AVMA voting on policy against raw feeding

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/very-bad-news-for-raw-feeders.html

This is very concerning. Partly because it isn't being done with much consultation with pet owners. Second, it seems a tad knee jerk. Third, to date the biggest risk to animal health (and human) has been kibble, canned and treats. Finally, this could open the door for vets to refuse to treat or take a client that is raw fed.....

That is awful. While I don't feed raw, it isn't my choice to tell others what to do. Why can't the FDA pull all McDonalds and other fast foods...those are dangerous to human health.

My vet and I have talked about raw feeding. She says that if you aren't 100% committed to it, then don't do it. We talked about with my girls so little right now that raw would not be the smartest thing for me do to so we found a great kibble that meets Gidget's needs. (this was about a year ago when Brinley was a year and a half that we had that discussion.)

I hope it doesn't happen for the sake of dog owners like you and the many other responsible raw feeders.

Hopefully the fear of looking like they are owned by big business will prevent the vote suceeding.

If it is a secret ballot, they they can all claim whatever they like to sponsors etc. regardless of how they actually did vote.

Anyway, that could backfire on commercial manufacturers if they have to prove pathogen destruction. Not all of their products may qualify.

Most raw is distributed and/or stored frozen, isn't it? And freezing is probably just as efficient at destroying pathogens as cooking at a high temperature (which I presume is the method used in standard kibble manufacture to "destroy pathogens").

I posted this on FaceBook yesterday, and was watching it all day.

I think it is incredibly foolish, and the ramifications could be endless.

Yes, vets could refuse to treat dogs that are raw fed. Or, pet insurance companies could refuse to cover pets that eat raw, or some type of legislation could be brought about, using this as the 'proof' of how 'bad' raw is.

Just burns my biscuits that they don't care a bit about rendered meats, euthanized animals, by-products, etc in the kibble... but, go natural & raw - and its all about the money they are losing out on!

I heard that overall pet food companies are losing money, as people are getting smarter and going with homecooked / raw... I'll be this is what is started the whole issue.

The pet industry is catching up to the corruption of the human food industry-those with the most money speak the loudest. I have no doubt that the commercialized food industry saw they were losing out as people become more aware of what goes into food, and panicked. It's so ironic since all the deaths and sicknesses have been caused by commercial pet food.

Letter and email sent off (who knows if they give a crap hearing from a Canadian). I was polite--which was a struggle since this enrages me and jeopardizes the health of my dogs.

This is just frightening. I am more at risk from a rare burger than a pet who is being fed raw. Let's hear it for corporate amerika (NOT!)!

I am BEYOND disturbed. If the "dangers" of raw feeding are due to salmonela, I would like to see a list of recalls of BOTH human and dog food due to salmonella.

My neighbor just got out of the hospital due to salmonella poisoning. His case was magnified because he is also HIV+. He asked his doctor where he should look for the cause of his illness. His doctor's response was that "salmonella is EVERYWHERE". It is nearly impossible to completely stay away from it with all of the processed foods that American's eat. Normal, healthy bodies, can deal with salmonella. It is those that are immune compromised that end up with issues and illnesses.

With the number of people who actually feed raw (I'm SURE it is a very low percentage), I think this is an enormous waste of effort and energy. It is NOT going to solve any problem and will probably create more unhealthy pets (resulting in higher vet bills). But, there's no connection between money and legislation, is there?

How constitutional is this? I don't understand, why this even needs to be brought up, kibble is horrible for dogs, whats even more sad is the fact that every couple of years we have to switch the food because of lazy ass clowns and recalls. My family avoids P&G like the plague, spine less turds. Its why we stopped feeding EVO, because P&G bought them out. (No Offense to anyone who uses EVO) but when they stop posting ingredients its time to move on. I am very against them banning raw diet.

Is anyone actually banning a raw diet, or is this more of a position statement? I mean, organizations issue position statements about things all the time. Usually, though, I think about them as being more in terms of being in support of something vs. being against something.

GingerSnap wrote:Is anyone actually banning a raw diet, or is this more of a position statement? I mean, organizations issue position statements about things all the time. Usually, though, I think about them as being more in terms of being in support of something vs. being against something.

Ginger:

Here's what my homeopathic vet has sent me about this. I think this is a position statement as much as anything, but I think it does open a door for some policies (like refusing to treat raw fed dogs) that could be concerning:

The Facts on AVMA’s Proposed Policy on Raw Pet Food Diets

http://atwork.avma.org/2012/07/18/the-facts-on-avmas-proposed-policy-on-raw-pet-food-diets/

"We’ve
been seeing a lot of misinformation about the proposed AVMA policy on
raw or undercooked animal-source protein diets for pets that will be
discussed and voted on at the AVMA House of Delegates (HOD) meeting in
San Diego in August, so we feel the need to clear things up.

