Ban raw foods??? Sure. Great. Smart. Oooh. Why not ban disposing of raw meat contaminated products in the GARBAGE, and pets too. A friend of ours was inspecting a public waste facility and trod in a rotten St. Bernard carcass. He was traumatised, and his suit was ruined–I certainly wouldn’t want to wear the shoes again. . . .We should have a law to prevent this sort of thing. . . .Right?

I don’t think so. Laws, regulations and rules over this sort of thing don’t make sense.

I feed my dog a Bones and Raw Food diet–BARF. I have done for 7 years. He is the healthiest dog I know. He is old, yet has abundant energy. He has never choked on a bone–we feed whole chicken or turkey legs quite often. He has not ever been sick. I have not taken him to a Vet for the whole time. His yard is clean and doesn’t smell. His crap dries up and goes away. Anal glands? never a problem. In addition to raw meat and bones he gets all table scraps and a selection of veggies. I don’t go out of my way to feed him his own special, expensive diet. I feed him the same stuff we eat. If it’s good enough for us, it’s okay for him–although he does get some funky stuff I wouldn’t eat.  I mean dogs do eat their own feces, drink out of the toilet and regularly rummage through garbage cans–they can survive on stuff which would knock us down. They aren’t as suceptible as we are to salmonella and e.coli because their gut is different then ours–much more acidic. Their saliva is different. As long as the people feeding their pets a Raw Food diet do so with everyday common sense than there is no threat to public safety. What, after all, did people do before there was mass-marketed pet food? Commercial pet food has only really become popular since the 60′s. Before that–dog meat from the butcher. Uncooked. Yup.

This is such a non-issue it drives me crazy. Our society is changing in ways which are sooooo Big Brother and dictitorial. Live and let live. Oh–and if I had ever finished my degree in Veteranary Science I think I would still feel this way. I’m kind of glad, though, at the moment I never did. . . . .