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Does Vet Damage the Reputation of University?

A Veterinary School Professor just published an article telling consumers NOT to read the ingredients on pet food labels. Is her advice damaging the reputation of the University she works for (Tufts)?

A Veterinary School Professor just published an article telling consumers NOT to read the ingredients on pet food labels. Is her advice damaging the reputation of the University she works for (Tufts)?

Dr. Lisa Freeman “is a veterinary nutritionist and a professor at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University.” Her bio continues with “She is on the cutting-edge of science, with hundreds of articles in prestigious journals, speaking engagements at national and international conferences, and awards for her scientific achievements. However, she also is passionate about providing objective and accurate information on pet nutrition to veterinarians, pet owners, and other animal enthusiasts.”

A recent post from Dr. Lisa Freeman on the Tufts University Veterinary School website is causing a stir from educated pet food consumers. Dr. Freeman discusses the recent investigation of grain free pet foods possible link to heart disease (recently written about on TAPF here: https://truthaboutpetfood.com/is-it-peas-processing-or-a-combination/). Dr. Freeman takes a different perspective of the grain-free investigation, linking “boutique” and “exotic” pet foods to the potential heart disease risk in dogs. She states she sees “nutritional deficiencies due to people feeding unconventional diets, such as unbalanced home-prepared diets, raw diets, vegetarian diets, and boutique commercial pet foods”.

Dr. Freeman speaks highly of pets consuming grains; “And while grains have been accused on the internet of causing nearly every disease known to dogs, grains do not contribute to any health problems and are used in pet food as a nutritious source of protein, vitamins, and minerals.” (She forgets to mention the known risk of mycotoxin contamination in grains and the toxicity concerns for the pets consuming those grains.)

And Dr. Freeman takes aim at small pet food manufacturers stating: “Small pet food manufacturers might be better at marketing than at nutrition and quality control.”

But the most concerning statement from Dr. Freeman is under a section titled “What should you do?”

(bold added)

Reconsider your dog’s diet. If you’re feeding a boutique, grain-free, or exotic ingredient diets, I would reassess whether you could change to a diet with more typical ingredients made by a company with a long track record of producing good quality diets. And do yourself a favor – stop reading the ingredient list! Although this is the most common way owners select their pets’ food, it is the least reliable way to do so.

Is telling pet food consumers they should NOT read the ingredient list of their pet food good advice – especially coming from a veterinary nutritionist?

Would a human food nutritionist ever tell clients they should NOT read the ingredients in their food and blindly trust the food?

Does such questionable advice like this – coming from a veterinary professor – shine a dim light on the University/the Veterinary School?

 

Opinion: If any veterinary school is giving advice to consumers, it should encourage consumers to learn as much as possible about the product they are feeding their pet. No medical professional should ever tell consumers to blindly trust a food or drug or medical procedure. This is a ‘because I said so’ – ‘because you aren’t smart enough to understand’ mentality. It’s demeaning to consumers. This type of attitude makes this consumer (me) question the ethics of Dr. Freeman, and in turn the ethics of the entire veterinary program at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. It makes me wonder if students are allowed to think, or are they treated how Dr. Freeman treats consumers (‘because I said so’)? Consumers and students need to be encouraged/motivated to learn – not stifled to blindly trust ‘because I said so’.

To read the full post from Dr. Lisa Freeman, Click Here.

 

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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40 Comments

40 Comments

  1. Hope

    June 6, 2018 at 12:57 pm

    Freeman seems to be from the Trump school for veterinarians. I am Queen, I’m the only one that has the truth, who cares if it makes sense or is based on knowledge. Throughout the article couldn’t help but wonder who bought her off not to mention the Cummings School for vets. Trash!

    • Linda Kelly

      June 6, 2018 at 3:05 pm

      Please keep your personal politics out of your comment as some people dismiss your your article immediately like me!!

      • Stephanie

        June 6, 2018 at 6:14 pm

        Ditto that!

    • Ruby

      June 6, 2018 at 4:43 pm

      Comments would be more meaningful if you focused on the topic and not your politics.

