K9joy Education

Open Secret: Giant USA Corporations Poison Pets

By Tom Lonsdale, May 2007

The following article is reprinted from Tom Lonsdale's newsletter "The Raw Meaty Bones Newsletter", with permission. It represents Tom Lonsdale's own views and not necessarily those of K9joy.

On March 16, 2007 junk pet-food manufacturer Menu Foods issued a press release: http://www.menufoods.com/recall/Press_Recall_03162007.htm

As a result of the Recall we gained a peek into the contract- manufacturing practices of several junk pet-food companies including Mars, Nestlé, Colgate-Palmolive and Procter & Gamble. Far from offering premium products it appears they simply affix different (misleading or false) labels to substantially the same toxic brew from the same manufacturing vats. By March 23 the ABC News reported that aminopterin, a rat poison, may have been the toxic agent responsible for the cases of acute kidney disease.

Melamine is now the contaminant suspected of triggering the acute kidney disease outbreak as is reported at the Pet Connection website: http://www.petconnection.com/recall_basics.php

The New York Times has been following the story and on April 30, 2007 carried the banner headline:

FILLER IN ANIMAL FEED IS OPEN SECRET IN CHINA

If we follow the NYT line of reasoning, and alas many people will, then the lawless Chinese are the culprits and the American manufacturers are innocent victims. But not so fast: For sure adulteration of any foodstuff should be condemned and, hopefully, if those responsible can be found they will receive appropriate penalties.

Of much greater concern is that this current, albeit, significant issue should serve as a distraction, as a smoke-screen to the main game; that the junk pet-food manufacturers should once again turn adversity into advantage; that they should continue to cheat the public whilst killing a majority of the world's pets, sometimes quickly but mostly slowly as a result of diet-induced chronic kidney disease, cancer and a host of other painful diseases.

Mass deception of such magnitude depends on other individuals and institutions that are either part of the scam or turning a blind eye. In this regard we can identify the organized veterinary profession, so- called animal welfare bodies, Food and Drug Administration and numerous commentators who, either passively or actively, stay mute.

The NYT remark: 'But, by using the melamine additive, the feed seller makes a heftier profit because melamine scrap is much cheaper than soy, wheat or corn protein.' They don't, however, mention the open secret that soy, wheat, or corn protein has little or no place in a carnivore's diet. The junk pet food companies know that; the vets know that, but they also know that vegetable protein is cheaper and returns a bigger profit than protein of animal origin.

As one pet food manufacturer commented about turning cheap waste products into pet food: 'Give me a tyre, an old leather shoe and a quart of oil and I can meet the specifications for the NRC diet.'

Vet Bill Miller puts it another way:

Of course the companies are aware that by keeping their costs down they impose a massive cost burden on pet owners who first pay for the harmful products and then endure the emotional and financial costs of their pets' veterinary treatment. Pets obliged to consume these products slowly, sometimes quickly, pay with their lives.

These days there's a 389 page peer-reviewed book, Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health, which tells the whole sorry story of graft and corruption in the junk pet food/veterinary/faux animal welfare alliance: http://www.rawmeatybones.com/vetsay.html

Since 2002, the New York Times along with many other USA media institutions have been informed by letter and email about the junk pet- food scandal. Editors and journalists have hard copies of Raw Meaty Bones and, if not, can read the book for free at www.rawmeatybones.com

What, I wonder, will it take to get them to take notice and inform their vulnerable and dependent readership?

From 1993 to 1995 I corresponded with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On February 1, 1995 I wrote:

What, I wonder, will it take to get the FDA to take notice and take action in accordance with their responsibilities? Will they perform the function they are paid for, or will they continue to 'run interference' on behalf of the junk pet food industry/veterinary/faux animal welfare alliance?

The Raw Meaty Bones Newsletter is published by:

You might also be interested in Mogens Eliasen's comments to the scandal:

• The Dog Food Recalls of May 03, 2007

• Conclusions from the Dog Food Recalls of May 06, 2007

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