Orijen’s Canned Response or Supporting a Canned Hunt Farmer?

Oh no. Canned hunting is the scourge of this planet – or one of them. It is so morally and ethically wrong to raise animals and then have people pay to “hunt” them in an enclosed area. It is not even humane since they prefer to shoot them somewhere on the body in order to preserve the head (“the trophy” – ugh!). We should be moving forward on the planet, not back to colonial times. At least then, people hunted for food, not a trophy!
Interesting to note that you have had no response from Orijen… silence is sometimes louder than words.

I too abhor canned hunting. But to be realistic, these boars probably have a better life then the factory farmed meat that is in most pet foods.

I have seen factory-farmed chicken. I have watched cows be butchered. I have heard the chilling screams of pigs. I have seen the confusion in deer’s and goats’ eyes before they drop.

I have witnessed the land battles between sheep and cattle ranchers, which always ends in death.

I have killed chickens, turkeys and geese.. I killed my first chicken when I was four. Mariposa was my pet.

I have never killed a rabbit. Quite honestly (and ignorantly), I don’t know how they live and die to feed our pets.

Our cats are obligate carnivores. We are responsible for the deaths of other sentient beings to feed our beloved animals. We need to acknowledge this. I would like to kill in the most humane way possible, with little fear, anticipation, dread or pain, but I don’t know that there’s a good way to die. Cats play with their prey; “trophy hunters” chase domesticated creatures that only *look* wild.

I feed my cats primarily free range local duck, geese, chicken, quail and lamb. During deer hunting season, I feed them venison. Although I buy these from the butcher, cleaned and dressed, nicely packaged in white paper, I know I am responsible for these animals’ bloody deaths. Any fear or pain they experienced is on my hands.

So, what rules or ethics do we follow in raising and killing other animals meant for our own animals’ consumption?

I don’t approve of canned hunts period. But my question for y’all is how does Champion get away with stating that they use “Wild Boar” when these animals aren’t wild. If they were wild they wouldn’t need supplementing by man. Also, are all the hogs hunted male?? That is what a boar is. I know this may sound like nit picking, but I question their (Champions) honesty in marketing. Too much of their advertising sounds too good to be true. Now I have no confidence in what their bags/web site/ brochures say.

Many, many changes at Champion the last 3 or so years, including introducing many carbs into their previously nearly carb free formulas, lentils & beans, all in a row. Meat & fish meals have been drastically reduced, replaced by “fresh” proteins which include water weight. There is still a respectable amount of protein in (some of) their products, but not nearly what they state on the labels. As I figured (per Craig), investors purchased the company; the changes seem coincident to these changes. My email conversations with Bonnie multiple times seemed to skirt this subject. But, that’s what investors do. They don’t want to wait for their money; they make massive formula changes to cheapen manufacturing cost, change package sizes & increase prices, just like happened with Champion. It seems like any regard for quality & the health of out pets has been replaced by greed. This is what happened with Eagle Pack, first bought by investors, multiple back-to-back price increases (to make them more attractive to buyers I guess) & then scooped up by Wellness, now changed to Wellpet. Subtle but many changes (cheaper) in formulas. I saw health differences in pets in my grooming shop as a result so I dumped them. Have actually seen the same things with Champion. Formerly, slim & healthy animals are now fat from addition of carbs and also demonstrating food allergy issues (licking paws, rears & armpits). With the addition of carbs to the cat fish formula (same ones, all in a row), have discontinued all Champion sales. I do believe Champion did sell out. The kids probably didn’t want to put the same effort/energy into maintaining the quality of the company as started by their father or grandfather, so they sold out & walked away with probably prepaid college educations for all. Am disappointed but not surprised. As for Bonnie, I’ve had many email conversations with her & find she always responded to me (not always in a timely manner as if to get her story straight before doing so) but also she tended to skirt some more sensitive issues & often responded with what seemed like an indirect, but scripted, response. Thanks Susan. I was also buying the “wild” boar treats. I do understand the food chain but don’t believe there is any excuse for not treating even our eventual food in a humane manner right up to the end. Very sad.

The meat that is in the food isn’t from animals harvested during a hunt. The meat in the food comes from animals processed in an inspected plant.

I know I will need a flame retardent suit. This is one of the very, very few times I disagree with Susan.

I am against trophy hunting. Period.

I also find it somewhat unreasonable to have no issues with factory farming, transporting and slaughtering animals for our food and for pet food. These animals suffer way, way more than these wild boars. There is plenty of documentation out there showing the problems with slaughterhouses and how many animals suffer horrendously because of improper procedures. As pet food consumers, we do sit in a glass house. Even more if we don’t purchase food with by products.

Even organically, pasture raised animals are trucked to the slaughterhouse and killed in an assembly line that pushes workers to speed, not necessarily accuracy.

The idea of killing an animal for a trophy and nailing it on a wall goes beyond my comprehension. But – I do believe these animals have a better life and a better death than factory farmed and even organically farmed animals. And to the animal it doesn’t make any difference what happens to their carcass after death. What matters to them is the life part.

Can anybody here absolutely and without a shadow of doubt vouch for every animal ingredient in their food? We depend on animals being raised, transported and killed so we can enjoy the luxury of pet ownership.

Ok, donning my suit now.

I think this is one of the most difficult discussions ever attempted on the TAPF. We’re all in agreement (at least) that transparency in a PF company is paramount. In order for every consumer to make an informed choice. But what sure gets scary is the wide range of sensitivity that Readers are sharing. Ironically we’re all united about wanting to protect our own companion pets. Which means the need for good, safe food. So our pets will be less likely to die prematurely from cancer and suffering. So we all have THAT much sensitivity at least.

But then we start to get all crazy about HOW that good PF protein is being sourced. The most extreme comment was that somebody didn’t care whether or not it was electrocuted or shot in the head with a bolt! Just as long as the meat was healthy!! Then there were several comments about how buying that Friday night steak is an act of hypocrisy. Because we’re so easily distanced from how it came to be. Granted, farming, ranching isn’t pretty. Nobody has their head buried in the ground. In fact more and more people are turning to Veganism or reducing animal protein intake. But agribusiness is an accepted standard for supplying our necessities. So I *think* this argument is unbalanced just because people feel their right to use guns is being “crowded.” Meaning that as long as there’s nothing illegal about hunting, and by default, contrived hunting, then freedom should abound.

Except for one little detail.

Hunting, if we all remember, was the method of survival long before supermarkets came into being, including the business of suppliers stocking them. You know, we’ve kind of systematized mass production for feeding our families now, haven’t we? Or else, maybe, just so we don’t forget the ugliness of killing an animal, we should pick up a gun, and go out and do it ourselves? Right. That’s what this argument is about. Look, nobody is going to deny a person’s right to hunt. But honestly, when there is no longer a life depending upon doing so … then really what in the world IS the entertainment value? How can that even be. Except that it just happens to be a convenient excuse to demonstrate the preference for owning a gun. That and for self defense of course. So who on this earth, would ever imagine the similarity between the need for a PF company’s transparency (what the original article was about) and ethical behavior …. and defending a personal freedom? Yet, that’s exactly what we’re talking about. So go ahead and enjoy killing an animal, because it is definitely your right to do so. If it didn’t die at your hands, then some larger prey or human would kill it anyway. That’s the cycle of life, no doubt. But in the meantime, do continue to worry about the quality of life concerning *your* companion pet. And hope to gawd that it never accidentally gets in the way of a determined – hunter.

Your comment provided very interesting thinking. Indeed