Dead, decomposing animal carcasses that drown and laid in water for days are accepted in North Carolina to be rendered and sold as pet feed ingredients.
One of you wonderful pet owners out there sent me a serious concern. She read a story in the Charlotte Observer that stated “So far 3.4 million chickens and turkeys, and 5,500 hogs are dead in North Carolina from Hurricane Florence wind and floods. The numbers are expected to increase this week.” She was very worried “where all these dead animals will end up.”
Her worry was justified.
Hurricane Florence came ashore on September 14, 2018 according to an ABC News timeline. The next day – September 15, 2018 – “Florence is expected to dump another 14 to 20 inches of rain on southern and central parts of North Carolina into far northeast South Carolina. This will continue to produce “catastrophic flash flooding and prolonged significant river flooding,” the National Weather Service said.”
The “catastrophic” flooding has resulted in the death of at least “5,500 pigs and 3.4 million chickens” according to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services – published in the Charlotte Observer newspaper September 18, 2018. The animals drowned.
“Pilots for Waterkeeper Alliance document the effects of Hurricane Florence’s flooding on concentrated animal feeding operations in North Carolina on September 17th, 2018.” Source: https://psmag.com/environment/hurricane-florence-has-flooded-pits-of-toxic-waste-in-north-carolina
Chicken farm buildings are inundated with floodwater from Hurricane Florence near Trenton, N.C., Sunday, Sept. 16, 2018. Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/18/florence-hits-north-carolina-agriculture-drowns-1point7-million-chickens.html
The FDA told me the following (regarding disposal of drowned livestock in North Carolina):
FDA doesn’t “approve” the disposal method in these circumstances. As stated in the mass mortality guidance, “Owners may choose to dispose of their mortality from storms and may do so, but catastrophic loss mortality must be reported to the State Veterinarian and the proposed method of disposal must be approved prior to disposal.” Evaluating and potentially approving a proposed method of disposal would fall under the NC Department of Agriculture/State Veterinarian’s purview.
Questions were sent to North Carolina Department of Agriculture, but the agency did not respond (I understand they are a busy). The North Carolina Department of Agriculture disposal plan for millions of decomposing drowned animals was found on the agency’s website; “Mass Animal Mortality Management Plan for Catastropic Natural Disasters“.
NCDA & CS Mass Animal Mortality Management Plan for Catastrophic Natural Disasters
“Owners of livestock and poultry are responsible for the proper disposal of mortality from natural disasters.”
North Carolina tells the livestock industry that “when flooding is an issue” the primary options to dispose of millions of drown animals are (in order of NC Dept of Ag preference):
- Rendering
North Carolina Department of Agriculture states (bold added): “Rendering is a preferred off-site option with some limitations due to timing challenges and access to carcasses during flooding events. It is low cost and results in a product of value from rendered carcasses.” - Landfill
North Carolina landfills – per their documents – accept pigs and chicken carcasses…but will North Carolina landfills accept decomposing carcasses of pigs and chickens that have been laying in flood waters for days? - Composting
“Composting is the best on-site carcass disposal option. Site allowing for heavy equipment to form the compost pile and move carcasses.” Will flooded farms be able to compost the millions of dead animals?
Will those decomposing animal carcasses become rendered pet food ingredients? Chances are – they will.
And worse yet – no pet owner will know which pet food will contain rendered decomposing drowned animals from Hurricane Florence.
Decomposing animal tissue in ANY food (human food or animal food) is a direct violation of the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act.
Ҥ342. Adulterated food РA food shall be deemed to be adulterated-
(a) Poisonous, insanitary, etc., ingredients
(3) if it consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, or decomposed substance”
Sad, but true…No one at FDA or North Carolina Department of Agriculture (or any Department of Agriculture) enforces this law.
Pets (have and) will die because no one at FDA or any State Department of Agriculture enforces this law.
Added 9/22/18.
