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The Humane Society of the United States is in the Pet Food business
- 2-5-2010
- Categorized in: Pet Food Reviews
Humane Choice is the new dog food developed by the Humane Society of the United States; the food will be sold at Petco, Whole Foods and other stores. The new vegetarian dog food is NOT made at a US company; it’s made in Uruguay.
The Humane Society Press Release states “To celebrate pets, The Humane Society of the United States announces the nationwide launch of a cruelty-free, all natural and certified organic "Humane Choice" dog food. The HSUS developed this new product to offer consumers a wholesome and nutritious dog food that does not contain animal-based proteins or support the factory farming industry.” http://www.humanesociety.org/news/press_releases/2010/02/humane_choice_dog_food_launched_020310.html
But what about supporting U.S. companies? The Humane Society of the United States selling a dog food made in Uruguay?
Makes no sense to me.
Here are the first five ingredients in the dog food… Organic ground canola seed, organic brown rice, organic soybean meal, organic buckwheat, organic flaxseed. This dog food would rate in Petsumer Report three paw prints on a five paw print scale. It does not contain chelated or proteinated minerals (for better absorption); it does not contain probiotics (to build a stronger immune system). An email sent yesterday (2/5/10) requesting country of origin information of ingredients has not been responded to; my guess would be some vitamins and minerals are sourced from China.
Humane Society of the United States…why?
Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,
Susan Thixton
Truth about Pet Food
Petsumer Report
www.TruthaboutPetFood.com
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I'm not one to say much, but I HAD to write the HSUS on this one. I just can't believe what they do.
You have got to be kidding. In the first place who ever heard of a dog that never ate meat. In the second place there is not such thing as organic canola, canola is a geneticly modified grain and therefore can't be classified as organic. Soy beans are 90% GM, but even in the rare occurance that they did find actual organic soy beans, it is still something that you wouldn't want to feed your pet. Now lets talk about going out of the country to have the product manufactured. Not very green or responsible. Think of all of the transportation and the fuel it uses. Not to mention the unemployment problem here in the USA. I would like to suggest that everyone boycott the Humane Societiy of the United States. Please don't feed you dog this junk food if you love it at all.
I have 24 dogs who LOVE vegetables to various degrees. If protein can be extracted from them to such an extent that humans can live off them then why not other animals? You are being narrow-minded and mean. The POINT behind VEGAN pet food should be the main thing that concerns you...NOT where it is manufactured, NOT whether it is GM or not. The POINT is that NO animals are injured or tortured or killed in the making of it! THAT alone is a major step forward. Get a brain and start THINKING before you sound off...
I'm only replying to part of your comment:
"If protein can be extracted from them to such an extent that humans can live off them then why not other animals?"
The answer to that question is very simple: evolution.
Humans require very little protein and even less fat. We only need about 50 grams of protein daily. To put that into perspective, a single avacado (skin and seed removed) weighs around 135 grams.
Additionally, humans have a digestive tract that is designed to be able to break down cell walls (in other words: plants - animal cells have membranes but no cell walls so they are easier to utalize). Many animals do not. Their much shorter digestive tracts render them simply physically unable to extract the necessary nutrients from plants. (Quick example: humans spend 24 hours processing what they eat. Ferrets spend only 6 hours.)
A clear indicator of an animal's ability to derive nutrients from plants can be found in their mouths. Humans, by structure, are predominantly herbiverous. Look at our teeth. We have flat molars (like a cow or a horse) for grinding plants.
Dogs, by structure, are predominantly carnivorous. Your dogs' molars have a different shape than ours. That means that they serve a different purpose. They are for stripping meat away from bone but can, to a small degree, allow for the consumption of plants. HOWEVER, they cannot live on plants exclusively any more than a human could live on meat exclusively.
Cats are an even more extreme example of the problems with vegetarian pet foods. Cats are what are called "obligate carnivores." That means that they are designed to live on meat and only meat. They can extract even fewer nutrients from plant matter than dogs can. And as with humans and dogs, a simple peek at their molars provides that information.
I am a vegan. But I am not going to mistreat my animals because of my choice. If you want to feed your pets humanely, look into a raw diet and pay attention to where you buy your pets' meat and organs. Ask about the slaughter practices of your provider. But please do your research first. Raw diets require a good deal of information about your animals' needs. You are very likely to hurt them if you are insufficiently informed.
As for HSUS and their "humane" pet food: they ought to be ashamed of themselves. There is nothing "humane" about lying to the public to sell food that will make the animals who eat it ill.
