Or, you could imply a natural food spreads diseases, like Salmonella,
botulism, or Tuberculosis.  Such claims, especially the one about
Tuberculosis, lack appreciable foundation in fact.  Claiming TB was
controlled by a shift to manufactured pet foods not only ignores the
contribution of medicine, pharmaceuticals, and public health testing (and
sacrifice and sanctioned disposal of infected animals), but it completely
ignores how the pet food industry was a partner in the spread of Mad Cow
disease in Great Britain!  ANYONE who can serve food to their children
and prevent them from becoming ill, can feed a ferret safely.  What about
the carnivore's desire to chew?  Then make bone dangerous, suggesting
people start brushing their pet's teeth, give hairball treatments, add
fatty acid and vitamin supplements, and purchase "safe" chew toys.  And
who EXACTLY benefits from this?  If there are NO data supporting the
claim bone is bad for the ferret (or that the substitutions for bone are
safe), then the claims are nothing more than embroidered embellishments
designed to either increase profit or support an unsupported argument.
ANYONE who allows their children to play sports, drive cars, and engage
in other risky activities and keep them from serious harm, can feed a
ferret bone safely.  You don't need a degree to care for your family,
and you certainly don't need one to care for a pet.
 
I am always amused to read (or hear) a pet food claim that it is "the
perfect food for your pet" only to later see a later ad expounding a
"new, improved food, perfect for your pet."  I wasn't aware a perfect
food needed improvement.  That joke has a point.  A mythology of sorts
has evolved from the need of the pet food industry to convince people
that their foods are better for animals than traditional diets
successfully fed for centuries.  One way to do that is to portray animal
nutritionists as being the only people intelligent enough to formulate
or feed an animal; the implication being people are not smart enough to
follow a recipe or understand and adhere to a feeding regimen.  This is
just ONE of many modern myths regarding animal nutrition, including the
idea EVERY meal has to be perfectly balanced, kibble is a better food
than the natural diet, uncooked food is unhealthy or dangerous, soft
foods cause dental problems, natural foods are dangerous in a
domesticated animals "modified" gastrointestinal system, and bones are
dangerous for carnivores to eat.  Each one of these myths has origins
in the efforts of the pet food industry to convince people to buy their
product.  NOT ONE has ever been supported by peer-reviewed, duplicated
research.
 
The point of all this "pet food manufacturer bashing' is not that I
dislike what they do; I have a very clear understanding of the problems
of creating a safe food that people will buy.  The point is there is
too much emphasis on credentials and not enough on research.  Ignore the
mythology of the sanctified animal nutritionist, and demand evidence.
Animal nutritionists, despite having BA/BSc, MA/MSc, or PhD degrees,
make plenty of mistakes that have littered the nutritional highway with
suffering animals and unhealthy carcasses.  For every report published
on how a layperson hurt or killed their ferret using bones or by feeding
a homemade diet, I can show just as many where pet food manufacturers or
animal nutritionists caused as much harm (or more) using a manufactured
diet.  If they say kibble is better, tell them to prove it.  If they say
natural foods cause disease and kibble doesn't, tell them to prove it.
If they say people cannot follow a recipe or feeding regimen, tell them
to prove it.  And if they say bones are bad for your ferret, TELL THEM
TO PROVE IT!!
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 4162]