To Eat, Or Not to Eat?

My human has been paying enough attention to the news to know that treats have been making some companion animals in North America sick. As you probably know, hundreds of dogs have fallen ill when they ate chicken jerky treats that came from China. So many dogs have died that the U.S. government has sent inspectors to China to try to figure out what’s going on there, MSNBC reported.

But the U.S. authorities were not very quick to act on this, which made pet guardians really unhappy, and they started to organize to help each other protect their companions. More than 7,000 people have signed a petition on Care2.org asking the FDA to ban all chicken treats from China. The FDA hasn’t banned the treats but has issued a warning to pet guardians who choose to feed their pets treats that were made in China. Part of the organizing has been to find out which treats are actually coming from China because packages don’t always have that much information about the origin of the treat. I’ve been searching for a list online, and still can’t find one.

We like to eat We Pity the Kitties treats from Three Dog Bakery. We ran out these treats not long ago, and our human ordered some for us, including the chicken ones, which we had never tried. Since this bakery is in Chicago, our human just assumed that the treats were made in the U.S. Our friend Boris Kitty, who is a well informed kitty, told us to make our human be more careful. Well, he actually didn’t say that, but that’s what we told her after we talked to Boris. “Stop assuming things and do your homework! We’re talking about your best friends’ health!”

The boxes don’t say anything about China. In fact the only thing they say is that the salmon treats are Alaskan Salmon. I think that’s why she just thought for sure that everything was home-grown. First, she decided that we just shouldn’t eat the treats. Then, she was sad because we love those salmon treats so much and we have had similar chicken treats and loved them too. We convinced her to write to the company and find out what is going on with the We Pity the Kitties treats. We want to EAT them but only if it’s reasonably safe for us. We are smart kitties.

Here’s what the Three Dog Bakery humans told our human in an email she got this morning (they responded FAST!):

Good morning Robin

Thank you for your email.  For our feline’s health, safety and convenience, our 100% Salmon We Pity the Kitty treats are caught in U.S. waters, and then sent to China only to be freeze dried and then sent back to Three Dog Bakery in the U.S.  Due to the complex process, we have found this delivers the best quality all-natural Salmon treat at the best value for our customers.

This state of the art, HAACP approved human grade food processing facility in China has the capability to fillet, freeze, prepare, freeze dry and package our Alaskan Salmon products in a single location. The quality of our finished product is unsurpassed and backed by US independent lab tests, as well as by the USFDA. The results are the purest, finest Wild Alaskan Salmon treats available anywhere!

The main safeguard we have in place is the simplicity of a single, wild ingredient from Alaska. Wild Salmon are tested each and every season for a wide variety of contaminates. We would like to stress that our products are produced in an HAACP approved human quality facility (with much higher standards) and not a pet food plant. The FDA also tests our products regularly to ensure quality and meet our high standards.

Our We Pity the Kitty Chicken treats are sourced and processed right here in the U.S.A.

Wags,
Your Three Dog Bakery Customer Care Pack

We decided to try the chicken treats.

You should make the decision about what works best for you. You should also insist that your humans get the fullest possible info on what they are giving you to eat and putting on your fur and stuff like that. What’s safe for humans isn’t always safe for cats. What’s safe for dogs, even, isn’t always safe for cats. We are sad about the pets who lost their lives because of unsafe treats and food, and we hope more of us will be safer because our humans are paying more attention.

5 thoughts on “To Eat, Or Not to Eat?

  1. I think it’s best not to trust any food which has been in/to/from China in any way, shape, or form! They put toxic chemicals in their own human food as additives!!! (Remember the melamine incident among many!) I think the decision was wise, indeed. The founders of Three Dog Bakery are involved with a Great Dane charity which I also am involved with and I am going to send e-mail to them directly to let them know that this is not acceptable!!! UGH! RAY, CHASE & TIPPER — @DaneRay

  2. Mom’s been following the interweb’s discussions about treats made in China making pets very sick (or worse!). She’s made a promise to herself to check all labels and be aware that the whole truth isn’t on the labels (Thanks Boriskitty!). She checked out my absolutely most favorite treat in the world this evening while at the store. Yikes! D***os are made in China! She’ll have to find me another favorite nom and soon!

  3. Excellent bloggy and good informations. We r still not happy wif the processed in China part no matter how safe they seem to think the facility is, but iffen we had just buyed sum we probably would eats dem.

    Going forward Human2 finded us Whole Life salmon (bigger chunks but herz can tear dem apart fur us) and dey r US sourced and processed so no worries about wot happens in China or da trips to and from da USA either.

    I just don’t knows how dey can gets away wif not puttin dat info on der products tho. Do u?

    I will be doin a review of all da salmon noms I hab tried in da past few months on my blogy next week.

    1. I agree, Boris! It should be easy to find out where our food, and our humans’ food, comes from. I’m looking forward to your review. I love salmon treats of all sorts.

      *Chubby torby runs up* SMOOCH! I love you, Boris!

Leave a Reply