Euthanasia drug in dog foods

[Pea-n-Me]

I don't think I've seen a thread about this yet, but it's a big concern. (And trying to get this written up before the site shuts down at 4am, lol, so I'll make it quick. I am using the Daily Mail article because I cannot find the level of detail it has anywhere else - yet.)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4453780/Pet-food-company-recalls-products.html

Basically, the drug used for animal euthanasia, pentobarbital, is being found in some dog foods now. Which means that animals who were euthanized were being used to make food. And the drug found in the food can still make animals become sick, or even die. A pug has already died and others have been sickened.

There are a lot of questions surrounding this that aren't fully answered yet, but most seem to agree that dog food manufacturers use a mixture from "rendering plants" which make a gruesome mix of "parts" that are then sold to dog food companies as fillers for foods. Even "good" food companies use mixture from rendering plants, apparently.

The biggest questions are what types of animals, who have been euthanized using pentobarbital, are being used in rendering plants. Is it the occasional use of cattle or horses? Or are they using animals from animal shelters - for profit? (Ugh, I know.) One thing for sure - the pentobarbital is coming from somewhere. I've studied this a bit and most say that cattle aren't usually euthanized using pentobarbital. I really don't know.

The latest recall involves dog food touted as "Organic".

ETA Please see post #12 for additional details and links.

Just opening this up for discussion.

 

[DawnM]

They make dog food from the bodies of euthanized animals?

I think I am going to throw up.

 

[tzolkin]

I don't think I've seen a thread about this yet, but it's a big concern. (And trying to get this written up before the site shuts down at 4am, lol, so I'll make it quick. I am using the Daily Mail article because I cannot find the level of detail it has anywhere else - yet.)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4453780/Pet-food-company-recalls-products.html

Basically, the drug used for animal euthanasia, pentobarbital, is being found in some dog foods now. Which means that animals who were euthanized were being used to make food. And the drug found in the food can still make animals become sick, or even die. A pug has already died and others have been sickened.

There are a lot of questions surrounding this that aren't fully answered yet, but most seem to agree that dog food manufacturers use a mixture from "rendering plants" which make a gruesome mix of "parts" that are then sold to dog food companies as fillers for foods. Even "good" food companies use mixture from rendering plants, apparently.

The biggest questions are what types of animals, who have been euthanized using pentobarbital, are being used in rendering plants. Is it the occasional use of cattle or horses? Or are they using animals from animal shelters - for profit? (Ugh, I know.) One thing for sure - the pentobarbital is coming from somewhere. I've studied this a bit and most say that cattle aren't usually euthanized using pentobarbital. I really don't know.

The latest recall involves dog food touted as "Organic".

Just opening this up for discussion.

Euthanized cats and dogs are absolutely processed at rendering plants. That's how many shelters dispose of them. I suppose in theory they could produce separate batches: one for livestock (that includes the pets) and one for pet food (which does not), but as of right now I believe everything (slaughterhouse waste, euthanized pets, roadkill, etc) just goes in together.

 

[Magpie]

Here's couple alternate links, if (like me) you've got no patience for the Daily Mail any more...

http://globalnews.ca/news/3410540/dog-food-recall-pentobarbital/

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/dog-food-recall-euthanasia-drug-contamination-party-animal/

Some pertinent notes:

* It is a Texas-based pet food company.

* The recall is voluntary.

* There is no evidence (other than in the Daily Mail) that any pet has died.

* One dog became ill. It was this dog who triggered the testing of the samples. The drug was found in two cans, but not in subsequent lots sent for testing.

* A different Illinois-based company also issued a voluntary recall back in February, due to contamination with the same drug.

One of the problems with the Daily Mail's "level of detail" is that very often the juicy details they print turn out to be exaggerated and/or completely fabricated.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I don't think I've seen a thread about this yet, but it's a big concern. (And trying to get this written up before the site shuts down at 4am, lol, so I'll make it quick. I am using the Daily Mail article because I cannot find the level of detail it has anywhere else - yet.)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4453780/Pet-food-company-recalls-products.html

Basically, the drug used for animal euthanasia, pentobarbital, is being found in some dog foods now. Which means that animals who were euthanized were being used to make food. And the drug found in the food can still make animals become sick, or even die. A pug has already died and others have been sickened.

There are a lot of questions surrounding this that aren't fully answered yet, but most seem to agree that dog food manufacturers use a mixture from "rendering plants" which make a gruesome mix of "parts" that are then sold to dog food companies as fillers for foods. Even "good" food companies use mixture from rendering plants, apparently.

The biggest questions are what types of animals, who have been euthanized using pentobarbital, are being used in rendering plants. Is it the occasional use of cattle or horses? Or are they using animals from animal shelters - for profit? (Ugh, I know.) One thing for sure - the pentobarbital is coming from somewhere. I've studied this a bit and most say that cattle aren't usually euthanized using pentobarbital. I really don't know.

The latest recall involves dog food touted as "Organic".

Just opening this up for discussion.

I will sic my dd on this and get some answers hopefully. Thanks for the heads up!

We use Orijen Senior and Taste of the Wild canned wet food.

 

[Branflakes]

I cannot wrap my head around this. If my Pug or my Labrador died from something like this, I'd lose my ever loving mind with all involoved in the production of the food.
Now, I will examine and scrutinize what I'm feeding them. We use Fromm Gold dry food.