Press release from North Carolina Department of Agriculture:
Flooded crops cannot be used for human food
NCDA&CS, NCSU to help farms divert crops to animal feed with proper testing
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
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Hope
September 20, 2018 at 2:26 pm
Shaking my head. Do you remember in 2007 Susan with the millions of cans of melamine laced pet food were recalled and allowed by the FDA to be sold at pennies on the dollar to fish farmers and livestock corporations cause the affect on a human’s diet would be minimal due to weight of the person and not a steady consumption of the animal that was fed these products? And we wonder why cancer in the population continues to increase at alarming rates. Shaking my head and grieving about this.
Dianne & Pets
September 20, 2018 at 3:06 pm
Aside from the horror of all those animals decomposing, and I seriously hope measures will be taken to prevent this, as much as possible, in the future, do you know or have anyway to know which pet feeds will be the recipients of this rendered product?
Susan Thixton
September 20, 2018 at 3:09 pm
No – there is no way to know where this material will go. There are many rendering facilities in the area (https://www.valleyproteins.com/about-us/locations/) and with 100% certainty they will not disclose who they sell to.
Elena
September 25, 2018 at 3:25 pm
Oh my gosh! I just went to Valley Proteins web site. So many dog food companies, even the highly rated ones, use chicken meal etc. This is very frightening.
Nora
September 20, 2018 at 4:26 pm
Unbelievable! Brand names? Or is that not allowed? What about all the dead decomposing cats and dogs??
bruceandlaurie2013
September 20, 2018 at 5:41 pm
They go in pet food too!!
Nora
September 20, 2018 at 5:47 pm
This makes me want to hurl!!
Sherrie
September 20, 2018 at 8:42 pm
I’m with you, I could just get sick over this
Regina
September 20, 2018 at 4:36 pm
As if the horror of the storm’s devastation wasn’t bad enough . . . This, this is just making me ill. This might be a big push for folks to seriously consider making their pets’ food themselves, if they’ve been on the fence about it up til now..
Sherrie
September 20, 2018 at 8:43 pm
Unfortunately there are people out there who don’t believe their dog/cat food is made this way and the convenience of dog/cat at the local grocery store or pet shop—-well there you go
Irene Baker
September 20, 2018 at 9:25 pm
Ditto, Regina.
Peter
September 21, 2018 at 7:23 am
And realize that virtually no coverage has been “allowed” of this issue, photos of the corpses of these animals floating in floodwater are never shown.
Peter
September 21, 2018 at 7:26 am
Conspicuously absent from media coverage is any photos of the corpses of these animals, floating in the floodwater.
Jessie Frederiksen
September 21, 2018 at 8:20 am
WOW the FDA sure doesn’t disappoint do they…. What can we do about it? That’s the question we all should be asking!!! Its one this to sit around and complain about the FDA and its another to do something about it or at least try!!! Im going to contact the FDA and question them about the situation I will post this article on facebook and send emails out to all the fur baby parents i know and tell them to pass the info along. Is there any other ideas out that we can use?
Laura B
September 21, 2018 at 11:41 am
Guess ill be making my cats food personally, cant believe how evil this shit is….they wouldn’t ground it up and feed it to humans but they will sell it and never disclose what brand for me to feed to my animals that are as special to me as my mom, sisters, friends . My animals are apart of my family and this is extremely straight up fucking disturbing!
LJDail
September 22, 2018 at 11:14 am
Don’t be so sure?
Lou
September 21, 2018 at 1:46 pm
And this is what they consider “balanced” pet food. Taking what is essentially unsanitary garbage and adding vitamins, minerals and palatants does not equate to balanced for me.
I started home cooking for my dogs in 2007 as a result of contaminated high-priced, well-marketed commercial feed. It can be challenging and costly, but I know what they eat and where it came from. BTW, we have consistently had healthy dogs.
Robin
September 22, 2018 at 8:37 am
It’s so interesting I’ve posted this article on Facebook in the justification of people when they’ve had an aha moment I had one person reach out and said but I don’t feed pork or chicken to my animals and I simply politely laughed and said it’s more than just pork or chicken it’s pretty much all the kibble across the board is going to have rendered dead carcass in it to prepare it and then the person went silent I’m not here to anger people I’m just here to give the real information out so people have an aha moment
Dana Lewis, DVM
September 23, 2018 at 2:03 pm
Stop spreading falsehoods. The FSIS does not allow decomposing carcasses to enter the human or animal food chain.
