Benefits Of Roo Meat

[Jumabaar]

If you are using pet grade roo make sure your dogs are wormed with Droncit at least every 3 months and keep the meat in a separate fridge to your own food.

Is freezing safe in this case?( I keep pet meat in the bottom drawer of the freezer. Human food starts 2 drawers above)

I'm not certain if freezing completely kills hydatids or not. Personally I wouldn't risk it. Hydatid is deadly to humans and not something to take lightly.

My Dad, grandad, and several uncles were all butchers or meat inspectors. None of them would have roo meat in the same fridge as food for humans. I worked for a pet warehouse some years ago that sold roo and other pet meats and still went and bought human grade meat for my dogs from a butcher.

Freezing does defiantly kill hydatids- after 8 20minute presentations on this same topic I can assure you freezing works. There is however a minimum time that it needs to be frozen for, and at a certain maximum temperature. I know there has been a thread in the past where I had the exact details about temp and time but for the life of me I can't remember off the top of my head what they were Damn holidays filling my head with cobwebs. I am happy to look it up tomorrow if no one pops in and answers before me.

My dogs get roo- but I control their weight with VAN atm. I tend to be an 'everything in moderation feeder' so they get raw meat, bones, veggies, van, kibble and I will have a look at this new product too. I like kibble to be in their diet for macro and micronutrients because we lack some in Australian soils (sorry once again memory fail on which ones) but mostly because I take the dogs away and kibble is easier and less smelly than roo lmao. I can stack on about 2 kilos on a kelpie doing fitness training for flyball through them stealing VAN, and the same little bitch put on three kilos when she opened a door and got into the kibble (even after being made to vomit!). Each to their own with regards to food IMO;)

[juice]

Would be good to know please.

I bought the roo roll already frozen, and the one i am using is in the bottom of my fridge in a seperate part to everything else . ( i only have one fridge)

[Guest Augustine Approved]

It's a good thing I only recommend and feed Augustine human grade kangaroo then. There have to be good reasons why pet roo meat it is not for human consumption.

I could swear that the management at Macro meats said that no processing is done on field but I will make a call tomorrow and find out. When researching roo meat heavily almost a year ago I do recall conversations about the health standards being greatly improved in recent years. Regardless, if it's not human grade I won't risk it.

[Jumabaar]

OK freezing meat at -10°C for 10 days will remove the risk of dogs eating viable cysts. (although another site says -20 for 20 days so I think its just safe to say the longer the better).

As an aside.....

hydatid cysts in the offal (internal organs) of sheep, cattle, kangaroos and pigs

In cattle, approximately 10% of hydatid cysts are viable, and these cysts usually die within a few months. In sheep and kangaroos however, most cysts are viable and continue to grow throughout the life of the animal. Older sheep in particular may have very large cysts. Cysts contain many capsules, with each capsule containing up to 40 hydatid heads. Each head is capable of developing into an adult tapeworm in the intestine of a dog.

Also we are only at risk of hydatidosis if it is caught via the dog- so in this particular instance it would be quite safe for US to eat all those substances so I think keeping the food in the same freezer but separated (and I say separated coz I have defrosted dog food for my dinner once and decided going hungry was the better option ) would be suitable.

Feeding any form of offal (from kangaroo, sheep, cattle or pigs) without treatment means that you have to worm your dog every 6 weeks.

Edited January 15, 2012 by Jumabaar

[trifecta]

Roos are killed and cleaned in the field, not in an abattoir with meat inspectors.

This is not always the case. Some vendors of roo meat buy direct from the shooters, others, like my supplier buy roo from the abbatoirs, where it has been inspected & handled properly. It is pet grade but comes out of the abbatoirs that process kangaroo for human consumption.

[dancinbcs]

Roos are killed and cleaned in the field, not in an abattoir with meat inspectors.