 

[Bren's Mom]

I don't see any of the 'bad stuff' listed in my dog's Science Diet food, nor in a friend's Kirkland food that I just looked up.

 

[JaxDad]

Thanks @Pea-n-Me. I appreciate the information. I did not see anything wrong with the article you referenced. It references two separate incidents of contamination from different companies. A dog did die from the first incident in February (three others are reportedly on anti-seizure medication). I don't use either company's products, but again I appreciate the heads-up.

 

[luvsJack]

Hasn't horse meat been long used in dog food? Are they euthanized using this drug?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

"Organic". Yeah, ok.

 

[dclpluto]

How sad.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Just to clairify - this is not about the Daily Mail! As I said, it just happened to be the only article out there right now that captured all the points I wanted to make, and I looked at many. Most others were not up to date. Thanks @JaxDad.

I don't have time to pull up a bunch of articles right now, but here's how it went down. It is all out there if you want to research yourself. ETA I did anyway.

Back in February a longstanding, family-owned, reputable dog food company called Evangers had a recall because their food was found to contain Pentobarbital after a family of pugs was sickened. One of the pugs died. For sure. I followed and researched this story back when it happened. At first the company seemed to deny it, but as more food was tested and more of the drug was found, they couldn't deny it any longer. I think they were gobsmacked themselves. It seemed to come down to some of the material that was used in the food, i.e "beef products", which came from rendering plants.

From Food Safety News: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2017/...nspection-investigation-ongoing/#.WQNXI1QpChB

From the FDA: http://www.petfoodindustry.com/articles/6318-evangers-expands-pentobarbital-tainted-dog-food-recalls

Rendering plants (which I had never heard of prior to this) themselves have been the subject of some scrutinization but apparently they are perfectly legal. What I read made me sick.

(Not going to link due to content, must google yourself!)

Fast forward to two weeks ago. A foster dog was sickened and that family had the dog food they were using tested independently by a Texas A&M lab and it confirmed that there was pentobarbital present in the food, which was made and canned in 2015. This particular food was sold as "Organic" and was labeled "beef and chicken" and "beef and turkey". They, too, were hesitant to admit there was a widespread problem, but in an abundance of caution, they recalled their food with the same lot #s as the food that was independently tested. Turns out that more pentobarbital was found in those recalled cans. And also turns out that Evangers made the food for them - when they touted their product as being ''homemade".

Dog Food Advisor: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recall/party-animal-dog-food-recall-april-2017/

Food Safety News: http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2017/...-contaminated-dog-food-reported/#.WQNY71QpChA

So I think this has exposed at least three problems I can see. 1) The food that's out there is tainted, and as of right now, we don't know which ones. From what I understand, many dog food companies use products from rendering plants. 2) The rendering plants themselves and what is going on there. And 3) Misrepresentation of products.

 

[wilkeliza]

I've been monitoring this pretty closely. I suggest anyone with pets to sign up for dogfoodadvisor.com mailing list on food recalls.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I've been monitoring this pretty closely. I suggest anyone with pets to sign up for dogfoodadvisor.com mailing list on food recalls.

Yup, I'm on it. That's how I originally found out about the second recall! Great suggestion, thanks.

 

[gemini2727]

I've been monitoring this pretty closely. I suggest anyone with pets to sign up for dogfoodadvisor.com mailing list on food recalls.

Thank you! Just signed up. The human recalls are bad enough, now we have to worry about our pets, ugh!

 

[DisBabe94]

Yes, and products made from euthanized pets at rendering plants are also sold to companies that produce feed for agriculture animals such as cows and pigs. It is sick.
Just another reason why I don't eat animals

 

[aejammers]

The other link to the recalled dog food is the beef ingredient in both brands. If you are super worried about something like this happening to your dog, stop feeding food with beef as an ingredient. I don't think they use Pentobarbital to euthanize chicken or fish. I use a chicken-based food for mine.

 

[wilkeliza]

Yup, I'm on it. That's how I originally found out about the second recall! Great suggestion, thanks.

Yeah. I've realized most pet food recalls have been on beef based foods so now we stick to chicken and turkey with as few ingredents as possible.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

The other link to the recalled dog food is the beef ingredient in both brands. If you are super worried about something like this happening to your dog, stop feeding food with beef as an ingredient. I don't think they use Pentobarbital to euthanize chicken or fish. I use a chicken-based food for mine.

I don't think it's as simple as that. Looking at (and following) pet food recalls for many years now, the pentobarbital issue is just one of the more recent of many problems the pet food industry has seen. As you can see here, metal pieces were found in chicken flavored dog food as recently as this past February, too. We have a problem with pet foods in general.

https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/RecallsWithdrawals/default.htm

 

[aejammers]

I don't think it's as simple as that. Looking at (and following) pet food recalls for many years now, the pentobarbital issue is just one of the more recent of many problems the pet food industry has seen. As you can see here, metal pieces were found in chicken flavored dog food as recently as this past February, too. We have a problem with pet foods in general.

https://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/SafetyHealth/RecallsWithdrawals/default.htm

Oh I agree that a recall can happen to any food. I was responding to the specific worry of Pentobarbital. Avoiding beef ingredients is a way to address that specific concern.