Katrina
Posted : 3/10/2007 3:43:54 PM
ORIGINAL: sooner
Merrick also makes [linkhttp://www.beefnmore.com/]Beef 'n More[/link]. Anyone want to guess where that beef comes from? Here's a clue - it sells for $15.12/40 lbs [:'(]
Actually the meat sources on that are specific therefore the animals were slaughter animals not 4D. 4D animals are refered to as poulty, meat, or bovine. Therefore the meat sources are from cows that were slaughtered and not sick. Please visit [link
http://www.dogfoodproject.com]www.dogfoodproject.com[/link] for info on identifying better ingredients. This letter was a subject on dogster too and it was pointed out that no where in the letter did the person refer to 4D animals. They were refering to the bi-products that were being proposed to be illegal to use. Things the person found that are being refered to are "skull, brain, trigeminal ganglia, eyes, vertebral column, spinal cord and dorsal root ganglia of cattle 30 months of age or older and the small intestine of all cattle". SRM refers to "Specified Risk Material". This refers to materials that are at risk for transmitting mad cow disease. A risk which is extremely low in the states since our meat imports are very regulated. Dogs also are not effected by the disease so therefore why throw out all these parts when they could be used in pet foods. BTW when they refer to head of cattle they are refering to how many cows not the actual head of the cows. Like my friend has 50 head of horses on her farm. No she hasn't cut her horses heads of it is how you refer to how many you have in a herd. Also the brains are rich in nutrients so why exclude them? Come on people if you offered your dog brains of a cow do you really think they'd say YUCK to you and refuse to eat it? For them it would be a delicacy. We need to get over being grossed out by the thought of these things. There is nothing wrong with these parts. Sure we don't eat them but that is because humans are very picky about what we eat. Dogs are meant to eat whateve meat they are given. I personally give my dog some raw and some kibble. The raw never had caused any problems. If you really want to know what is going into your dog food then feed either raw or homemade meals.
BTW The Merrick site specifies that their pet fods are made with USDA human quality ingredients. Therefore there is no way they are using 4D meats. I did a little research and found that hereford bi-products supplies ingredients to Hubbard Feed Inc who produces a wide range of feeds from many different types of livestock and pets. Their pet food is called Tradition. I cannot find any ingredient lists as it is only available in feed stores so I cannot say whether or not 4D animals are used in it. Still there is no reason to condemn a brand because the president of another part of the company writes a letter that you don't fully understand. Maybe the first person thought that it was refering to 4D animals but it was not specifically meantioned. Still it has no bearing on the quality of the Merrick foods. Also Tyler Merrick is president of Merrick pet foods. The one who wrote the letter is the ceo of the parent company. Merrick is just a division of them and the products they produce are not neccessarily used in those pet foods.