Sydney Raw Food Providers

[corvus]

Having visited a couple of "pet food" abbatoirs there is no comparison to human grade. The animals they use are old (diseased, dying) also there is not the refrigeration standards that compare to human abbatoirs. It was a disturbing experience indeed. I have been warned against pet grade kangaroo as it can have parasites as there is no health checks for pet grade food.

Do you have any further info on that? Like I said, AFAIK there are regulations that have to be adhered to, and free of parasites is one of them. If there are abbatoirs not sticking to the regulations maybe someone should dob them in.

I think there might be complications with the bunny thing wrt land zoning? I'm sure I read about this one time. I guess a lot of reptile owners breed their own rats etc. There might be animal ethics issues as well.

[poocow]

PM TerraNik sas, she was feeding Jedi goat - from memory I think she got it from Woolies? I could be wrong!

[tyra20007]

Having visited a couple of "pet food" abbatoirs there is no comparison to human grade. The animals they use are old (diseased, dying) also there is not the refrigeration standards that compare to human abbatoirs. It was a disturbing experience indeed. I have been warned against pet grade kangaroo as it can have parasites as there is no health checks for pet grade food.

Do you have any further info on that? Like I said, AFAIK there are regulations that have to be adhered to, and free of parasites is one of them. If there are abbatoirs not sticking to the regulations maybe someone should dob them in.

I think there might be complications with the bunny thing wrt land zoning? I'm sure I read about this one time. I guess a lot of reptile owners breed their own rats etc. There might be animal ethics issues as well.

SAS sorry for totally going off topic - FYI my butcher is getting info and prices on goat & bunny - will have it tomorrow (THURS)

OK for Corvus & all the people that think "pet food" is no different to human grade - here are a few disturbing quotes from the standard.

5.1 Pet meat raw material shall be sourced from:

(a) animals slaughtered at an abattoir or poultry abattoir and passed as fit for human consumption

(b) animals slaughtered at an abattoir or poultry abattoir and determined in whole or part by an inspector to be suitable for pet meat

© animals processed at a knackery

(d) game animals passed as fit for human consumption

(e) wild animals harvested in the field

(f) fallen stock, where permitted by a controlling authority

(g) field-dressed carcases of large, feral animals where permitted by a controlling authority.

6.10.1 Fallen stock may only be processed in accordance with the approval of the relevant controlling authority.

6.10.2 Carcases shall be inspected before processing and any carcases observed to have any infectious disease or abnormal condition which may render the carcase unfit for pet meat shall be directed for rendering or other approved method of treatment.

6.10.3 Carcases of fallen stock shall all be protected from contamination and deterioration by whatever means is necessary to maintain standards of hygiene during holding and transport before their arrival at a knackery.

6.10.4 Carcases of fallen stock must be processed within a suitable time after death to avoid putrefaction.

The above extracts were taken from the CSIRO - standards for raw pet meat in Australia

The Appendix B Post-mortem observations and dispositions is reason enough for me to never feed Pet Grade meats

http://www.publish.csiro.au/Books/download.cfm?ID=6180

(INTERESTING READING!) A very disturbing PDF for people who insist that feeding their dog dried/processed food is a "great diet" is found here:

Produced By the Pet Food Industry Assoc of Aust

http://www.pfiaa.com.au/site/files/ul/data_text30/442896.pdf

Just my opinion but I do not find ANY LEVELS OF MELAMINE (2.5ppm) Acceptable!!!

[tyra20007]

From the RSPCA website:

http://kb.rspca.org.au/Is-the-pet-food-ind...tralia_306.html

Is the pet food industry regulated in Australia?

Article ID: 306

The Australian Pet Food Industry is currently self-regulated via the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia. The Industry sets its own standards using a voluntary code of practice.

RSPCA Australia considers companion animal nutrition to be one of the most important aspects of pet care. Therefore, RSPCA Australia advocates the comprehensive regulation of the Pet Food Industry along the entire supply chain. This should include independent pet food safety assessments to remove any conflicts of interest; and the reliable and accurate labelling of pet food products to inform pet owners about any ingredients and/or treatments pet food products may have been subjected to.

