View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Gallery
View Video
View Video
American Veterinary Medical Association Opposes Raw Food for Dogs
the daily dish
Pet owners have been debating whether they should be feeding their dogs raw or dry food for quite some time now, but the American Veterinary Medical Association has finally decided to chime in. According to Dogster, the AVMA recently announced a policy that recommends against feeding dogs and cats raw or unprocessed meat, eggs and milk.
-
Alamy1 of 10
-
Thinkstock2 of 10
-
Thinkstock3 of 10
-
SuperFantastic/flickr4 of 10
-
laura271gsd1/flickr5 of 10
-
hennasabel/flickr6 of 10
-
doggybytes/flickr7 of 10
-
doggybytes/flickr8 of 10
-
Alamy9 of 10
-
Alamy10 of 10
While there are many raw food opposers, there are just as many advocates who have voiced their grievances against the AVMA for deciding contrary to the dog "rawvolution." Almost 4,000 people signed a Chance.org petition when AVMA released its policy. They accused them of being "puppets of the pet-food industry." Conversely, pet owners who feed their dogs dry food can get defensive, as well. "To me, the raw feeders of this site are akin to the Bible Punchers who knock at your door trying to convert their faith to you; they have no respect for other people's preference and only their own view counts and is correct," wrote an owner in a dog food forum.
The AVMA cites pathogens like Salmonella, E. coli, Campylobacter, Toxoplasma gondii (the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis), Cryptosporidium, Echinococcus, Clostridium, Neospora, and Sarcocystis. Veterinarians say that these pathogens can sometimes be transmitted to their human counterparts. However, no confirmed cases of human salmonellosis have been associated with these raw diets.
Commercial dog food has had its fair share of controversy. In the last year alone, there have been over 270 pet food recalls. Raw proponents have expressed their concern about all fillers and grains and preservatives in commercial food.
We assume the debate will continue and get even more heated with the AVMA's recent policy update. Tell us what you think about the dog food controversy in the comments below.
You Say.…?
- button.wow
- button.lol
- button.aww
- button.poop
Add a Comment
30 Comments
It's funny, I can't feed my dog raw meat that I buy at the grocery store because it might make me sick?
October 19 2012 at 3:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHow in the world am I supposed to cook it for myself then, if handling it might get me sick?
When I handle my dogs raw food I'm not licking my fingers as I am putting it in the bowl, nor am I using his dishes for myself or eating off the floor in the kitchen. Not sure how food that is HUMAN safe becomes unsafe when it's for my dog...
I've fed my GSD's raw for over 20 yrs. They are healthy, happy champions and live to be 11-16 yrs old. I give puppy buyers a choice between continuing the raw diet and supporting them in it or feeding a commercial dry with no corn, wheat or soy.
October 13 2012 at 6:44 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI switched to raw meat for my cat and dog and the results are astounding! The cat no longer has cronic kidney and bladder infections from the kibble. The sickly stray dog became a sleek, shiny, healthy, well-tempered member of the family. I believe in the optimum health a raw diet avails my animals. But why are foods banned anyway.... are we not able to govern ourselves? If you don't like it , don't buy it. Government control everywhere you look these days.
October 12 2012 at 5:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIt's not the government and no one banned it. It's just the vet boards opinion, just like the American Medical Association releases opinions. That doesn't make it the law. Glad it worked for your pets. Just FYI if anyone in your house is pregnant or has a compromised immune system for any reason they shouldn't have anything to do with the litter box because raw food causes cats to carry toxoplasmosis (a disease rarely carried by indoor cats who eat store bought food).
October 13 2012 at 2:41 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI have switched to raw meat for my cat and dog and they are doing extremely well. The cat no longer has cronic kidney/bladder infections from the kibble... and the dog is lean, shiney and healthy.
October 12 2012 at 1:55 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI am for less government intervention and this would be an area that we citizens should govern ourselves. The right to think act for ourselves s precious!
Wow, I just buy beef liver, chicken breasts and gizzards, stew beef, salmon, veggies and such things I cook them for my dog and never include the things they can't have I make him dog biscuits from wheat flour with grated carrots. I have had 3 animals and they all lived to be 16,17,18. My new Lab just runs to the oven when it's the "cookies" are coming out and drools.
October 12 2012 at 6:20 AM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplyI am sick of all these raw diet ideas and the dog food treats with all the recalls and have been for many years. All I can say is I must be doing something right if my dogs and cat lived that long being fed what I cook,,the dogs and cats now-a-days have been so domesticated they no longer are as they once were when wild. The best part is the pricing,
I buy what the grocer has on sale that week :)
I feed my dog commercial dry dog food, just the more expensive stuff. However, as everybody else has pointed out, this is what dogs eat in the wild. Are the pet food companies for this kind of hogwash?
October 11 2012 at 11:38 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down Reply"...this is what dogs eat in the wild." Yes, and they live with diseases, heavily loads of parasites, and die young. Not what I want for MY pets.
October 11 2012 at 11:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyPeople should also remember the dogs are not natural animals. German shepherds, Shih Tzus, Boxers and Chihuahuas did not evolve in the wild. Neither did any other breed of dog. They were bred by humans, over centuries, from wolves. But they are no longer wolves, many of them couldn't survive in the wild for more than a few weeks.
your facts are false. It takes thousands of years of evolution to alter the physiology of an animal. Domestic dogs absolutely ARE as different from their wild wolf bretheren as a St Bernard is from a Yorkie. But they are ALL still canines AND carnivores. Man does not have the ability to alter that and certainly not in the very short time commercial dog food became widely used.