I agree, Susan. Just one word summed it up perfectly and succinctly.... WHY? WHY???? WHY?????? WHY????????????? HSUS is unbelievable.
vegan food for carnivores? imported all the way up from Uruguay? made of soybeans on land that used to be open pasture land for beef cattle and wild grazers? pitched by vegans who don't own pets since they believe that's a master/slave relationship?
this is just wrong on so many levels! there is no way i'd even think about feeding my fabulous dog swill hawked by vegans who think pet ownership is immoral and are working to make it virtually impossible for the average family to afford to put a pet under the tree at xmas!
Most definitely a conflict of interest. Is the Humane Society an organization that helps animals or is it a business? I see how they are using their reputation as the prior to sell the former, and many will be duped. Thanks for letting us know the story behind the PR!
-Elgin Dogs Examiner
In my opinion feeding vegetarian dog food is akin to abuse. I know there are some breeds like dalmations, etc that have trouble with some proteins, but dogs are built as carnivores - they lack salivary enzymes that break down carbs, have short acidic digestive tracts that aren't set up well to digest carbs, they need a variety of essential amino acids that only come with feeding meat proteins, etc. Studies have shown that vegetarian diets can lead easily to heart failure in dogs, not to mention making them more prone to diseases like diabetes from all of the sugars in grains. (check out http://www.b-naturals.com/newsletter/vegetarian-di...)
My other concern is how many of those ingredients are typically very allergenic for dogs, like soy. Lots of folks also think there's a good deal wrong with consuming rape seed (canola). I haven't looked into it deeply as none of the foods I carry have this ingredient, but there are plenty of sites out there raising possible concerns about canola (ie: http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/canola.htm)
As usual the Humane Society promotes themselves as being helpful or protective of animals, but in truth are exactly the opposite. Check out the book "Redemption: The myth of pet overpopulation and the No Kill Revolution in America" for an enlightening look at the Humane Society of the US. Yet again, Humane Society = FAIL.
All I can say is, "How utterly disappointing." Apparently, I have a lot to learn about the HSUS. How can it be 'humane' to feed that to your beloved dogs? And I say that as a vegetarian who eats vegan 90% or more of the time!
I'm all for obliterating Agra-farming, but this isn't the way. HSUS has many faults because it is a BIG business. But, it has done some good with their exposes on the atrocities of factory farms, closing down puppy mills, raids on illegal dog fighting rings etc. However, this venture of there's is just plain stupid! Canines need meat protein to survive healthily. Period!
I have had vegan dogs for years. They are happy and healthy. Understanding that animal slavery is immoral means you would not support it with your financial dollars. Nothing about domesticated animals is "natural" or anything biologically justified. You must understand that before going on a tirade about what you "think" is instinctive or natural. You have disrupted all instincts by generations of domestication.
Beyond that- understand most of the expensive "premium" dog food you shovel out for your pup is made with animal byproducts and and meats they are often allergic to. Dogs actually have a very hard time digesting the mass amount of grains and mish-mash of commercial grade meats found in dog food.
If you said you did not support enslaving children in a factory- I would be surprised if you sat there and condemned people from abstaining from purchasing pet products produced by child labor.
I do not support industries that rely on enslaving animals, not for my own consumption (beyond dietary) and I do not support them in pet products either.
What also surprises me here is the outrage in "defense" of your domesticated pet. You cry out in shock and yell "cruelty" at vegans resisting animal slaughter-based industries? Now back to the biology;
Your dog is omnivorous. They scavenge if they get lose from your backyard- and often do not succeed their attempts to hunt and consume other animals. Although I do not feel my dogs the HSUS brand, I do feed them Natural Balance. If you look up the brand, you will see it meets the criteria of many prominent American veterinary associations. Because of the absence of the additives found in your "premium" meat food, vegan dog food is often healthier.
This action, the promotion of vegan dog food, is about the most consistent action HSUS could have taken. It follows the understanding that mistreatment and cruelty (yes crew, that includes slaughter) toward animals is wrong and should not be supported.
Jenny...I'd like to see the unbiased scientific research that proves a vegan diet is healthy and/or safe for dogs long term. Until such research is done - there is no clinical proof that vegan is safe for dogs.
Vegan aside, there is still the issue of HSUS going outside the US for the manufacturing of this food. Inexcusable.