Specific areas of concern include:

•The lack of legislative control over what is incorporated into pet food, and in particular, whether preservatives are added (the controls over the use of preservatives for humans are much stricter than for animal food)

•The lack of any legal requirement for full and accurate labelling of the ingredients in pet food - for many pet foods, the only labelling of ingredients provided is the minimum analysis which covers the percentage of crude protein, fat, fibre, moisture and salt. Listing other ingredients (including preservatives) is optional. Where there is no full ingredient list, owners are unable to make informed decisions regarding the contents and safety of the product

•The lack of regulation for accurate labelling to inform owners of any treatments the product may have been subjected to (eg gamma irradiation for quarantine purposes)

•The lack of independent and compulsory safety assessments for both imported and domestic pet food products. Two recent issues highlighted the need for more stringent regulations with regard to product safety standards: the irradiation of imported Orijen pet food has been linked to severe feline neurological disease with a number of cats dying or being euthanased; and imported Kramar chicken jerky treats the ingestion of which has been associated with serious kidney disease in dogs, particularly small breed dogs.

If you are concerned about the lack of regulation of the pet food industry we suggest you contact your local MP to express these concerns. Please see the attached article " How can I lobby government to improve animal welfare?" for further information.

If you are concerned about what you should feed your pet dog or cat (or other animal) the following precautions may be taken:

•Choose high quality commercial foods that include a full list of ingredients on the packaging. You may wish to contact the company directly to enquire about the ingredients including the addition of any preservatives and /or treatments that may have been applied to the product eg irradiation

•Only feed raw meat/meat products that are labelled for human consumption - you may wish to obtain meat products from your local butcher, where appropriate legislation usually affords protection against the use of preservatives in human-grade meat products

•Feed a varied diet

Articles of interest

1.Thiamine deficiency due to sulphur dioxide preservative in ‘pet meat’– a case of d�j� vu Australian Veterinary Journal Volume 83, No 7, July 2005

2.Leukoencephalomyelopathy in Specific Pathogen-free Cats Vet Pathol 44:912-916 (2007)

3.Effects of Gamma Irradiation and Pasteurization on the Nutritive Composition of Commercially Available Animal Diets Journal of the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science Volume 47, Number 6, November 2008 , pp. 61-66(6)

[stormie]

Having visited a couple of "pet food" abbatoirs there is no comparison to human grade. The animals they use are old (diseased, dying) also there is not the refrigeration standards that compare to human abbatoirs. It was a disturbing experience indeed. I have been warned against pet grade kangaroo as it can have parasites as there is no health checks for pet grade food.

Do you have any further info on that? Like I said, AFAIK there are regulations that have to be adhered to, and free of parasites is one of them. If there are abbatoirs not sticking to the regulations maybe someone should dob them in.

I think there might be complications with the bunny thing wrt land zoning? I'm sure I read about this one time. I guess a lot of reptile owners breed their own rats etc. There might be animal ethics issues as well.

SAS sorry for totally going off topic - FYI my butcher is getting info and prices on goat & bunny - will have it tomorrow (THURS)

OK for Corvus & all the people that think "pet food" is no different to human grade - here are a few disturbing quotes from the standard.

5.1 Pet meat raw material shall be sourced from:

(a) animals slaughtered at an abattoir or poultry abattoir and passed as fit for human consumption

(b) animals slaughtered at an abattoir or poultry abattoir and determined in whole or part by an inspector to be suitable for pet meat

© animals processed at a knackery

(d) game animals passed as fit for human consumption

(e) wild animals harvested in the field

(f) fallen stock, where permitted by a controlling authority

(g) field-dressed carcases of large, feral animals where permitted by a controlling authority.

