Dog Community

Posted : 3/7/2007 2:45:06 PM

Surely we aren't shocked to learn that dead, diseased, dying and disabled animals are used in dog food???

Not if it's a company that makes cheap food like Ol'Roy or Dad's, but a supposedly super-premium dog food company that charges as much as Merrick does? Generally, the more expensive a brand is, the better the ingredients.

papillon806

Posted : 3/7/2007 2:50:36 PM

Does anybody know the Merrick recalls? I only remember the wing-a-ling one with certainty and I remember reading about others....does anyone have links/info to those?

sooner

Posted : 3/7/2007 2:56:08 PM

I just Googled for 'Merrick recall' and it kicked back this thread on the old board [linkhttp://forum.dog.com/discus/messages/46/160812.html]http://forum.dog.com/discus/messages/46/160812.html[/link] where someone posted all this:

[font="verdana,arial,helvetica"]

Petcurean/Merrick recall
[linkhttp://www.lieffcabraser.com/pet-food-recall.htm]http://www.lieffcabraser.com/pet-food-recall.htm[/link]
[linkhttp://www.fda.gov/cvm/CVM_Updates/petcureanrc.htm]http://www.fda.gov/cvm/CVM_Updates/petcureanrc.htm[/link]
[linkhttp://www.fda.gov/cvm/Documents/HHEGoNatural.pdf]http://www.fda.gov/cvm/Documents/HHEGoNatural.pdf[/link]
[linkhttp://www.recall-warnings.com/fda-content-petcurean10_03.html]http://www.recall-warnings.com/fda-content-petcurean10_03.html[/link]
[linkhttp://www.haleys-legacy.org/]http://www.haleys-legacy.org/[/link]
[linkhttp://www.montairgoldens.com/recall.htm]http://www.montairgoldens.com/recall.htm[/link]

Merrick treats recall
[linkhttp://archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/fsnet/2002/9-2002/fsnet_september_19.htm#SAFETY%20ALERT]http://archives.foodsafetynetwork.ca/fsnet/2002/9-2002/fsnet_september_19.htm#SAFETY%20ALERT[/link]
[linkhttp://www.recalls.org/vet2003.html]http://www.recalls.org/vet2003.html[/link]
[linkhttp://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2002/20020918e.shtml]http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2002/20020918e.shtml[/link]

Merrick canned problems
(most of the problems I have seen with their canned comes from testimonials from i-dog members - Lori (willowchow) seems to have seen the most problems)
[linkhttp://forum.dog.com/discus/messages/46/102754.html]http://forum.dog.com/discus/messages/46/102754.html[/link]
(the above link is just one of several threads detailing their canned problems)

Hereford Bi-Products (owned by Garth Merrick, also co-owner of Merrick's Pet Foods)
[linkhttp://www.cnjonline.com/engine.pl?station=clovis&template=storyfull.html&id=10867]http://www.cnjonline.com/engine.pl?station=clovis&template=storyfull.html&id=10867[/link]
[linkhttp://www.news-star.com/stories/032100/gov_whopay.shtml]http://www.news-star.com/stories/032100/gov_whopay.shtml[/link]
[linkhttp://www.lubbockonline.com/news/043097/thousand.htm]http://www.lubbockonline.com/news/043097/thousand.htm[/link]
[linkhttp://www.consumersunion.org/other/animal/animal3.htm]http://www.consumersunion.org/other/animal/animal3.htm[/link]
[linkhttp://tammi.tamu.edu/carcasscompostasae032263b.pdf#search=]http://tammi.tamu.edu/carcasscompostasae032263b.pdf#search=[/link]'hereford%20biproducts'
[linkostcount=2]http://www.prwatch.org/forum/showpost.php?p=11209&ostcount=2[/link]>http://www.prwatch.org/forum/showpost.php?p=11209&ostcount=2]http://www.prwatch.org/forum/showpost.php?p=11209&ostcount=2[/link]
[linkhttp://forum.dog.com/discus/messages/46/144847.html]http://forum.dog.com/discus/messages/46/144847.html[/link] (see my post at the end of this page)

willowchow

Posted : 3/7/2007 6:51:17 PM

This makes me sort of wonder if other supposed top foods are also doing the same thing and we just don't know it. Anyone else feel this way?

Lori

Misskiwi67

Posted : 3/7/2007 7:41:08 PM

If they can get away with it, why wouldn't they? I mean, it doesn't get any better than a family owned business who wants your dog to love their food as much as you do... they couldn't possibly LIE when they market their food...

Luvntzus

Posted : 3/7/2007 9:15:07 PM

ORIGINAL: willowchow

This makes me sort of wonder if other supposed top foods are also doing the same thing and we just don't know it. Anyone else feel this way?