    • Swanie

      June 7, 2018 at 3:25 am

      ROFL – Freeman has always been in pet food industry lackey

  2. Diane

    June 6, 2018 at 12:59 pm

    Amen Susan
    I read her post yesterday and was horrified
    Current cardiac research IS linking taurine deficiency dcm to legume heavy (peas, chickpeas etc) foods of which manny happen to be grain free
    The research has NOT linked it to any other ingredient or formula

    This nutritionist vet embodies everything I hate with commercial feed driven vets

  3. sarcroth

    June 6, 2018 at 1:00 pm

    How ridiculous! There are so many other science-backed and peer-reviewed articles that go against what she is stating. Is there contact info for Tufts University where we could voice our concern over this vet and her article, similar to how we could contact state reps and whatnot? I am SO glad my veterinarian is completely aware of Big Pet Feed and their grip on the vet industry and has refused to give to in to them! He would tell this woman she needed to go back to school.

  4. Marilyn Evans

    June 6, 2018 at 1:01 pm

    It’s quite appalling and smacks of pet food industry influence. The entire article was posted in Golden Retriever Lifetime Study FB Group, where several members have dogs diagnosed with DCM due to low taurine levels. To advocate grain-based foods when grains contain very low levels of taurine is heresy. Although many dogs in the study are raw fed, I’m sure they are in the minority.

  5. Just No

    June 6, 2018 at 1:13 pm

    Oh, why should we ever read food labels? We don’t know anything because we aren’t vets! Well, we do know that dogs and kids are omnivores (although we probably shouldn’t read science or nutrition information, either.). And we know that, say, Cheerios, made by a company with a long, good track record, is made of vitamin-enriched grains — it says so on the label! So let’s feed our kids nothing but Cheerios three times a day — they should do great! Basically that’s what we’re doing when we feed a dog cheap, mass-market, grain-based kibble as this vet suggests. I wonder how pediatricians would feel about this. . . but they aren’t vets so they don’t know anything about anything, either!

    • Jane Card

      August 20, 2018 at 4:07 pm

      Just a couple of points I would like to address..re: your comment..Firstly dogs are not omnivores…
      they are scavenging carnivores whereas cats are obligate carnivores that both require different nutritional agendas to maintain optimal health.
      Cats and dogs being fed solely a dead inorganic highly processed kibble of any kind regardless of what Freeman is saying will not supply the nutrition to maintain adequate health all the while keeping your pet in a highly inflammatory state of poor health..
      leaving the door open for disease.
      Secondly..Clipped from GreenMed info.com
      General Mills Cheerios may now be “non-GMO” but it is virtually guaranteed to contain Roundup herbicide residues, as disclosed by North America’s largest oat supplier.
      That’s enough for me to never purchase this so good healthy cereal.

  6. Jeri

    June 6, 2018 at 1:28 pm

    Yep, more and more the conventional mindset in vet medicine appears to be “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain. The great and terrible Oz has spoken!” Time to pull back that curtain and expose the little man for what he really is.

  7. Andrea

    June 6, 2018 at 1:51 pm

    She’s lost her marbles and needs to lose her job. She gives all veterinary nutritionists a bad name.

  8. Casey Post

    June 6, 2018 at 1:53 pm

    So – how are we to choose a food? The pretty pictures?

    Should we not look at ingredients in our own foods, either? Even if, you know, we have an allergy to a food or something?

    This is incredibly disturbing and sounds like she is just another bought-and-paid-for vet that BPF has in its pocket.

  9. Hannie

    June 6, 2018 at 1:53 pm

    This is absolute insanity. I wonder if she would also tell parents to feed anything to their babies & not bother to read labels then either. I will agree with one thing: I’m not all that sure that reading the ingredient list is really telling anyone what’s in the food……whether it be human or pet. I feel a lot of companies “forget” about some of the worst ingredients & they are never listed. The only one I trust to use healthy ingredients that are good for my baby girl is ME……end of story!

  10. kelsy

    June 6, 2018 at 1:55 pm

    now@tufts.edu
    to email your complaints and why this lying Dr Freeman should be fire for lying to pet owners.

