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Death by Dog Food: A Critical Examination of Pet Food Regulation in the United States

An honest examination of pet food regulations from a law student.

An honest examination of pet food regulations from a law student.

Google is a wonderful thing. You can search the Internet and find some revealing information. The New York State Bar Association offers a writing contest each year for law students. The following excerpts are from a very detailed document found on the New York State Bar Association website that won First Place in the 2013 writing submission contest…

While most Americans assume the federal government is protecting their pets from consuming diseased animals and harmful substances, the unfortunate reality is that a lack of resources and a combination of industry pressure has left pet food safety in peril. Many pet owners are unaware of the hidden dangers lurking inside the food they feed their pet every day.

At first glance, it appears that pet food is heavily regulated but closer examination reveals a complex web of industry-dominated groups promulgating self-serving rules and regulations that will continue to ensure a healthy profit.

In an effort to restore consumer confidence in pet food safety, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should re-examine mandates given to them by Congress in recent years. Instead of allowing pet food industry representatives to secure legislation allowing a non-governmental organization, dominated by industry insiders, to take over some of these responsibilities, the FDA should promulgate appropriate regulations itself.

As will be discussed below, the FDA is aware that potentially dangerous substances are entering pet foods through the rendering process.

The last sentence above is significantly true; the FDA is aware of dangerous substances in pet food – but the agency refuses to take action. In March of 2016, I was provided a meeting with FDA in which the agency was provided a wealth of documentation proving the risk to pets of certain rendered pet food material – including a statement from sister federal agency USDA (to the risk of rendered pet food ingredients). This material is a violation of federal law (The Food Drug and Cosmetic Act). The FDA openly stated in this meeting – they will continue to ignore federal law with pet food and will continue to allow rendered risk material into pet food.

More excerpts from Death by Dog Food: A Critical Examination of Pet Food Regulation in the United States…

As part of its new proactive approach to food safety in general, as mandated by the Federal Food Safety Modernization Act of 2011, the FDA should prohibit certain production practices that allow risky substances to enter pet food before there is another national crisis. Numerous pets should not have to die because the FDA could not muster the will to stand up to the pet food industry.

While the FDA may not agree with or like the mandate given to them by Congress, they had a duty to meet their entire obligation and promulgate all of the appropriate regulations called for in the FDAAA. Partial compliance is not acceptable for a federal agency charged with protecting the nation’s food supply. At the expense of animal welfare, the FDA has decided to ignore this deadline and continues to allow the industry to self-regulate.

In 2003, the Scientific Steering Committee for the European Parliament and Council concluded that animal by-products derived from animals not fit for human consumption should not enter the feed chain and their uses should be limited. To this end, the Council adopted a regulation dividing animal by-products into three categories based on their potential risk to humans, animals, and the environment. The regulation limited the use of animal by-products in pet food to Category three materials, which include by-products derived from healthy animals slaughtered for human consumption.

Prior to passage of the regulation, raw material of a lower standard was permitted in pet food. The practice of recycling cadavers and material unfit for human consumption in the feed chain was a factor in spreading BSE and other epidemics in European countries.

Animals in the U.S. are being exposed to harmful chemicals and other ingredients due to the type of animals rendered into meat meal and the practices of the rendering industry. As discussed above, condemned animals, road kill, grocery store garbage, and euthanized cats and dogs are just some of the substances permitted for use in pet food.

Feeding our pets diseased and condemned leftovers from the human food supply does not constitute the good, or even adequate, treatment these animals deserve.

This author is completely right. The FDA was charged by Congress (in 2007) to establish updated pet food ingredient definitions, to be completed by September of 2009. The FDA has not completed this Congressional requirement; FDA ignored the deadline.

Pet food in Europe (European Union) cannot include the hideous waste that FDA allows in the U.S. As this author explains, the FDA – and in turn each and every State Department of Agriculture – is protecting industry, not pets.

It bears repeating…“Feeding our pets diseased and condemned leftovers from the human food supply does not constitute the good, or even adequate, treatment these animals deserve.”

If FDA and State Department of Agriculture would enforce existing law, pet owners would not be unknowingly feeding diseased and condemned leftovers to their beloved pets. Criminal.

LIstentoUscat

ListentoUsdog

It is the duty of pet food regulatory authorities to enforce law.

Click Here to read the full paper.

 

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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17 Comments

17 Comments

  1. Mirsades McIver

    June 23, 2016 at 12:46 pm

    What an excellent paper this law student wrote, thank you Susan for posting this. It should be made to go viral on the internet and raise such an uproar that the FDA will have to listen to us consumers. Maybe a call to impeach/remove or whatever you want to call it, everyone in the FDA and bring in all new people that know how to obey the law is in order. If we break laws, we go to jail. I think there are some people in the FDA that belong there. Murder is murder, whether by gun, knife, car, etc. or FOOD period !!!

  2. Pet Owner

    June 23, 2016 at 1:01 pm

    Who’s permission do we need to forward the Law Student’s Paper and accompanying TAPF comments?

    Emailing is free!

