It Kills Bald Eagles But Considered Safe In Pet Food! | Recipes

By SusanThixton
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This article is going to shock you. You are going to read something you have probably never been told before about the safety of pet foods. Although it's shocking, it is something that every pet owner should be aware of.

One of the most disturbing and little known facts about the pet food industry has to be the FDA's findings and acceptance of pentobarbital - the drug used to euthanize animals - being in dog and cat foods. Yes, you read that correctly - pentobarbital, the drug used to euthanize dogs, cats, cattle, and horses IS in some of the most popular pet foods on the market and this IS acceptable according to the FDA.

Back in 2002, the FDA released a report of their 2 year study/testing finding pentobarbital (the drug used to euthanize animals) in pet food. Their findings were that many brands of pet foods - purchased right off of store shelves - contained the euthanizing drug pentobarbital. With that finding, the FDA began an 8 week test to see if levels of pentobarbital in pet food could be harmful to pets. The FDA testing showed that the amounts of pentobarbital in pet food would not harm pets (even though their study only tested dogs). The FDA ran their testing on 42 twelve week old Beagles - and again the testing was only for 8 weeks.

My first concern is that this testing was only done for 8 weeks. No consideration was given to pets that are consuming this euthanizing drug in their food for a lifetime. Unfortunately, the concerns don't stop there.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency recently reported that pentobarbital is responsible for the deaths of "over 140 Bald and Golden Eagles in recent years - as well as numerous other wildlife and dogs." The reason the wildlife was exposed to pentobarbital - as stated in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency report, is from access to euthanized carcasses of farm animals and small animals in land fills. Poisoning of eagles or other wild birds, even if accidental, violates Federal law.

A little over a year after the FDA's report that pentobarbital found in pet food was determined to be safe for our pets to consume - the FDA posted a change in the labeling requirements for pentobarbital and a change in the definitions. Today euthanizing drugs must provide a warning statement of environmental hazard - that the product is toxic to wildlife. The FDA labeling changes also added 'Do not use in animals intended for food.' Yet the drug remains to be found in pet food.

The facts are - pets are consuming pentobarbital every day. Regardless of the FDA's requirement of use of the drug - 'not to be used on animals intended for food' - pentobarbital is commonly found in many popular pet foods. How the drug gets into pet food is a unresolved controversial argument. It has been rumored for years that the source of the pentobarbital is from rendered (cooked) euthanized dogs and cats picked up from animal shelters all over the U.S. The pet food manufacturers deny such claims stating the only source could be euthanized cattle or horses. The debate continues - because there has never been any clinical evidence provided to the public that the source is from cattle or pets.

The possibility of euthanized dogs and cats being cooked and put into pet food is horrendous. We might not ever learn the species source of the drug. The FDA does provide us with the information that the common pet food ingredient 'Animal Fat' is the ingredient that is most likely to contain pentobarbital. Please carefully look at the ingredients in your pets food and treats for the ingredient 'Animal Fat'. Since no testing has ever been done on long term effects of consuming pentobarbital, and we know consuming the drug is killing wildlife - this is a risk too serious to ignore.

About the Author

Before you feed your pet one more meal, please visit Susan Thixton's website and gain knowledge of many more secrets of the pet food industry. Also please register for the free Truth About Pet Food newsletter. pet food, dog food, cat food

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