Euthanized strays and pets are often sent to rendering plants and sleazy pet
food companies may indeed buy the resultant product.  However, quality pet
food co's are sensitive to the fact that people don't want their pet food to
contain processed dogs and cats.  It is my understanding that rendering
plants will separate sources of meat such that the meat product sent to pet
food mfr's contains as little dog/cat/pets as possible.  It is not possible
for rendering plants to separate the meat sources entirely, however.  There
may be some small amount of intermixing, just as some small percentage of
bug parts and rat poop is allowed in the foods *we* eat.
 
So, I've provided a quick guide to pet food labels for you.
 
Meat meal, meat by-products, animal by-products, bone meal: If the generic
terms here sound questionable to you, well, you're right.  These ingredients
can contain practically any dead animal as a meat source.
 
Lamb/chicken/beef/turkey meal/by-products: If listed on the ingredients as,
for example, 'lamb meal,' the ingredient referred to must contain a dominant
percentage of the listed meat.  So, 'lamb meal' can be 50% lamb, 25%
chicken, 25% random meat meal.  Go for labels of '100%' if you're concerned,
but you can likely trust premium food labels to be what they say they are.
 
In high-quality foods, by-products are not bad.  They're simply just not the
cuts of muscle meat we are accustomed to eating.  Good thing, too - if you
fed your ferret straight chicken thigh, without the organs, without the
bones, you'd have a malnourished ferret.
 
I called Dr. Tom Willard of Totally Ferret and asked him about the meat
sources for his food.  TF uses high-quality chicken innards and chicken fat
as their protein and fat sources.  That's what the 'Chicken by-products' on
the label means - high-protein, high-vitamin, high-quality chicken organ
meat.  There are no dead pets in TF.  None.  Just dead chicken.
 
Call the pet food mfr of your favorite food if you're really curious.  If
you're not satisfied with their responses, there are plenty of pet food
mfr's who guarantee their ingredient source as organically raised meat,
chemical-free meat, etc, and so on.  They're not hard to find and you can
ignore this conversation topic from this point on.  Some 'natural' foods
are listed at http://www.altvetmed.com/premfood.html.
 
Read this URL for a better understanding of what goes on with pet food
labels:
 
"Understanding Pet Food Labels"
http://www.thegrid.net/reba/frr/fdanlbls.htm
 
Melissa
 
 __ Melissa Litwicki ____ [log in to unmask] __
 By the whole newsgroup devoted tennis showing
     it after scarfing fork and laughters
[Posted in FML issue 2122]