Pet owners spend more than an estimated $15 billion a year on pet food in the USA alone. Yet for all that money, there is very little regulation of the industry. Ann Martin, author of the best-selling Foods Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food, started investigating the pet food industry in 1990 after her two dogs became sick from eating commercial food.
Eighteen years later, Foods Pets Die For is in its third edition, but little headway has been made in the industry. Pet food continues to be largely unregulated and unsuspecting pet owners may be feeding their pets euthanized companion animals, diseased animals, dead zoo animals, road kill and meat that is deemed unfit for human consumption. We caught up with author Ann Martin to find out more shocking facts about the pet food industry and ask what is the one thing every pet owner needs to know about commercial pet food.
Tell us a bit about what got you started investigating pet foods.
In 1990 I had two large dogs, a Newfoundland and Saint Bernard. I had been feeding them a well-known food for about five years.
This particular time it was a new bag, which I had just opened, and within hours both dogs were drinking an excess amount of water and vomiting. In the morning I contacted our veterinarian who advised, if they were no longer vomiting, to begin feeding them a homemade diet, cooked chicken, turkey or beef, brown rice or other grain and vegetables that were finally chopped or put through a food processor. On this diet both dogs were fine but when I returned to feeding the commercial food both dogs displayed the same symptoms. This happened three times in a week.
I began to question what might have been in the food they were fed as a result and on the suggestion of our veterinarian, I did have the food tested at two different labs for levels of mycotoxins and heavy metals. Mycotoxins, although not in high enough levels to cause the symptoms were found as well as high levels of zinc at 1120ppm. Vomiting and excess consumption of water are an indication of zinc toxicity.
In this same time frame I also learned about some of the ingredients that are used in many commercial pet foods and that this is basically a self-regulated industry.
Your book is currently in its 3rd edition, did you think it would be so popular?
Back in 1997 when the first edition of Food Pets Die For was published it was the first and only book that had been written on this topic. I, like many pet owners, had no idea, prior to this research/investigation, what was actually going into the foods we were feeding our pets. Yes, in a way I am surprised that the interest continues but as more and more people consider their pets to be part of the family and want to do the best they can for them, so the interest in my books continues.
How have people responded to your books?
Each day I receive a number of e-mails from people that have read my books and want to tell me that they have been a real eye-opener. I've received no negative comments.
There are many people now that want to feed a homemade diet to their pets and are using the recipes in the book with great results.
I have documentation...advising that dogs and cats are rendered with other materials, dead cattle, zoo animals, road kill, and this material, meat meal, is being shipped to the pet food industry.
Have you ever had any pressure from the pet food industry?
I personally have not had any pressure from the pet food industry, but my publisher as well as a radio host who has a show that I have done three or four times, have been put under pressure from some of the larger pet food companies. Interestingly, when I have done some radio or television shows, representatives from the industry have also been invited to be a guest. All have refused to attend and I have to question if they have something to hide.
What is in your book that pet owners need to know?
I think the most important thing that owner's should do is learn to read labels. Many companies use generic terms for the ingredients, meat by-products is an example. Meat by-products are materials from slaughterhouse facilities, condemned for human consumption. This material is denatured with chemicals that can include crude carbolic acid and citronella. This is poured on the material prior to shipping to the pet food companies in order to prevent it from getting back into the human food chain.
...animals are euthanized with a drug - pentobarbital - and this withstands the rendering process and has been found in a number of dry commercial dog foods.
What has most surprised you about the pet food industry?
A veterinarian in California advised me that euthanized cats and dogs from shelters, pounds and veterinary clinics were routinely rendered and used in commercial pet foods as a source of protein. I decided to find out what was happening to the euthanized pets from the veterinary clinics where I live, in a city of about 365,000.
Approximately a year later I had the information. These animals were being picked up by a dead stock removal operation, shipped to a broker in another part of the province, he in turn sold the bodies to a rendering plant in another province, whoever was paying the highest price at the time. I have documentation, in writing, from the Minister of Agriculture in that province, advising that dogs and cats are rendered with other materials, dead cattle, zoo animals, road kill, and this material, meat meal, is being shipped to the pet food industry.
I would have to say what shocked me most was the fact that rendered companion animals are used in the foods. There is no law against this, it is perfectly legal.
The problem also is that many of these animals are euthanized with a drug - pentobarbital - and this withstands the rendering process and has been found in a number of dry commercial dog foods.
Cat foods were not tested. You also have to look at the fact that these animals may have been treated with a wide array of drugs prior to their demise and many of these drugs also withstand the rendering process.
What about the veterinarian sold pet foods?
Again, it is reading labels and I think you will find that many of the ingredients used in the diets you purchase from your veterinarian are also in pet foods you would buy in the supermarket. In my opinion these foods are no better than the cheaper brands.
What new information is in the third edition of Foods Pets Die For?
In the third edition of Food Pets Die For which came out late this summer I cover the pet food recall, updates on the animal experiments undertaken by pet food companies, bloat, questionable vitamins and minerals, cooking for cats as well as dogs, and lists of natural pet food companies (in case you don't have the time to cook for your pet and want to feed a quality food). Other issues covered include boarding your pet, pet scams and designer dogs.
What should we learn from the North American pet food recall in 2007?
I think what shocked people more than anything else with the 2007 recall was the fact that companies they trusted were not actually making the foods. These foods were being co-packed by two or three companies and, as we saw, the contamination affected foods that people thought were safe. Many pet foods were recalled due to cross contamination. Over the years we have seen many recalls of pet foods due to toxins found in the foods, but because this recall was so massive and encompassed so many brands, people began to question what they were feeding their pets.
Garbage, which would otherwise be sent to landfill, was being used in the foods they were feeding their animals.
Do you think the recall woke people up to the ugly side of the pet food industry?
For nearly ten years prior to the recall I had written about the industry and what was going on as far as the ingredients that were being used as well as the lack of regulations. With the 2007 recall more and more people began to realize that the advertisements they saw for pet foods, fresh meat, whole grains, quality fruits and vegetables and pure fats, were indeed a fallacy. Garbage, which would otherwise be sent to landfill, was being used in the foods they were feeding their animals.
Why do you think pet owners are so passive with their animals' food?
People trusted the industry; they trusted their veterinarians that told them to feed their animals a particular food. It's the same with most humans who never question their doctor. People that care about the health and welfare of their pets are now questioning the companies, asking about the sources of the ingredients, where they source the raw materials from and is that company actually packaging their own pet foods. If they don't get the answers they require, people are switching to companies that have nothing to hide and will provide the information.
What do you recommend pet owners feed their animals?
For nearly nineteen years I have cooked for my pets - both dogs and cats. We seldom have a veterinary bill and my pets live very long lives. The lifespan of a Newfoundland dog is about eight years. My last Newfoundland was over 14 when I lost him. My cats have all lived into their mid-twenties.
People have been brainwashed by the industry and veterinarians to think if they feed their pet a human food they are going to kill the dog or cat. On the contrary, you would not feed your child something from a bag or can on a daily basis and expect them not to have health problems. It's the same with pets. They require fresh foods just as a child or adult does.
Anything you would like to add?
I want to thank you for inviting me to do this interview and to tell your reader's that to have healthy, happy pets you have to feed them a quality diet devoid of the chemicals and toxins which are in many commercial pet foods.
Foods Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food by Ann Martin is published by NewSage Press Inc.
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