Susan Thixton
September 23, 2018 at 2:44 pm
Dr. Lewis – Food Safety Inspection Service is part of USDA, not FDA. FDA regulates pet food. Please see these links on the AAFCO website: https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/ComplianceManuals/CompliancePolicyGuidanceManual/ucm074710.htm, https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/ComplianceManuals/CompliancePolicyGuidanceManual/ucm074694.htm, https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/ComplianceManuals/CompliancePolicyGuidanceManual/ucm074717.htm I’ve just provided you evidence the disposal of waste animals, animal materials is indeed dumped into pet food and animal feed. If you still believe it is a “falsehood” – I ask you to provide the evidence.
Rebekah R Page
September 27, 2018 at 12:16 am
Have to be the blunt one, follow the ???…. Big Ag, and Big Pharma will never tell the truth it would put them out of business, and their yachts are expensive.
Dianne & Pets
September 23, 2018 at 3:16 pm
Dr. Lewis, euthanized animals are also not supposed to enter the pet food chain, and yet it has happened, a problem that the FDA acknowledges. refer you to Susan’s other post https://truthaboutpetfood.com/fda-admits-pentobarbital-in-pet-food-more-of-a-problem-than-originally-thought/ I see no reason to believe that these decomposing carcasses will not enter the pet food chain, and given past performance by the pet food industry and regulatory agencies I fully expect it to happen.
Rebecca Sherk
October 6, 2018 at 11:48 am
Dream on. Did you read rhe article? Please explain how euthanasia drugs end up in pet food. That is prohibited too,yet it is true that it happened. You must be a shill for the rendering plants.
Angela Fletcher
September 23, 2018 at 2:58 pm
They will probably end up at what we call the stink factory on 321 in Gastonia near the South Carolina line! And as a reminder they have spilled this mess all over our roads from Charlotte to Belmont and Gastonia!! It’s a horrible smell and nasty mess!!!
Mary s
September 23, 2018 at 3:30 pm
Horrific! I try not to buy food with any meat by products, though I know nothing is guaranteed.
Pamela Goldie
September 23, 2018 at 4:29 pm
Does the rendering facilities im the US just sell to US pet food companies, or further afield? I’m in Great Britain, a Canine Nutritionist and a huge advocate for animal health, Sadly we don’t have as many animal warriors like yourself over here but we support you either way. Pamela Goldie.
Susan Thixton
September 23, 2018 at 4:45 pm
I don’t know if this material would be shipped outside the US. My guess would be it would depend on the importing country’s regulation (if non-slaughtered, diseased animal material would be accepted).
Dianne & Pets
September 27, 2018 at 1:34 pm
We already know that recalled food has had new labels slapped on the bag and shipped to Europe. If your country has regulations about importing contaminated food, you could give them a heads up. Maybe they could inspect shipments from the states more thoroughly.
Elena
September 27, 2018 at 2:38 pm
I was under the impression that the European Union had stricter requirements for pet food. I don’t know if this is true but some pet food companies market this as a plus if their manufacturing plant is European Union approved. I am fairly certain that the European Union does not allow any GMO ingredients in their dog food. I just remembered about Britain exiting the European Union though.
Dianne & Pets
September 27, 2018 at 11:23 pm
My comment only applied to food made in the states and then shipped to Europe. Someone had removed one of the labels and found it was covering a lot number that had been recalled. A while ago I saw something about an ingredient in European dog food that was connected to a canine disease that had to do with swallowing.
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M janski
October 9, 2018 at 6:50 pm
THIS MAKES ME THROW – UP TO PUT THESE DECOMPOSED ANIMALS IN PET FOOD IS UNREAL. WHAT THEY SHOULD DO IS HAVE EACH FARMER DIG A HOLE IN THE GROUND AND SET FIRE TO THE DEAD ANIMALS TO KILLL ALL THE GERMS AND PLACE DIRT OVER THEM (LIKE THEY DID YEARS AGO SO NOT TO SPREAD DISEAS)
D
October 15, 2018 at 4:35 am
Do you think it’s possible that any of the companies on your List will be purchasing from these rendering facilities?
.
D