6.10.1 Fallen stock may only be processed in accordance with the approval of the relevant controlling authority.

6.10.2 Carcases shall be inspected before processing and any carcases observed to have any infectious disease or abnormal condition which may render the carcase unfit for pet meat shall be directed for rendering or other approved method of treatment.

6.10.3 Carcases of fallen stock shall all be protected from contamination and deterioration by whatever means is necessary to maintain standards of hygiene during holding and transport before their arrival at a knackery.

6.10.4 Carcases of fallen stock must be processed within a suitable time after death to avoid putrefaction.

The above extracts were taken from the CSIRO - standards for raw pet meat in Australia

The Appendix B Post-mortem observations and dispositions is reason enough for me to never feed Pet Grade meats

http://www.publish.csiro.au/Books/download.cfm?ID=6180

(INTERESTING READING!) A very disturbing PDF for people who insist that feeding their dog dried/processed food is a "great diet" is found here:

Produced By the Pet Food Industry Assoc of Aust

http://www.pfiaa.com.au/site/files/ul/data_text30/442896.pdf

Just my opinion but I do not find ANY LEVELS OF MELAMINE (2.5ppm) Acceptable!!!

I don't get it - these regulations you have just posted re pet grade meat sound ok to me?

[stormie]

From the RSPCA website:

http://kb.rspca.org.au/Is-the-pet-food-ind...tralia_306.html

Is the pet food industry regulated in Australia?

Article ID: 306

The Australian Pet Food Industry is currently self-regulated via the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia. The Industry sets its own standards using a voluntary code of practice.

RSPCA Australia considers companion animal nutrition to be one of the most important aspects of pet care. Therefore, RSPCA Australia advocates the comprehensive regulation of the Pet Food Industry along the entire supply chain. This should include independent pet food safety assessments to remove any conflicts of interest; and the reliable and accurate labelling of pet food products to inform pet owners about any ingredients and/or treatments pet food products may have been subjected to.

Specific areas of concern include:

•The lack of legislative control over what is incorporated into pet food, and in particular, whether preservatives are added (the controls over the use of preservatives for humans are much stricter than for animal food)

•The lack of any legal requirement for full and accurate labelling of the ingredients in pet food - for many pet foods, the only labelling of ingredients provided is the minimum analysis which covers the percentage of crude protein, fat, fibre, moisture and salt. Listing other ingredients (including preservatives) is optional. Where there is no full ingredient list, owners are unable to make informed decisions regarding the contents and safety of the product

•The lack of regulation for accurate labelling to inform owners of any treatments the product may have been subjected to (eg gamma irradiation for quarantine purposes)

•The lack of independent and compulsory safety assessments for both imported and domestic pet food products. Two recent issues highlighted the need for more stringent regulations with regard to product safety standards: the irradiation of imported Orijen pet food has been linked to severe feline neurological disease with a number of cats dying or being euthanased; and imported Kramar chicken jerky treats the ingestion of which has been associated with serious kidney disease in dogs, particularly small breed dogs.

If you are concerned about the lack of regulation of the pet food industry we suggest you contact your local MP to express these concerns. Please see the attached article " How can I lobby government to improve animal welfare?" for further information.

If you are concerned about what you should feed your pet dog or cat (or other animal) the following precautions may be taken:

•Choose high quality commercial foods that include a full list of ingredients on the packaging. You may wish to contact the company directly to enquire about the ingredients including the addition of any preservatives and /or treatments that may have been applied to the product eg irradiation

•Only feed raw meat/meat products that are labelled for human consumption - you may wish to obtain meat products from your local butcher, where appropriate legislation usually affords protection against the use of preservatives in human-grade meat products

•Feed a varied diet

Articles of interest

1.Thiamine deficiency due to sulphur dioxide preservative in ‘pet meat’– a case of d�j� vu Australian Veterinary Journal Volume 83, No 7, July 2005

2.Leukoencephalomyelopathy in Specific Pathogen-free Cats Vet Pathol 44:912-916 (2007)

3.Effects of Gamma Irradiation and Pasteurization on the Nutritive Composition of Commercially Available Animal Diets Journal of the American Association of Laboratory Animal Science Volume 47, Number 6, November 2008 , pp. 61-66(6)

This article is mostly related to commercial pet foods, not raw meat...

