[caption id="attachment_3168" align="aligncenter" width="229" caption="Dog Food Brands"]
[/caption]One of the favored brands of dog food, a mid-range food, has "Beef" on its label. Look at the ingredients. The first four ingredients are water, chicken, meat by-products, and beef. Beef isn't even the primary ingredient! And what are "meat by-products"?
The official definition is: ""The non-rendered, clean parts, other than meat, derived from slaughtered mammals. It includes, but is not limited to, lungs, spleen, kidneys, brain, livers, blood, bone, partially defatted low temperature fatty tissue, and stomachs and intestines freed of their contents. It does not include hair, horns, teeth and hoofs."
Since it's from a mammal, it doesn't need to be from a cow. It may be from "downer" animals, animals which might be diseased or dying before slaughter. Even euthanized animals from animal shelters are classified as "animal by-products" and have been used in pet foods. You would not eat this stuff yourself. Why expect your pet to?
And the fourth ingredient, beef; what kind of beef is it? They are cuts which are left over after every bit that will be eaten by humans has been removed. Again, it's parts you would not eat yourself. Once all the human suitable meat has been removed from an animal, the processing plant doesn't just throw the rest away. There's still money to be made, so the remnants are sold to pet food companies.
Whenever you buy the ingredients in making your dog's food, do you try to find "animal by-products"? No, you purchase the exact same food you would eat yourself - high quality cuts of meat, the quality of which is regulated so you've the very best assurance of getting fresh, contaminant-free meat.
When you compare dog food brands with home made, you see there really is no comparison. The you fix for your dog food brands is prepared with greater care, is higher in quality nutrition, is healthier - and safer - for your dog.
