July/August 2010 - Dogs Naturally Magazine

Regard it as just as desirable to build a chicken house as to
build a cathedral. ~Frank Lloyd Wright
Factory farmed chickens fare no better than cows . Millions of
tons of meat and bone meal from post-slaughter animal waste
are recycled back into animal feed each year, and poultry and
hog producers are the main purchasers of these products. On
industrial poultry farms, a range of antibiotics and additives
are also added to the birds’ feed and water and are necessary
to combat the ill effects of poor quality feed and lack of sunshine
and fresh air. Factory farmed chickens are regularly fed
arsenic (and sometimes turkeys and pigs) to encourage weight
gain and create the appearance of healthy color in the meat.
If the chicken is eating arsenic, your dog is eating arsenic and
the insidious effect of this low level exposure mimics many
chronic diseases. Arsenic exposure leads to cancer, nerve
damage, diabetes and cognitive dysfunction. Like e-coli, arsenic
is not only found in the meat but in the feces which eventually
pollute surrounding water supplies.
The Dark Side Of The Other White Meat
According to the Sustainable table, “In some states, garbage
can legally be fed to pigs, and if this garbage includes rotten
meat, pigs are at risk for diseases such as hog cholera, Foot
and Mouth Disease, African swine fever, and swine vesicular
disease. Other pathogens of concern are Salmonella, Campylobacter,
Trichinella, and Toxoplasma. These diseases may
be spread to other livestock or humans if hogs eat contaminated
meat in improperly treated food waste.
Pigs have a completely different digestive system than cows
and unlike cows, can digest soil and dirt. As a matter of fact
most pigs can get 80% of their daily food ration from soil
alone. They eat grasses, legumes, ground cover, standing
plants and are about the easiest animal to raise on pasture
without the worry of supplementation. Unfortunately, this
is not the practice that is employed by large pig operations.
What does this all mean for ourselves and our pets? With-
out the nutrients that are normally found in healthy soil and in
turn the plants that soils contain, our companion animals are
at critical risk for disease and insufficiencies.
If you knew how meat was made, you'd probably lose your
lunch. ~k.d. lang
As much as possible, ensure that your meat comes from local
farmers who raise their animals as naturally as possible. If you
are forced to feed grain-fed animals, then you might want to
supplement a prey-model diet to replace the nutrients erased
by factory farming and to boost your dog‘s immune system to
fight the ill effects from additives such as hormones, antibiotics
and arsenic. Although the full extent of the dog’s ability to
digest plant matter is largely unknown, all of the deficiencies
in vitamins and minerals are readily available in herbs. Unless
you are able to feed exclusively organic, grass-fed animals, the
benefits of feeding plant matter to dogs likely outweighs the
risks of feeding deficient meats which have joined the
alarmingly large and growing list of products contaminated
by increasingly powerful industries.
Erika Phillips is the Editor in Chief of Dogs Naturally Magazine
and the proprietor of The Controversial Canine.
She can be reached for consultations in Homeopathy/Herbs/
Behaviour/Nutrition at www.controversialcanine.com
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