A blog post from Petfood-Connection.com got the fur flying with one pet owner. After reading the post, I’m just as angry. There are no ‘two sides to pet food safety’.
Petfood-Connection.com is a professional network website for ‘the global petfood industry’. Blogger Debbie Phillips-Donaldson’s post of July 7, 2010 titled ‘Two sides to petfood safety‘ is clearly not from a pet owner perspective.
The first two sentences will give you a clear understanding of what side of the fence Ms. Phillips-Donaldson sits on…
“It seems every day brings notice of a new petfood recall due to potential Salmonella contamination.
Most people in the industry would tell you this is not because petfood manufacturers are making more unsafe products or not following safety or hygiene protocols; rather, it’s because the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has greatly stepped up its inspections (many unannounced) of manufacturing facilities and rules on reporting the findings from those inspections.”
Excuse me? If there was nothing wrong with the pet food/treat to begin with…the FDA would have nothing to find. Unannounced inspections…Bravo FDA!
Ms. Phillips-Donaldson continues “But are the stepped-up inspections and reporting regulations a classic case of overkill? One industry member says many small companies don’t have the costs to meet the increased regulations built into their business models and even larger companies that can afford the latest equipment, programs and consultants will never recoup their costs, though they’ll likely try by raising the prices of their products. Will that cause upscale pet owners–who to date have proven wonderfully recession resistant–to finally say “enough!” and draw the line at what they’ll pay for a bag of superpremium dog food?” http://www.petfood-connection.com/profiles/blogs/two-sides-to-petfood-safety
If a small company doesn’t have the money to meet safety regulations, get out. If a large company can’t afford the equipment and consultants to assure every batch of pet food or treats is safe, get out. ‘Upscale pet owners’…all pet owners…do not want to live through or re-live the biggest price to pay for a pet food or treat; a sick or dead pet because someone along the manufacturing line didn’t do Everything necessary to produce a safe product.
To anyone in the pet food industry complaining about FDA inspections, I dare you to have a sit down, face to face meeting with a pet owner who has experienced the death of a pet due to a recall. Look them in the eyes; listen to their words. They have a hole in their hearts that will never heal. It’s hard enough to say good-bye to a beloved pet from old age, it’s life altering when it is from a recalled pet food/treat. Honestly, it is life altering.
Every pet food/treat manufacturer, every employee at every manufacturing plant, should hear the broken hearted words of a grieving pet owner. Everyday. Start your day hearing the pain that a tainted pet food or treat caused. Maybe then you won’t complain about safety regulations and inspections. If you don’t realize the life altering destruction your pet product could cause with the slightest error, you don’t need to be in this business. Go make shoes.
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author, Buyer Beware
Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
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