First
of all, this proposed policy would be an AVMA policy if approved, not
state or federal law. The AVMA cannot, and will not, regulate what pet
owners choose to feed their pets. If you already feed raw food to your
pet, that’s your choice. This proposed policy is about mitigating public
health risks, not about restricting or banning any products. Our
policies are intended to present the scientific facts, which in this
case are: 1) Scientific studies have shown that raw and undercooked
protein can be sources of infection with Salmonella, Campylobacter,
Clostridium, E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, and enterotoxigenic
Staphylococcus aureus. These infections can sicken pets and pet owners
alike, and can be life-threatening; 2) unless a raw protein product has
been subjected to a process that eliminates pathogens that can make pets
and people ill, it poses a significant public health risk to both pets
and pet owners.

Our policies are based on a thorough review of
the scientific literature and are drafted by veterinarians with
expertise in relevant fields (in this case, public health). If you’d
like to read the proposed policy for yourself, here’s the exact document
that will be considered by the HOD."


"here is a website where you can go to voice your opinion (and sign a petition):


http://www.change.org/petitions/american-veterinary-medical-association-avma-protect-pet-owners-rights-to-feed-a-raw-meat-pet-food




my Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy (AVH) members have been all over this as a discussion topic for the past week or so...
hope all of your loves are doing well!"

Well, well, well. THIS is very interesting. Just got this email from my homeo vet:

Some interesting info....

Brenda Bax - Director, Purina Pets for People (confirmed by her LinkedIn profile) and is also the chair of the delta society (http://www.deltasociety.org/page.aspx?pid=252) - although it states on there that she is the marketing director at Purina

If
you look at the resolution, you will find that the Delta Society was
the one who requested that the AVMA have a policy on raw food. All very
interesting, no?

northernwitch wrote:Well, well, well. THIS is very interesting. Just got this email from my homeo vet:

Some interesting info....

Brenda Bax - Director, Purina Pets for People (confirmed by her LinkedIn profile) and is also the chair of the delta society (http://www.deltasociety.org/page.aspx?pid=252) - although it states on there that she is the marketing director at Purina

If
you look at the resolution, you will find that the Delta Society was
the one who requested that the AVMA have a policy on raw food. All very
interesting, no?

Blanche, if you aren't following Truth About Pet Food, I recommend you do. Susan Thixton is all over this stuff. I saw this earlier today. It becomes more and more clear that this is all about big bucks.

Renee wrote:

northernwitch wrote:Well, well, well. THIS is very interesting. Just got this email from my homeo vet:

Some interesting info....

Brenda Bax - Director, Purina Pets for People (confirmed by her LinkedIn profile) and is also the chair of the delta society (http://www.deltasociety.org/page.aspx?pid=252) - although it states on there that she is the marketing director at Purina

If
you look at the resolution, you will find that the Delta Society was
the one who requested that the AVMA have a policy on raw food. All very
interesting, no?

Blanche, if you aren't following Truth About Pet Food, I recommend you do. Susan Thixton is all over this stuff. I saw this earlier today. It becomes more and more clear that this is all about big bucks.

I do follow her a bit--but was more interested in hearing what my homeo vet was hearing and what her thoughts were. I know where Susan stands, but it's always interesting to hear what the vets are getting.

I saw this on FB and the AVMA asked people to comment on it. It boiled my blood when two "vets" posted about how people shouldn't feed raw food because of high risks of bacteria and salmonella poisoning. Lettuce is recalled all the time for salmonella poisoning.....is that being pulled off the shelves so people can't eat it ever again? What about peanut butter? Dogs digestive systems are so much different then humans (obviously) and can tolerate raw food. I commented on it and never went back to read what others had to say because I'd probably get even more mad. But, these vets that come on there (if they are even vets) and start slamming raw foods, they have no knowledge of the diet. I hate when people post stuff and bash things before they even do any research on it.

ETA: I have heard of Susan Thixton before and I just went looking for her and low and behold, she lives in the same city as me. Small world.....

Well, not surprisingly, the policy passed with minor amendments. Here's the Facebook link for you to read the information and to make a comment. I wrote a rather lengthy response.....
https://www.facebook.com/avmavets


http://atwork.avma.org/2012/08/03/house-of-delegates-wrap-up-the-vote-on-the-proposed-raw-animal-source-protein-policy-resolution-5/#comment-5084