It does make me wonder a little, but then I don't think the other top foods have had numerous recalls like Merrick. Plus, I don't know of any other holistic foods that also own a rendering facility.

probe1957

Posted : 3/8/2007 8:32:51 AM

ORIGINAL: willowchow
This makes me sort of wonder if other supposed top foods are also doing the same thing and we just don't know it. Anyone else feel this way?

Not only do I wonder if that is the case Lori, but I am pretty sure they are. Unless a pet food company owns the rendering plant, how could they possibly know, for sure, what is in the rendered product they buy?

sandra_slayton

Posted : 3/8/2007 11:18:12 AM

Someone brought up the price of organic food in stores bing very expensive. I have never bought any, so don't know about prices (except our grocery store carries some organic veggies and they are a lot higher) The question they asked was how could dog food companies buy meat for say $6 a pound, process it, bag it, ship it, etc and charge $2 a pound for the food?

If companies use all "human quality meats", well, check the price of meats. I pay $1.35 for a pound of ground turkey and you don't get meat much cheaper than that. You start talking beef and you are talking a lot more.

I agree with Probe--how can any company be sure of what they are buying? And I am talking Ol Roy to Timber Wolf. Oh, I didn't check the sites, but I am thinking Merricks recalls were due to quality control, no bad food.

sooner

Posted : 3/8/2007 11:29:36 AM

ORIGINAL: sandra_slayton

I pay $1.35 for a pound of ground turkey and you don't get meat much cheaper than that...

...but I am thinking Merricks recalls were due to quality control, no bad food.

These companies are buying thousands of pounds of meat at a time, that's a tad different than you running down to the local market to by a pound or two. These companies are not paying $1.35/pound.

IMO, bad quality control = bad food.

tony

Posted : 3/8/2007 11:30:01 AM

Someone brought up the price of organic food in stores bing very expensive. I have never bought any, so don't know about prices (except our grocery store carries some organic veggies and they are a lot higher) The question they asked was how could dog food companies buy meat for say $6 a pound, process it, bag it, ship it, etc and charge $2 a pound for the food?

If companies use all "human quality meats", well, check the price of meats. I pay $1.35 for a pound of ground turkey and you don't get meat much cheaper than that. You start talking beef and you are talking a lot more.

I agree with Probe--how can any company be sure of what they are buying? And I am talking Ol Roy to Timber Wolf. Oh, I didn't check the sites, but I am thinking Merricks recalls were due to quality control, no bad food.

And keep in mind you are talking about the cheapest meat being $1.35 lb with the water content still in it, if you remove the 70% water content from the meat and turn it into a meal, now the price goes up significantly, I give TWO and Wysong credit, because they talk about this on there myths page, and how all these companies claiming to use all this wonderful meat cannot be doing so since it just doesn't add up.

sandra_slayton

Posted : 3/8/2007 12:02:35 PM

These companies are buying thousands of pounds of meat at a time, that's a tad different than you running down to the local market to by a pound or two.

I just gave those figures as an example. The figures given by the post was something like $10 a pound for the organic meat. Just because they are buying more doens't mean they are going to get it for $1 a pound. Cheaper, yes, but not at the near the price of regular meat. I know all about volumn buying/selling. As a rule, the more you buy the cheaper the price. It stands to reason the bigger the company, the better prices on what they buy, the cheaper they can sell.

Gizmo83036

Posted : 3/8/2007 12:03:07 PM

sandra, how can you compare the resale cost of meat to you to the wholesale cost for a corporation buying in bulk???

sooner

Posted : 3/8/2007 12:37:23 PM

ORIGINAL: sandra_slayton

I just gave those figures as an example. The figures given by the post was something like $10 a pound for the organic meat. Just because they are buying more doens't mean they are going to get it for $1 a pound. Cheaper, yes, but not at the near the price of regular meat. I know all about volumn buying/selling. As a rule, the more you buy the cheaper the price. It stands to reason the bigger the company, the better prices on what they buy, the cheaper they can sell.

Organic dog foods don't have a high meat content. They usually have a water inclusive meat followed by four, five or more grain sources. It's unfortunate, because it could be a great product, but it is currently cost prohibitive for them to include a lot of meat. Whoever was questioning the cost probably thought they included more meat than they do.

mudpuppy

Posted : 3/8/2007 12:50:05 PM

Timberwolf organics claims that their lamb meal is processed from what's left of the lamb after the cuts that humans like are removed. I suspect that is the major source of meat for pet foods. There's got to be lots more of THAT available than 4-D meats.
Racing greyhounds are traditionally fed on raw 4-D meat.
Aside from concerns about mad cow disease, should we be alarmed? In the wild, canines happily eat the non-ambulatory and dead animals. Nothing more delicious than a stinking long-dead animal.

sooner

Posted : 3/8/2007 1:31:46 PM

I've never understood the 'wild dogs do it so it must be okay' train of thought. Wild dogs don't live 15+ years.

Letter from Merrick to the FDA re: downed stock in pet food (2004)