Quote:
Originally Posted by Lazonby
Are you smoking crack? Border Collies or whatever breed that is, don't exist in the wild. They are bred by humans from original stock in African thousands of years ago.
There's no excuse for letting your pets run wild, destroying wildlife, unless you have a specific pest problem.
Dogs should eat dogfood, not live rabbits. Same goes for cats - put a damn bell on it's collar to give the bird a chance to get away.
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"Theres no excuse for lettig your dogs run wild", my dogs run wild in the backyard. Is that okay? There is a difference in letting your dogs roam the streets and giving him supervised "wild" running time
Just a little heads up on the subject of dog food.
#1 most pet foods that you buy in stores are below human grade quality.
There is no government agency setting quality standards and guidelines, so there are no assurances of quality in pet food.
Grains used in pet foods that are truly whole have usually been deemed unfit for human consumption because of mold, contaminants, poor quality, or poor handling practices. Pet food is one of the worlds most synthetic edible products, containing virtually no whole ingredients.
Pet food manufacturers have become masters at inducing companion animals to eat things cat and dogs would normally spurn. Pet food scientists have learned that it's possible to take a mixture of inedible scraps, fortify it with artificial vitamins and minerals, preserve it so that it can sit on the shelf for more than a year, add dyes to make it attractive, and then extrude it into whimsical shapes that appeal to the human consumer. For this, pet food companies can expect to earn $9 billion in sales in 1996.
Learning to read ingredient labels and taking the time to read them carefully is crucial to making an educated choice when purchasing pet food. Ingredients are listed in descending order of weight (heaviest first) under standards established by the Center for Veterinary Medicine for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The name of the product (in most states) is dictated by the regulations of the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). The trouble is, AAFCO standards can lead to deceptive product names due to the weight and volume variations between wet and dry ingredients. Also, the average consumer has no idea what the definitions for the listed ingredients mean. Preservatives, vitamins, minerals, flavorings, and cereal make up most of what the companion animal eats.
Condemned parts and animals rejected for human consumption are routinely rerouted for commercial pet foods. A similar fate applies to so-called 4-D animals. These are food animals picked up dead, or that are dying, diseased, or disabled, and do not meet human-food qualifications. They are processed straightaway for companion animal consumption. Little goes to waste. Byproducts contain little if any meat.
It is sad to think that the food provided by animal care givers to their four-legged friends could be hazardous to the animal's health and longevity. Care givers should assume responsibility for providing as healthful a diet as possible for the animals in their care. Consumers should be informed: speak with a holistic practitioner or herbalist, or consult your veterinarian (but be aware that a veterinarian's knowledge of nutrition may be limited to the two weeks of nutrition he or she had veterinary school 20 years ago). Although the ideal solution would be for companion animals to be fed only wholesome homemade and/or vegetarian diets, this is not an optician for everyone -- the cost and time commitment is sometimes prohibitive. By taking more moderate steps, however, care givers can still greatly improve a companion animals' diet and quality of life.
Have a look here
And here
My neighbour manufactures
"The Ultimate Diet". Here's a little insight to raw food.
Her site