  11. Cynthia Kaplan

    June 6, 2018 at 1:57 pm

    I agree with you and thank you for sharing this article. If you dig a bit deeper, the author is also member of an organization of animal nutrition experts (given as a resource in the article you mention) that is funded by none other than Royal Canine! I have come across many vets that are very skeptical of alternative foods, despite the fact that most are using better ingredients than commercial brands, and I believe it´s mostly because vets are not generally well-trained in nutrition in vet school, and what they do know comes primarily from the big companies who sponsor chairs at the vet schools in the US, and elsewhere. I think we need to educate more vets on the benefits of fresh petfood as a compliment to veterinary medicine and as a viable alternative to what is commercially available. There is now research (from Finland) that proves a natural diet will extend the life of our pets and can prevent cancer up to 90%! (see post by Rodney Habib on Planet Paws). And although there is some investigation, it is limited due to the huge costs of conducting such studies, currently paid for by the large corporations.

    • Dave Moore

      June 10, 2018 at 3:25 pm

      Thanks for a reasonable response and your additional info.

  12. Cannoliamo

    June 6, 2018 at 2:05 pm

    In partial defense of Dr. Freeman, this is one professional’s opinion, not a scientific peer-reviewed study. There are many other widely diverse opinions floating among clinical veterinary nutritionists. Here is a list of some of them.

    American Academy of Veterinary Nutrition http://www.aavn.org/
    Academy of Veterinary Nutrition Technicians http://nutritiontechs.org
    American Society of Clinical Nutrition http://www.nutrition.org/
    American Society for Parenteral & Enteral Nutrition https://www.nutritioncare.org/
    Amino Acid Laboratory, University of California, Davis http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmb/labs/aal/
    Association of American Feed Control Officials http://www.aafco.org/
    Consumerlab.com (tests dietary supplements for purity, potency, bioavailability, etc) http://www.consumerlab.com/
    FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (regulatory and safety issues, adverse event reporting, meetings, industry information) http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/OfficeofFoods/CFSAN/ or http://www.fda.gov/Food/default.htm
    FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/
    FDA Recall List http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/RecallsWithdrawals/default.htm
    NIH National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine http://nccam.nih.gov
    NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (fact sheets, safety notices, database) http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov
    Nutrient Composition of Whole Vertebrate Prey
    http://wildpro.twycrosszoo.org/000ADOBES/Bears/D317WholePreyFinal02May29.pdf
    Nutrition Advisory Group to the American Zoo and Aquarium Association http://nagonline.net/
    Pet Food Institute http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/
    Pet Food Institute Consumer Information http://www.petfoodinstitute.org/?s=consumer+guide
    USDA Food and Nutrition Information Center (general supplement and nutrition information, links to a variety of dietary supplement websites) https://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic
    United State Pharmacopeia Dietary Supplement Verification Program http://www.usp.org/verification-services
    WSAVA – Global Nutrition Committee – Nutrition Toolkit & Guidelines
    http://www.wsava.org/guidelines/global-nutrition-guidelines

  13. Donna Muse

    June 6, 2018 at 3:19 pm

    Well, she’s an IDIOT and obviously bought and paid for by someone. Though she might be right about “some” small businesses and others who do not really understand the nutritional needs of their dogs they are are least making an effort. To advise people to NOT read a label is beyond the pale of reason and highly suspect on her part.

  14. filareefree

    June 6, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    Dr. Freeman has been against raw food for dogs for longer than I can remember. I remember an article in a dog magazine long ago. I didn’t appreciate her stance then and certainly don’t now. Shame on her. It is beyond sad that these “professionals” are still ingrained with the one-sided training they received in vet school. They don’t think for themselves. She has an agenda but she sure needs to put her politics aside and get educated with the TRUTH! I will pray for her!

  15. Cat Stuart

    June 6, 2018 at 3:47 pm

    I believe Tuft’s animal / pet nutrition education is produced by one of the Big Cereal / Candy companies.

  16. Batgirl2779

    June 6, 2018 at 4:44 pm

    Well this is what happens when America let’s it’s education system slip to right above Uganda. People can’t even use basic reasoning skills anymore.