October 13 2012 at 8:48 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate downwild wolves die primarily from malnutrition due to a lack of abundant food and from fighting for territory. Again, your facts are incorrect.
The ability of a domestic dog to survive in the wild has nothing to do with what their bodies are
designed to eat.
there's no such thing as "wild dogs" unless they were abandoned or got lost. Dogs don't naturally exist in the wild. Dogs were bred thousands of years ago presumably from wolves for work and companionship. Not saying feeding dogs raw food isn't a good idea just saying there's no such thing as wild dogs. Dogs who are displaced and end up living in the wild are called strays.
October 13 2012 at 2:48 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIf that lost stray has puppies that new generation is not stray. All further offspring are feral. Which is a domesticated animal that has changed from being domesticated to wild.
October 13 2012 at 8:58 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate downThey are still not the same as a wolf pack though, wolves have developed a pack hunting method that feral dogs do not have. Wolves are far more successful.
The AVMA thinks we are all too stupid to understand they took a stand against raw food that, according to their own research "has no documented cases of causing human illness". In favor of food that had over 200 recalls BECAUSE it caused HUMAN illness.
October 11 2012 at 7:02 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThen they tell us their reason is because the raw food MAY cause human illness????
They felt so compelled to change their official policy AGAINST a food source that does not cause human illness because they are so worried about people getting ill???? But not a word against the actual food that IS causing people to get sick????
And we are supposed to have respect for that organization?
First of all, just because there are no DOCUMENTED cases does not mean it doesn't cause human illness. If you can't understand that, maybe you are stupid.
October 12 2012 at 12:05 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyTell me, how many times have you gotten sick with vomiting/diarrhea and made the comment "It must have been something I ate." Well, you're probably right. It probably WAS something you ate. Did you go to the doctor? Probably not. Do you know what it was that was contaminated or what type of contamination it was? Probably not. Are you feeding raw? If you are, there's a good chance THAT is where the contamination came from.
Let me tell you a little story. I have a friend with working stock dogs. She also breeds, trains and sells working stock dogs. At any one time she can have 30 or more dogs on her property. She used to feed raw, then one day 28 of her dogs developed campylobacter infections, which has similar symptoms to parvo. She lost 3 very valuable champion stock dogs, and paid over $1,000 each to treat the dogs that were sick. You do the math. $35,000 later, she no longer feeds raw.
You are apparantly too stupid to comprehend that in the midsts of MASSIVE commercial pet food recalls due to them CAUSING PEOPLE TO BECOME SICK the AVMA took a stand against the food that wasn't making people sick. That is an absurdity.
October 13 2012 at 8:36 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate downYour story is irrelevant. It is astonishing that you missed the stories of tainted food and treats making dogs ill. Life comes with inherant risks, you are free to take whatever risks you like. Your hostility and sarcasm is childish and pointless.
Many raw feeders feed their dogs the same USDA inspected meat they feed their families, and the AVMA's statement claimed that handling the raw meat is just too risky for people??? So now we are all at risk if we eat meat we prepare outselves?
"First of all, just because there are no DOCUMENTED cases does not mean it doesn't cause human illness. If you can't understand that, maybe you are stupid."
March 10 2013 at 9:31 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate downProbably one of the most under educated things I've heard someone say in the past few years and yet here you are, blatantly calling someone that you don't even know, "stupid".
Things are documented and studied for fact to put as valid proof on the table to inform and educate a community. Otherwise, we'd end up with only ignorant people arguing their biased view because their brain is trying to protect them from thinking they made the wrong choice. (Sound familiar?)
Stories about "friends" with no relevance, data or any facts to support your story, simply aren't helpful.
Pfft, please. The neighbors dogs spend half their nights twice weekly tearing through garbage cans eating week old god-knows-what. Not to mention, as Ren pointed out, they are carnivores. Never saw a pack of them start a fire to cook their kill.
October 11 2012 at 5:47 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHave you ever seen a pack of dogs at all? If you have, was it a pack of old dogs? No, probably not. That's because they DIE from eating that crap.
October 12 2012 at 12:06 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyI put my girls, a chug and a puggle, on a raw food diet about a month ago and the difference has been amazing! they are full of energy, they sleep better, their breath is better, they have lost weight and they love the food. Another plus I have noticed is that there is not as much pet waste to clean up. They seem to be healthier and happier. It is probably slightly more expensive but they are not getting any of the processed junk or additives that are in factory made dog food(read the labels!)..
October 11 2012 at 5:29 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplyI put my dogs on a high quality kibble mixed with a little bit of canned venison. I can say exactly the same things about them that you say about yours. I can add, I don't have to worry about food borne illnesses in them or me, I don't have to worry about them picking up parasites like tapeworm from eating raw, I don't have to worry about their diet being balanced. All I have to worry about is having them sneak into the pantry when I'm not looking and helping themselves.
October 12 2012 at 12:10 AM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplySo glad it worked for your dogs. I'm just wondering to you think their health has improved because they're eating human quality meat or do you think it's specifically because it is raw? I guess what I am asking is if you cooked the meat to get rid of the risk of parasites and other diseases from raw food do you think the effects would be the same?
October 13 2012 at 2:53 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply270 recalls of pet food last year, but raw food is *bad*?
October 11 2012 at 5:04 PM Report abuse Permalink +1 rate up rate down ReplySeems to me raw food just isn't as lucrative - a pet could *possibly* get sick from raw food. A pet has a much higher chance of getting sick from a recalled commercial food, which translates to diagnostic tests and expensive treatments provided by a vet.
This message brought to you by Iams, greed and the almighty need to make a buck off the misfortune of others.....