IRISH WOLFHOUND SOCIETY OF IRELAND
Cad a dhéanfadh mac a' chait ach luch a mharú?
What else would the cat's son do, except kill a mouse?
Your Dog Is Not a Vegetarian
by William Campbell Douglass II, MD
When I first reported on the breaking story of contamination in
mass-produced pet foods that has so far sickened and killed
thousands of our beloved American pets – dog and cats, specifically
– because it was so early on in the crisis, I had very little
information to impart about exactly what was causing these
casualties.
But I did have some recommendations on how to safeguard your kitties
and pups against this fate: To feed them ONLY raw liver, chicken
necks, hamburger, and any other uncooked meats and animal organs.
This should include at least one daily raw egg – including the shell
– rounding out their diet with cut vegetables put on top.
This advice of mine directly contradicts not only everything you’ll
hear down at your local PetSmart store (or Petco, whatever), but
also what several mainstream books recently published in wide
release have to say about canine and feline diets. Believe me,
though – I’m right and they’re wrong.
Today, there’s even more proof of this. More information has
surfaced about exactly WHY our precious pets are dying. And as usual
when it comes to nutrition – human or animal – one thing lies at the
root of all the evil…
Vegetarianism
In case you haven’t heard, the U.S. FDA is all but certain the
source of the contamination that’s sickening and killing our cats
and dogs is melamine, a toxic chemical used in the manufacture of
plastics, pesticides, and as a fertilizer. Melamine is high in
nitrogen. Now stay with me here, this last little factoid is the
heart of this whole insidious issue…
Though deemed safe in low concentrations – like what might be found
in vegetables grown in fields fertilized or insect-controlled with
melamine – direct ingestion of the substance can be deadly. Yet
according to the FDA, melamine poisoning is likely what’s sickening
and killing so many of our pets nowadays. This kind of contamination
would be VERY DIFFICULT without somebody adding melamine directly to
pet foods, or to their ingredients.
Why would anyone do this?
Despite the fact that it’s horrible for pets, most brands of modern
pet foods – especially the dry varieties – are made almost entirely
of vegetable ingredients. There are several reasons for this,
foremost among them being cost. It’s far cheaper to make pet foods
from soy this and wheat gluten that than it is to use real meats
(which is impossible in the dry foods anyway)…
But since the average pet owner is at least aware of the fact that
animals, like people, need PROTEIN to survive, pet food makers are
big on adding things to their food to boost the appearance of
nutrition. And in this case, that "additive" was very likely
poisonous melamine.
Remember I said that nitrogen was the key here? According to a
recent USA Today article, the agricultural industry typically gauges
a raw grain’s protein content by measuring its nitrogen content.
Nitrogen levels generally correspond quite closely with protein
levels…
Are you starting to see how this shakes out?
That’s right. The FDA and other groups strongly suspect that
nitrogen-rich melamine fertilizer was added in raw form to large
quantities of ALREADY HARVESTED wheat and rice earmarked for pet
foods in order to create the illusion that these worthless grains
were higher in protein than they actually are. And please note this
is vegetable protein, not animal protein which is what your pets
require.
But this is only part of the story.
To sell more pet food, pet owners were deceived into believing the
dry vegetable junk food they’re feeding their cats and dogs is
protein-rich and good for them (it’s actually horrible for them,
melamine-laced or not). I have now brought you up to speed on the
sordid saga behind the plight of pets here in the U.S. – at least
those whose owners don’t know to ignore the advice of vets and
pet-store employees when it comes to your cats’ and dogs’ diets.
(Yes, tragically, most of the vets have gone on the vegetarian
bandwagon and many sell this trash food from their offices –
"Doctor-recommended," you know.) As I’ve said repeatedly, the ONLY
foods your little kittens and pups of all breeds and ages should be
eating are raw meats and raw eggs, topped with a few fresh-cut
vegetables.
However, this isn’t common knowledge to pet owners because of a vast
vegetarian conspiracy (more on this later).
At the beginning of this article, I pointed the finger of blame for
this pet-food conspiracy – and all its casualties – squarely at
vegetarianism. In case you haven’t put the big picture together, let
me sum it up for you…
Not entirely surprisingly, the pet industry in this country has been
infiltrated and taken over by a branch of the animal rights crowd.
Not the most militant sliver, mind you. They believe that animal
ownership by humans is as evil as animal slaughter for consumption.
But these wackos are just a small percentage of the animal rights
movement.
A great many mainstream "animal people" are enthusiastic pet owners
who believe in bonding with and loving animals. Unfortunately, a lot
of them don’t believe in eating animals, or even allowing their
animals to eat animals – even though it’s exactly what their cats
and dogs need to be healthy. A lot of them are vegetarians, and by
default, their pets are, too. But not all of them are. Plenty of dog
and cat owners are meat-eaters, but they still want to buy what’s
best for their pets.
So they buy their pet-food on the advice of the "experts" at the
local Petco or PetSmart, despite the fact that these stores are
largely staffed by young, idealistic folks – many of whom buy into
the vegetarian dogma hook, line and sinker. The whole thing combines
to become a snowball effect.
Pet owners and buyers of all types get care and feeding advice from
misguided people who are convinced that eating meat is cruelty to
animals. This creates more demand for meatless pet-food – which
spurs pet-food makers to buy ever-larger quantities of the cheapest
vegetable ingredients that are still high in protein (even if
they’ve been spiked with poisonous additives and it is the wrong
type of protein for cats and dogs in the first place). Naturally,
the cheapest of these are outside the U.S. And as such, they’re
low-quality, un-regulated, and more likely to be hazardous.
Bottom line: If vegetarian dogma did not exist, pet owners,
pet-store staffers, and veterinarians would wake up and take notice
of what most animals eat naturally – each other. They’d also start
allowing this knowledge to guide their dietary advice to pet owners,
instead of allowing their own ignorance and prejudices to spur the
death and sickening of countless numbers of the very pets they
purport to be advocates of.
That’s the very definition of tragic irony, isn’t it?
May 4, 2007
Source: William Campbell Douglass II, MD
,
is editor of The Douglass
Report .