  17. kelsy

    June 6, 2018 at 4:54 pm

    Of course this dr freeman is getting financial kickbacks as the pet food industry does not want anyone to read anything.
    We now feed frozen raw food, even though the f da fraud & death administration is trying to close down all the tiny raw food businesses with fake pet food recalls to close them down.
    For longer living pets, avoid vaccines.
    The holistic vet said that dogs that are not vaccinated don’t have all the health issues of vaccinated pets and live much longer healthier happier lives without the sickly consequences caused by vaccination and over vaccination.
    We learned the hard way too. Our first dog, we followed the allapathic vets recommendation, and so our dog had health problems for life.
    Next dog, no vet, no vaccines. Healthy, so allergies, no seizures, no aggression, no vet bills.
    Of course, vets want to vaccinate, so the dogs will be back with itching and allergies, and sell more prescriptions that temporarily hide the symptoms, and then illness and disease gets worse, then cancer which is the jack pot for vets.
    Prevent disease with nosodes. There are rabies nosodes, parvo nosodes, distemper nosodes, Erlichia tick nosodes, lyme tick nosodes, on and on, there are natural preventatives for most diseases. Nosodes do not contain the chemicals and cancer cells that all vaccines contain for both pets and humans.
    In the 70’s and earlier, dogs were not vaccinated very much, and many never vaccinated, and many dogs never saw a vet, so the average age for Goldens, dogs etc was 17 years. Then Big Veterinary Pharma started pushing vaccines for profit and now the average Golden, dogs live to be 8 or 9 and are lucky if they live beyond that, with hosts of medical issues starting quite young, and vets are winning the lottery on all this itching, allergies, seizures, illness, disease and the ultimate winner is cancer. Vaccines promote disease, many cause that very disease it is suppose to prevent, why, for profits.
    It is up to you to find true health vets, real holistic vets, real homeopathic vets or naturopath vets, and do your own research.
    Most vets are not true health vets, they lie about everything. I can give you a list so long about all the lies about all my pets thru the years. Numerous pets and the vets made so much money.
    Now I am informed, I haven’t spent hardly anything for vets, and it shows, healthy pets, no itching, no allergies, no seizures, no illness, no disease and no cancer.
    I may spend a little more for frozen raw food, and natural supplements, but I spend way less because I don’t have all vet bills and with healthy pets, no need for vets.
    Healthy pets are happier, so do your own research, do not trust the allapathic vets, as they are lying almost all the time and are taught to lie by classes paid for by Big Veterinary Pharma.
    I have numerous surveys with pet owners, and have lists of stories of how vets lied to their paying patients for profit not for health. It amazes me how far these vets lie to innocent people who love their pets, just to steal their money. No interest in true health.
    I sure hope more pet owners, pet parents, become aware, so they can have healthier happier pets, and to care more about your pets and not your vets pocketbook.
    Now if you actually find a true health vet, holsitic vet, homeopathic vet or naturopathic vet, they by all means they can help guide you with how to feed your pet raw food, veggies, fruit, and what supplements to take.
    And they can help guide you to heal your pets from the damage from vaccines.
    Those are the few good vets, and they are very few and far between. I have met and talked to a number of these true health vets, and they love animals and want to help, but it is very hard because they are going against Big Veterinary Pharma. But those true health vets are amazing people with knowledge to improve your pets health and many save pets that are dying from conventional vet care. I so wish there were true health vets everywhere, in every town to guide pet lovers so they could have healthy pets. Those true health vets, I have no problem paying them well, because they have knowledge that the average conventional allapathic veterinarians do not have, and do not want to learn true health. Obviously in an emergency, then go to the closest emergency vet, but once your pet is out of danger, get them healthy, and research for natural pet health remedies.
    This Dr Freeman should be fired at Tufts University for lying and brainwashing students and pet consumers. Dr Freeman just makes the vets look even more bad then they already are

    • Kim

      June 7, 2018 at 12:19 pm

      100% agree with you.