    This should be sent to every FDA Rep and Lawmaker for whom we can determine an address.

    How can we begin?

    • Susan Thixton

      June 23, 2016 at 1:05 pm

      This post and the law student paper is public information. You can email it to anyone and everyone you like. Just a thought – for people who want to read the full paper, you might want to download a copy. It would not surprise me one bit if Big Pet Food forces them to remove it. They have been known to do those things in the past.

      • Bowser

        June 23, 2016 at 5:30 pm

        Thanks for the heads-up about saving it in PDF format!! 🙂

  3. Sharon Oh

    June 23, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    Susan – this was great – since I’m still trying to obtain documented information for my vet . . . I’m on this like a dog on a bone! I downloaded the paper and did a little searching on the author – and given that the public at large usually has somewhat of a negative perception of attorney’s she does seem to have some positive virtues. Ms. Fretwell is licensed to practice law in California and before the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. She attended California Western School of Law and graduated summa cum laude. Ms. Fretwell received many honors while in law school, including obtaining the highest grade in class for Property II, Legal Skills II, Constitutional Law I, Trust & Estates, Federal Income Tax, Sports Law, and STEPPS (Skills Training for Ethical and Preventive Practice and career Satisfaction). She also served as a senior editor for the California Western Law Review/International Law Journal and was a member of the Public Service Honors Society, the Sports and Entertainment Law Society, and the Student Animal Legal Defense Fund.

    In 2013, Ms. Fretwell won First Place in the New York State Bar Association’s Committee on Animals and the Law student writing competition with her article entitled Death by Dog Food: A Critical Examination of Pet Food Regulation in the United States. She was also honored with the National Order of Scribes Award in 2014 by the American Society of Legal Writers. Ms. Fretwell’s publications include Shutting Down the Pharmacy on Wheels: Will Lance Armstrong’s Admission Impact the Practice of Doping in Professional Cycling?, 4 PACE. INTELL. PROP. SPORTS & ENT. L.F. 177 (2014).

  4. Jude

    June 23, 2016 at 1:17 pm

    Never underestimate the power of money.
    Never estimate the power of good people standing up for what is right.

    • Sherrie Ashenbremer

      June 23, 2016 at 4:34 pm

      Good points Jude, I believe people have to stick together. Power in standing together

  5. Dianne & pets

    June 23, 2016 at 3:32 pm

    I downloaded a copy. It occurred to me that the two images above would make great postcards to mail to different people, such as the president, the presidential candidates, the American embassy (if you are not American), leave in vet offices. Can they be re-made as postcards with the logo on the back instead of the front? Also the link to the paper, the blurb about it being a prize winning paper and the link to the compliance policy. There could even be a good selection of images of pets who have died from contaminated food with their cause of death and date. If you don’t want to do it yourself but like the idea, if you send me the image files, I could try to work something out. Perhaps some others would like to attempt it as well.

    By the way, I finally bought your cook-book. If I am not mistaken, some of them could be made up as a meal for the whole family.

    • Susan Thixton

      June 23, 2016 at 3:47 pm

      That is an excellent idea – thank you so much! I will look into that – I believe there is a service that will do that including print and mail them. I’ll look for something. They could be mailed to each person’s State Department of Agriculture and FDA.

    • Jane

      June 23, 2016 at 6:13 pm

      When I saw the pictures in the article, a similar thought occurred to me, that whenever we email our legislators, including pictures would be of great value. “A picture is worth a thousand words,” rings so true when trying to get a message to someone quickly, especially considering all the issues our political representatives and staff have to deal with. Even sending pictures of the “yucky stuff” might help. Of course too much hype often leads people to believe the sender is just an angry crank, but using images judiciously quickly draws emotion and attention.

  6. Dianne & pets

    June 23, 2016 at 4:07 pm

    I was thinking of something we could print ourselves and add a personal message to. In Canada mailing to politicians is free, just not to their constituency office.

    • Susan Thixton

      June 23, 2016 at 4:09 pm

      I understand. If you want to do it yourself, feel free to copy the text or the entire image. That is not an issue for me.

  7. Jane Anderson

    June 23, 2016 at 4:36 pm

    One time when I was considering using a new (for me) dog food I was quizzing them as it was alleged their food was packed by Evangers. Well their canner was “proprietary” because if everyone knew who their canner was then everyone else would rush to get them too and there wouldn’t be any room for them. I was really quizzing them and said that Farmina was made in Italy (which is good). He said very proudly “ours is made in the US”. That is nothing to brag about. I hope you are reading this, Buttercup. And no, I did not use your dog food for my babies.

  8. Gigi Kossmann

    June 23, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    Hi Susan, I would like to make copies of the images and send to my politicians and also include on my social media and as part of my email signature.

  9. Kim

    June 26, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    The pet food manufacturers andmostvets want us to believe that feeding table scraps to our animals or creating a raw diet for them at home is detrimental to the pet’s health, but their products are fine.

    No more kibble in my house! No more processed pet food or treats either! All raw, all the time or home made jerk and freeze dried.

    Glad to see a legal view on this horrible poison trade!

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