Dogs across borders can reference a broad range of concepts, but this post is not about the abstract, not about property rights, shipping dogs from country to country, or disease vectors. It’s about an impossible trade situation that may have been brought on by hurried globalization efforts and made more dire by a stunning lack of effective oversight.
Imported dog food ingredients and finished food products from China, such as chicken jerky treats, have often been targeted on this blog, with good reason. The majority of imported pet products, including pet food, treats and ingredients, come from China. To understand why this represents a real danger to any importing country, you must understand the very serious air, water, soil pollution and contamination that exists in China, and the heavy pesticide, insecticide and herbicide use on crops and grasses. Synthetic pesticides are the most toxic, most widely used in China. They have destroyed a percentage of their arable land from improper and overuse of these chemicals. It’s important this information is passed on to everyone you know.
There is only one food chain. Food safety is paramount. This is not only about pet safety, but is also about public health and safety. We are importing pet food from a place where 123,00o people are poisoned by pesticides annually, 55% of cities ground water is not safe to drink, 25% of all the water in China’s 7 main river systems is not safe for human contact – contact! – and heavy metals are found in meat according to the video below (hat tip to Steve Dale ). Would you want your pets to eat food that is grown and processed under such conditions?
Arsenic and heavy metals like mercury, lead, cadmium and copper end up in the food chain when animals ingest it through environmental exposures as in soil or drinking water for livestock, and also from feed. Arsenic in the soil persists, and when growing crops, arsenic is taken up by the vegetable or grain. The FDA were searching, we assume, for arsenic and heavy metals when they went to China to investigate what was causing illness or death in dogs from eating chicken jerky treats.
It’s a global world and what affects one country’s dogs now affects dogs across borders. We have a right to know what we are feeding our dogs and where it comes from. Loopholes that industry have added to pet food regulations allowing them to hide the fact that they are using cheap pet food ingredients from China have got to be removed. Now, please.
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