    • Ellie

      June 8, 2018 at 11:20 am

      It appears that ignorance is bliss to this veterinarian. As long as consumers have no idea what is in the bag and just trust the veterinarians that benefit from the huge multi billion dollar pet food industry then we will all be just fine! If we could trust these huge corporations that now run this country then the ingredients would not have to be made available to us! She honestly believes that we should blindly trust these people? Sadly, many do.
      Should human beings also not read the ingredient list on the boxed and bagged “food” items that are on the grocery store shelves for them? (sadly many do not and that is why obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc., is rampant in this country) Most of what we find on our grocery store shelves are not even recognizable as food anymore it has been so highly processed into some sugar and chemical filled form that fits in the box, bags, etc., that are so colorfully printed!
      This is not the way any body, human or animal body, is designed to assimilate food. Why do these companies process out all the original nutrients from food items and then replace that natural nutrition with synthetic vitamins and minerals that are processed in China?? The American public has been convinced that anything on the grocery store shelf must be safe because their government is watching out for them! Nonsense! The big corporations own most of the farms of the US. The family farm is all but dead in the US. Individuals that go to the few smaller family farms that still exist in this country support what is left of the real food supply in this country. However, it is rare when you will find their unadulterated products in a national chain grocery store! You will be allowed to pay double or triple the price for organic products that look like they sat in the sun for a week though!
      Most of the highly processed pet foods manufactured in the US are made from GMO ingredients. Most American livestock is fed GMO grains. GMO foods are banned in the EU and many other areas of the globe but not the US! We cannot even have labeling that identifies GMO ingredients! The corporate owned food industry and other huge multinational foreign manufacturing corporations run this country. You are not going to hear the truth about GMO foods or highly processed foods from any of the corporate owned media! If you need to know the truth about a matter in this country you have to search out the information for yourself because no one is going to oppose corporate America. Well, it is really the corporate owned western world because you will find most of the same huge multinational corporations throughout the western world and beyond. The new royalty.

  18. Maria

    June 6, 2018 at 6:29 pm

    I understand this extremely frustrating. Yes grains aren’t necessarily bad- the problem is mass produced food contains grains that weren’t raised in natural environments and instead enhanced to increase the production for the demand. Thus, making the grain in the food not nearly as nutritious.
    The more “boutique” brands as she calls them, have more controlled environments for the foods with grain in them, thus being good for the pet.

    People also choose exotic meats because chicken and more common proteins are in such high demand that we feed these chickens crap feed which makes them as a protein less beneficial to the pet. Hence more uncommon proteins.

  19. Cathy Bienvenue

    June 6, 2018 at 6:40 pm

    Tufts animal nutrition training and their certifications are sourced from one of the Big Cereal / Candy companies. It is easy to find. Sorry if this posts twice, trbl with submissions.

  20. Heather Rundio

    June 7, 2018 at 1:43 am

    This woman is nuts! She should lose her license to practice veterinary nutrition/medicine. My dog is allergic to barley, so he is on a grain free diet. I’m always reading labels at the store whenever I buy him anything. She is most certainly making the university that she’s representing look bad along with herself. If this is what she’s teaching, they need to revoke her teaching license as well and fire her immediately.

  21. Batzion

    June 7, 2018 at 6:55 am

    OFF TOPIC: Please sign the Change.org petition to stop the barbaric and utterly inhumane Yulin Dog Meat Festival in China which begins June 21st and lasts for 10 days: NOTE: The video is disturbing as well it should be to any person who has compassion for animals: https://www.change.org/p/stop-allowing-the-yulin-dog-meat-lychee-festival

  22. landsharkinnc

    June 7, 2018 at 7:33 am

    considering that most Vet Courses in Nutrition are sponsored/provided by the company supplying feed to that institution ( frequently on a bid basis ) I have little to no faith in the qualifications of what Vet ‘Nutritionists’ recommend.

  23. Karen Lucas

    June 7, 2018 at 9:53 am

    So disappointed in Tufts. Had thought they were better than this and I subscribe to their newsletter. Will have to rethink that too.