This is not always the case. Some vendors of roo meat buy direct from the shooters, others, like my supplier buy roo from the abbatoirs, where it has been inspected & handled properly. It is pet grade but comes out of the abbatoirs that process kangaroo for human consumption.

Were is there a Kangaroo abattoir and how do they transport and hold wild roos for processing?

Some interesting articles.

Roo as game meat

Roo meat industry

Edited January 15, 2012 by dancinbcs

[Guest Augustine Approved]

I have raised those concerns in the past dancinbcs and it is no longer like the articles mention. If it was there would be a health scare weekly. The first article I believe dates back to 2005?

The roo industry has had to come a long way in the last couple of years because they have been under a lot of fire.

Most kangaroos are shot in QLD/NSW, they stay in cool boxes on the field until the cool boxes are filled and then they are transported back to the abattoir for processing. One of the two major players is Macro Meats in South Australia and the other was bought out by V.I.P. Pet foods in QLD.

To put all these concerns to bed I think it is best if everyone interested gives them a call directly and asks. Please post your answers for everyone to benefit.

Macro Meats: +61 8 8341 2533

[trifecta]

Were is there a Kangaroo abattoir and how do they transport and hold wild roos for processing?

As AA says, kangaroos are shot & transferred to refrigerated transport in the field, then taken to the abbatoir for processing. These abbatoirs process game meat (for human cosumption) for both the domestic & international market. There are abbatoirs in western NSW & western Queensland. The one at Blackall was in the news about 6 months ago http://www.abc.net.au/rural/news/content/201107/s3275273.htm

[Alyosha]

It's illegal in NSW to transport uncleaned game meat carcasses desined for use in human or animal consumption. The gutting and dressing must be commenced within 20minutes of shooting the first animal of the run. Skins must be left on.

Process is as follows, in strict order:

Sourcing and killing

Hanging

Bleeding

Freeing weasand

Freeing anus and urinary tract

Dressing

Gutting

Freeing pluck

Inspection

Identification (tagging)

Transport

The practices in the field that I have personally seen, over recent years, mean I would not purchase roo meat for human, or animal consumption. ;)

Each to their own, we are all shaped by our own experiences...

edit - typos...

Edited January 16, 2012 by Alyosha

[trifecta]

The practices in the field that I have personally seen, over recent years, mean I would not purchase roo meat for human, or animal consumption. ;)

So have you been out west, Alyosha, or just been on roo shoots with the local red necks?

[Alyosha]

Both... ;)

Yes some are professional. But the "rednecks" you refer to are widespread, and the meat they produce is just as liekly to end up in your supermarket packet.

And I still stand by the fact that what I have seen personally means I won't purchase roo meat. That's ony my own opinion and experience, and has never been purported as anything else.

The industry is far from perfect, as are many that are larely unregulated and rely on modern forms of "honour" systems in order to function.

[Guest Augustine Approved]

There is no meat that I would support the farming or hunting of for human consumption and I have turned vegetarian now that I am more educated.

Furthermore, even though I am close to finalising a recipe for a fresh vegan food for dogs that is more nutritionally charged than any food that contains meat, not enough people would switch their dogs to it, and nor am I saying that they should go against a dog's natural want to eat meat.

In my view an animal is an animal, irrespective of size or kind, and they all deserve the same respect. At the end of the day everyone has different views on what they consider an ethically good meat for their dogs, but make no mistake about it there is no "good" meat.

I could raise the argument that I recommend kangaroo because it is being culled by law so I am not supporting the farming and slaughter of animals, but then you could raise 100 arguments against the hunting of kangaroos. I could raise the argument against the farming and slaughter of organic chickens due to their short lives and bad transportation standards. And so on... There is no winning here, not even if I was Charlie Sheen.

[twodoggies2001]

I feed my boys roo as part of their diet and I used to buy it from the pet supplier. I couldn't take the smell,so now buy the human grade. I know it costs more, but what the heck. My older boy needs lean non fatty meats and my younger boy eats it for added variety.