High Performance Dog Food, Supplements and Nutritional Products

The four-D designation listed above reads terribly. However, if a company harvested (just) disabled animals this designation would be acceptable .If an animal had an accident and died in that accident, this too would be acceptable feed for dogs. So part of this 4d designation would be acceptable for many discriminating users of meat product for canine consumption In spite of this, we malign the entire designation. Just how dangerous is the balance of this category ...it is probably for you to decide!

When puzzled, it is best to go back to the wild for proven or empirical guidance . Wild animals like the coyote and wolf seek out the weaker specimens in a heard (possibly diseased or disabled). The wild canid is able to thrive on the flesh of the less fit herbivore. In nature, a truly sick Or contaminated herbivore tends to leave the herd and seek out a secluded area in an attempt to die in privacy. This also eliminates a possible bacteria or virus from doing more harm to the herd. Although predators may find and ingest a pathogen-laden animal, this is probably a last resort.

The 4D terminology seems unfair to the dog, the consumer and the vendor. For example, Martin's K-9 FORMULA would not object to the use of a bull or cow that has broken it's leg in a mishap or killed in an accident being utilized as a canine food source. The consumer has an impossible task of harvesting the disabled animals for her or his kennel without running the risk of getting diseased animals as well.

The healthy canine predator prefers a fresh more nutritious kill, a kill that is on the run. Just because we have seen coyotes survive and maintain a decent level of health on rancid, bloated cadavers should not imply that this is acceptable nutrition or the coyote's preference. An example of a non-discriminating menu can be illustrated by my own personal experiences. During the calving season, the cattle ranchers stand guard, knowing only too well that as soon as a calf hits the ground it is vulnerable to coyote attack.

On the other hand, Calves that are stillborn are put in a dead pit (huge hole in the ground) with other animals that are in various stages of decomposition. Coyotes flock to these pits and consume all that their bellies will hold. Rifled Varmint hunters and their hounds lay in wait as the coyotes feast. Many times these Coyotes have such a superior turn of speed they literally run the dogs into the ground. We must assume that the flesh they are ingesting, both fresh and rancid, has reasonable to high calorie levels or they would not be able to run at twenty to thirty miles per hour for extended periods of time. Regardless of the almost perplexing diet of coyotes and related wild canids, we feel four-d meat as it is harvested, presented and marketed has much room for improvement.

In closing, we feel a new label or designation is needed for canine consumption of flesh foods. COMPLETELY excluding diseased animals. It would be necessary to clearly isolate and define the terminology dead and dying to be certain that these animals are not infected with disease. Governing agencies may want to consider giving dog food manufactures the option of clarifying protein origins, along with the protein percentages. In doing so, consumers and most importantly, their animals will benefit.