  24. Peter

    June 7, 2018 at 8:23 pm

    I think there is some level on which the Dr.’s comments are reasonable, in that most supposedly educated pet food consumers don’t understand how pet food labels can be manipulated, and in that way, don’t understand how to read them. Too many consumers have defaulted to the “1st ingredient should be…” mindset and that can be very wrongheaded, affected by “ingredient splitting,” etc.

  25. Ashley

    June 15, 2018 at 7:08 pm

    So is Tufts veterinary school sponsored by Purina or Hills?

  26. Gary

    July 2, 2018 at 7:28 am

    Clearly Dr. Freeman is in the pocket of Big Kibble.

  27. Anita S.

    December 4, 2018 at 8:51 am

    So i didn’t think i would defend her position but in regards to reading the ingredients… it’s true. With so many companies participating in things like “ingredient-splitting” and misleading names on ingredients, it might be fruitless to rely on that information. They only care about “nutrient delivery” and not the vehicle that delivers. This is why peas and legumes have become acceptable forms of protein in grain-free diets. Now they are suspected of taurine deficient DCM in dogs. Until there is better regulating of the pet food industry (and not by big kibble backed vets) – then we are left to our own common sense.

  28. Dorothy

    January 24, 2019 at 1:32 pm

    I found these Tufts articles today for the first time while researching a local vet recommended by neighbors. I moved from Chicago to Atlanta, GA about 3 yrs ago and it has been very difficult to find a good integrative vet. So when a vet recommendation is made I check it out, only to be disappointed. The vet whose site I researched had a blog stating: “There is absolutely no proof that grains are an issue in pet foods.” and provided a link to a Tufts’ article, which led me to the one titled “Why you shouldn’t judge a pet food by its ingredients list.” I was incredulous. I then came to this website and found the above from Susan, and all the great comments, and while it’s good to be among like-minded people, Vets like Freeman and her 2 colleagues are doing a lot of damage. They are highly educated and look great on paper. I can’t imagine that they really believe what they write on their website when there is so much info to the contrary out there. It makes me very sad, since I have so many friends who firmly believe their vets know what’s best. That used to be me, until I started to do my own research. I am doing my best to spread the word!
    Just have to keep raising awareness and setting an example. Anyway – as always, many thanks to Susan Thixton for being so relentless about bringing attention to this and so many issues related to pet health!!

  29. Heather

    February 7, 2019 at 1:40 pm

    I know this is an older article, but ran across some very interesting information today regarding this topic. Lisa Freeman and John Rush (Cardiologist), both vets at Tufts applied for a patent in 2001 for a “foodstuff” comprising of taurine, vitamin C, Vitamin E and one or more Polyunsaturated fatty acids, it’s use in the control of cardiovascular disorders, and it’s use in it’s method for controlling cardiovascular disorders. PUB NO 2004/0248763 A1 Mars joined the application in 2002. The application was abandoned in 2-2019. John Rush is currently recruiting dogs for a clinical trial at Tufts. In the description of the trial it states:

    There is suspicion that the disease is associated with eating certain diets which we describe as “BEG diets” – Boutique, Exotic ingredient, or Grain-free. A small proportion of these dogs with DCM have had a deficiency of taurine, an amino acid important for normal heart function, but most dogs have had normal taurine levels. The cause of the taurine deficient and non-taurine deficient forms of the disease is currently unknown. Therefore, the goal of this study is to identify the nutrients or other factor(s) contributing to diet-associated DCM in dogs eating BEG diets.

    So it looks to me that taurine deficiency is not the underlying cause of DCM, but perhaps something else.

  30. Keith

    March 6, 2019 at 10:57 am

    just simply copying this article I read that I found highly beneficial :

