Raw feeding rant!

[JudyN]

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Scientists criticise trend for raw meat pet food after analysis finds pathogens

According to this study, raw feeding is risky because of the pathogens they found in raw dog food. Now, ignore all the arguments about what animals eat in the wild, the fact that the dog may eat the food and then lick you on your mouth... what this and similar studies are missing is, where are all the people falling ill as a result of these risks? And where are all the ill dogs?

I'm all for science - I may be a raw feeding evangelist, but I don't want it to become a dogma (pun intended), and I know the risks of confirmation bias, cognitive dissonance etc. Sure, anecdotal evidence is dodgy, but I know (mostly in the online sense) a lot of raw feeders and simply haven't seen anything to suggest that they or their dogs are falling ill. Is it not time someone researched whether this supposed risk is real rather than just assumed?

 

[JoanneF]

I wonder how many readers will pick up that the sample size - 35 - was ridiculously low for a 'scientific' study. Disappointing.

 

[excuseme]

I am going to enjoy following this thread.
I have fed the raw product for 40 years on and off depending on supply. My parents also used horse meat (although this was cooked).
Our dogs jaws and teeth tell us a lot about how our pets have evolved and can be traced back hundreds of thousands / millions of years, clearly designed for killing, ripping and tearing their meat product. Our dogs have not evolved with any flat teeth that would be used for grinding.
If the use of raw meat products was at all detrimental to our canine friends "Canis lupus familiaris " and to man, then why are there so many naturally wild animals such as the Grey Wolf " Canis lupus lupus" and so many others all with the similar jaw and tooth design, surviving and thriving. The domestication of the wolf/ dog has not proven to be the downfall of us humans through desease . (sorry my spelling is awful)
I am not one for quoting percentages or scientific numbers, but what a shame common sense and understanding is not used in many reports.

 

[JudyN]

Also, you'd have to compare this data with the levels of pathogens in meat for humans. If it's higher, then seeing as (I believe) raw dog food is supposed to be food grade, this is a problem with specific products, not with the whole idea of raw food itself.

We're often hearing about the level of pathogens on the average toothbrush, or faecal matter on mobile phones, but I don't see people saying we should stop brushing our teeth or using mobile phones. Or pretty well stop touching anything, anywhere, at any time...

 

[arealhuman]

We're often hearing about the level of pathogens on the average toothbrush, or faecal matter on mobile phones, but I don't see people saying we should stop brushing our teeth or using mobile phones.

I'll pause my lunch