[tyra20007]

I don't get it - these regulations you have just posted re pet grade meat sound ok to me?

OK then - if you are happy to feed your dogs fallen stock, great! You've got lucky dogs!

This article is mostly related to commercial pet foods, not raw meat...

Yes mostly, except for the line that I put in bold which related to raw meat!

Reasons to worry:-

Basically these are "standards" that may or may not be followed by a producer.

who is the person doing the health inspection? An employee of the producer.

Just my opinion, but if even the RSPCA advises to buy human grade meat then that should get you thinking.

[sas]

I don't listen to anything the RSPCA say personaly. LOL

Tyra, thanks for your input but if we can keep on topic please.

[stormie]

Thanks Tyra, but you don't really know anything about me or what I do for my dog, so no need for the 'lucky dogs' comment.

If you'd like to discuss 'pet meat', perhaps you could start another topic, but this one is about sourcing novel meats for our allergic dogs.

[WreckitWhippet]

The only way we can get afforable rabbit it to either shoot it ourselves or get them when the kids go out with the ferrets.

[stormie]

The only way we can get afforable rabbit it to either shoot it ourselves or get them when the kids go out with the ferrets.

so, when's the next hunt on then?

[Jacquiboss&scoop]

HI

for the Campbelltown area in Sydney

Chicken and Turkey fresh and frozen bulk boxes of around 12 to 14 Kg can be at 18 to 24 dollars a box depending on what you choose

Inghams processing outlet at Tarmor , this stuff is human grade meat just in bulk

Chicken shop downstairs in C town Mall

Chicken frames at .80c for a kilo bag or $6.00 for a box of around 8 kg

butcher on the same level 2kg good beef and lamb scraps 3.99 also has hearts ox tail and lamb spine bones regularly with recreational bones ( no real meat on them ) $3.00 a large full shopping bag

Fish shop has day to day specials whole fish all in the one place

Best place for cost effective goat would be Hala butchers around the bankstown / Liverpool area rabbit can be found in the same places but is not cheep

Meat rabbits can be raised at home but not in rural areas in NSW as they are a pest animal

I buy what is on special so this week was chicken wings at 1.99 a kilo ( with a little discount for the box quantity )

Make friends with your butcher if you can store box / bulk lots they will often order in for you

[stormie]

HI

for the Campbelltown area in Sydney

Chicken and Turkey fresh and frozen bulk boxes of around 12 to 14 Kg can be at 18 to 24 dollars a box depending on what you choose

Inghams processing outlet at Tarmor , this stuff is human grade meat just in bulk

Chicken shop downstairs in C town Mall

Chicken frames at .80c for a kilo bag or $6.00 for a box of around 8 kg

butcher on the same level 2kg good beef and lamb scraps 3.99 also has hearts ox tail and lamb spine bones regularly with recreational bones ( no real meat on them ) $3.00 a large full shopping bag

Fish shop has day to day specials whole fish all in the one place

Best place for cost effective goat would be Hala butchers around the bankstown / Liverpool area rabbit can be found in the same places but is not cheep

Meat rabbits can be raised at home but not in rural areas in NSW as they are a pest animal

I buy what is on special so this week was chicken wings at 1.99 a kilo ( with a little discount for the box quantity )

Make friends with your butcher if you can store box / bulk lots they will often order in for you

Thanks so much for that!! That's not a bad price for turkey - pretty sure my supplier gets the turkey for me from Inghams - he told me they only do turkey one day a week I think? I actually emailed Inghams to see if they could supply my turkey direct but they told me they don't do that

At the moment turkey is the only 'safe' food for him, and I have that sorted. I saw croc meat at my local markets (though about $30/kg!) but I might get some anyway just to suss it out.