    The truth about Vets and your Pets Nutritional needs and what you can do to help. By AKB
    Lisa M. Freeman is a vet at Tufts University. She is funded by Purina, so everything she says is one hundred percent biased. She is literally trying to turn the pet food industry on its head with absolutely bogus ideas, for example she claims “dogs aren’t wolves” and “corn is a better protein than meat.” Worst of all she calls this science! She tries to tear apart Grain-free diets, exotic meats proteins and all “boutique” formulas that are very much so WORKING for many pets. Why? You might ask, well, because people are smarter nowadays and have moved away from buying the corn-based atrocities they push on you at vet offices. These “science-based” companies, such as our dear friend Purina, are trying to sell you a $130 bag of corn so their margins are astronomical. Corn is DIRT cheap to buy and is often covered in an allowable 30% mould. GROSS. There’s no other reason dogs or wolves should be eating corn as their main source of anything than that big pharma and these big companies can rob you blind. Vets have been trained to say “oh, but corn has such amazing amino acids”…seriously, what body builder do you know that uses corn to beef up? Get a grip. This is all about money, nothing else. The college of vets wants you to be a dumb little sheep and to fall for their “vets know best” mentality, when in fact many of these “boutique” diets, raw diets, exotic meat diets are insanely better in quality than this filthy garbage they are trying to shove down our pets throats. I’m sorry, I’m so heated, but people need to wake up and be aware of this. Your pet is counting on you not to fall for this terrible business model that big pharma, the college of vets, these disgusting companies and unfortunately many, many locals vets are hoping you’ll fall victims too so they can sit back in their mansions twiddling their fucking thumbs with their gargantuan bank accounts all at the expense of your precious Fido or Garfield. What bothers me most is none of them see a problem with their actions, often saying “it’s how I’ve been trained” or “that company has been around for years”, or worse yet, “it’s science based.” Gag me with a stick. Purina tried to buy Champion Pet Foods, which are the makers of Orijen and Acana pet foods. Champion is an extremely reputable company, with locally sourced ingredients and a biologically appropriate diet that I have seen work very well for many, many dogs and cats. They have been dominating the market because of their undeniable success in creating healthier pets. When Purina saw that the price tag for Champion was 4 billion, Purina backed right off and hired this woman, Lisa M. Freeman, who clearly has no morals and holds personal greed over the actual health and nutrition that our pets need, to tear down the company trying desperately to link grain-free diets to heart diseases in dogs. Her studies thus far have been extremely fraudulent. She only used 5 dogs, all of which were golden retrievers (a breed already known to have heart troubles) and all five dogs were from a family of dogs known to have heart issues. Don’t you think that if we were doing a real study that we would have used, I don’t know, say at least 12 separate breeds of unrelated dogs? This is a clear attack on Champion Pet Foods and nothing else because their foods are outperforming the garbage sold at vets and keeping people out of vet offices because their pets are actually healthy. No wonder it’s a 4 billion dollar company. People are finally getting it. There is no doubt in my mind, that this contemptible vet, Lisa M. Freeman and her money hungry friends at Purina aren’t finished trying to tear down Acana, Orijen and all other grain-free foods. There are going to be more accusations and heat put on these reputable companies when really the tables should be turned. I implore Lisa M. Freeman and Purina to do some real tests and try to take down corn, wheat and by-products, but they won’t because they’d loose an incredible amount of money. So, I think I have totally proven why these “science-based” tests are completely, bogus, false, ridiculous, but most importantly, BIASED. Don’t fall for this giant stunt that is being concocted by Purina to tear down good, reputable companies, because firstly you’ll only be fueling the fire that is everything wrong with the pet food industry and secondly because you are handing your money over to the gluttons responsible and trust me, those gluttons would rather purchase their new Mercedes than see your pet well. Let’s come together, for our animals and show these companies we aren’t having it anymore. Our pets deserve better owners, ones that truly care about their well-being. We can send a clear message here if we all work together, one that we are done being governed by big pharma, the college of vets, these backwards companies and their vet puppets. Also, don’t be mad at your vet, their actions are highly governed and there’s not much they can do…in fact they are forcefully told what to sell. Ever wonder why they can only sell about four brands of food? It’s preposterous and we need huge change. Wouldn’t it be incredible if we could cut out all the bad guys…let’s do it.

  31. AVAZ

    July 12, 2019 at 3:31 pm

    The list of corporate donors to the Tufts is impressive, most of which have interestes in drugs and big AG. Highly suspicious to say the least.

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And they have a slew of evidence to back up their claims.

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Tufts University Veterinary School is providing VERY misleading information to pet owners.