It's amazing how expensive rabbit is, seeing there's so many ferals around!

Might do as you say, and talk to some local butchers and see what they can do.

[Jacquiboss&scoop]

they are open at Tahmoor from Tuesday till Friday from 8 :30 am to 4:30 pm , I buy frozen thighs and tails as well as drumsticks of turkey , if you drop the bag in the box on concrete they separate quite well . if your feeding big dogs its easy just to pack and re freeze , they call themselves the ingham factory outlet , They are not always sure what they will have on any given day as they get what the processing line has done .

[Jacquiboss&scoop]

they are open at Tahmoor from Tuesday till Friday from 8 :30 am to 4:30 pm , I buy frozen thighs and tails as well as drumsticks of turkey , if you drop the bag in the box on concrete they separate quite well . if your feeding big dogs its easy just to pack and re freeze , they call themselves the ingham factory outlet , They are not always sure what they will have on any given day as they get what the processing line has done .

[Jacquiboss&scoop]

they are open at Tahmoor from Tuesday till Friday from 8 :30 am to 4:30 pm , I buy frozen thighs and tails as well as drumsticks of turkey , if you drop the bag in the box on concrete they separate quite well . if your feeding big dogs its easy just to pack and re freeze , they call themselves the ingham factory outlet , They are not always sure what they will have on any given day as they get what the processing line has done .

[PooMother]

I'd love to find someone local here on NSW central Coast. I used to get it deliverd up this way from Sydney but the last 2 deliveries when I got to bagging it all up ( I would get wings, mince and flaps) were off and I mean off. Was supposed to be in a refridgerated van but highly doubt van was. I gave benefit of doubt first time but not 2nd not at over 100 every 2 weeks.

Alot of butchers up this way wont sell you their lamb flaps etc as they use it in there pets mince. I managed to get wings this week for 1.99kg though but they wouldnt order me in boxes (I normally buy 4 at a time :-)

Could be worth a trip to tarmor with a few eskys though....

[tyra20007]

Thanks Tyra, but you don't really know anything about me or what I do for my dog, so no need for the 'lucky dogs' comment.

If you'd like to discuss 'pet meat', perhaps you could start another topic, but this one is about sourcing novel meats for our allergic dogs.

Ohhhh sorry to go off topic!

Well I was amazed that you didn't find anything disturbing about the information I posted. I particularly found most of it disturbing and it completely reinforced why I would never trust anything that wasn't human grade.

Why is it that the Great Dane breed seems so susseptable to allergies?

Have you had the dogs tested for allergies? I noted with interest when I received my shipment of supplements today that the company I get these supplements from (Greenpet.com.au) does a compatibilty allergen test from dog fur/hair sample which tests for food and other common allergens for $127.

[tyra20007]

perhaps those looking for raw food providers should go to a topic that has been "pinned" to make it easy to keep all the information in one place.

http://www.dolforums.com.au/index.php?showtopic=156406

[sas]

Thanks Tyra, but you don't really know anything about me or what I do for my dog, so no need for the 'lucky dogs' comment.

If you'd like to discuss 'pet meat', perhaps you could start another topic, but this one is about sourcing novel meats for our allergic dogs.

Ohhhh sorry to go off topic!

Well I was amazed that you didn't find anything disturbing about the information I posted. I particularly found most of it disturbing and it completely reinforced why I would never trust anything that wasn't human grade.

Why is it that the Great Dane breed seems so susseptable to allergies?

Have you had the dogs tested for allergies? I noted with interest when I received my shipment of supplements today that the company I get these supplements from (Greenpet.com.au) does a compatibilty allergen test from dog fur/hair sample which tests for food and other common allergens for $127.

Tyra....can you please stop going off topic, start a new topic if you want to discuss other things, thanks You're also making the assumption that we haven't tried 1000+ miracle cure supplements and vodoo hair analysis and medical allergen tests LOL

Edited April 15, 2010 by sas