I don't understand you, susan. You run a very valuable and useful and well-intentioned service yet you seem to be blinded to the simple common sense fact that another valuable and useful and well-intentioned organization would have to out-source production of a vegan dog-food to another country in order to make it cheap enough so that more lower income Americans can be weaned from the insane belief that dogs MUST eat meat. There is nothing "inexcusable" if for an extremely good cause poorer people than you Americans are given a chance to do a good thing. What's inexcusable is your whole web-site's instant and unthinking condemnation of HSUS. (P.S. I don't work for them nor contribute to them. I just think it is high time that somebody started to ratchet down the stupid idea that you (dogs and humans alike) MUST eat meat or you will GET SICK and DIE. There is no proof that we all must eat meat just as there is no proof that we all must drink cow's milk - it's age-old government supported/subsidized propaganda from those two enormously powerful and well-lobbied US industries. Billions of people throughout the non-American world survive on only/mostly vegetables alone. The USA is the most non-vegetarian society in the world (something like 1-2% of all Americans--now THAT's inexcusable). For decades your American corporations have razed rain-forests in order to get cheap pasture for cattle to make your cheap 100% NON-cruelty-free McDonald's patties...THAT's inexcusable.)
As far as clinical proof...first of all, pure objectivity in science let alone life is very rare and, really, probably impossible; thus the objectivity of any organization that claims such is suspect. Second of all, I can't imagine any scientist would have the creativity necessary to be able to devise a series of experiments that would test vegan foods on dogs that wouldn't involve their killing and dissection after the experiment is finished to get some of those supposedly objective results (to determine quality and characteristics of various tissues necesssary to canine physiological functions, i.e liver kidney brain muscle etc biopsies) - which would obviously be contrary to vegan ethics (duh). Third of all, since most evidence used to prove almost anything about anything is derived from hearsay or (minimally or otherwise) subjectively tainted observations (look up the Heisenberg principle for a hint if you don't understand this...) then your wait for clinical proof could only be comparable to the wait for spontaneous combustion of your campfire at the bottom of the deepest part of the Mariana trench.
My (therefore) hearsay evidence is this: I have 24 dogs at various levels of vegan diet. None are 100% there (yet) simply because I have not been able to figure out a way to formulate it. I also feared that they couldn't eat vegetables and survive having been brought up in the same brain'washing society that you all were. I became a Vegan after 40 years of life and have never felt healthier and stronger and more mentally alert until I made the dietary change. On top of that, ethically I am sure that veganism is the right choice as well. And do you know WHY I made this change? Simply, as we began to rescue more abused and abandoned animals and they began to work their ways into my emotional life I could see how little different they really are from us...this led me to the eventual conclusion that I didn't have the right to be supporting an industry that plays upon our ignorance of what goes on in slaughter-houses and research facilities and farms. If I wanted to protect my true friends, my dogs, (and I know ALL of those who have come to this web-site feel this way about their pets) from all sorts of cruelty and abuse, then why can't I apply that same standard to the rest of my interactions with the animal world in my life. For certain, it takes work and a lot of focus, and thus most of us, like myself, will try to avoid making the not always obvious conclusions associated with this particular observation--because extra work is something that is hard to justify in such a time-sensitive workaholic society. We never have enough time to do the things that are right...unless we make those things the focus of our lives...
Veganism is the RIGHT thing to do, if you love your pet. If you can love one animal then you can't morally deny that absolute a love to other animals. If you got to know them as well, you would undoubtedly love them as well. If you were physically capable of infinite love, then you would love all the dogs and cats you could physically get to know. They, like people, as you probably know, are predictable in many ways. If you show them love, they will probably love you back (unless they have been psychologically ruined). In fact, animals (like children) that have been abused horribly will still more often love their owners (parents). All animals that I have met are capable of so much more love than most of us seem to be. I think it is this way because their emotions aren't obscured by this complex fog of societal rationalism that permeates our own consciousnesses. Our love is often obscured by our practical approach to life -- a necessary trait dictated by the organizations of which we must all be members, our schools, our families, our companies, etc. Love is a feeling that is cornered off and placed in an emotional niche, and is brought out only in (hopefully) proper occasions -- which is why the animals that we make our pets and who don't need to cordon off their own love in such ways seem so refreshing and pure and so much more worthy of our attention than most of the people we know seem.
In summary, HSUS is doing the RIGHT thing, and shouldn't be the subject of so much unthinking abuse from so many people who so obviously have such great love for their own pets that they have bound themselves together into one group to fight the cruelties and depradations of the same food-processing industry that tortures and murders billions of animals yearly. How can you be selective in this? If you love and respect your dog/cat/bird/horse/(fill in the blank) then you should AT LEAST be able to comprehend that your pet is a member of a larger class that has mostly similar qualities and characteristics, and thus deserves at least the same cruelty-free and long lasting life that you would wish for your pets. Just as we would wish success for our friends or loving relationships for our family members, so should we wish for a good life for all those animals that could be someone's pet...Just as us, no animal wants to suffer and die before its time.
In the end, I suspect that American society would be more than 1-2% vegetarian if everyone had to kill all their own meat. Butchers, meat processors, slaughterhouse workers are rightfully suspect careers. If you can shut yourself off emotionally to the obvious terror and suffering that animals being slaughtered (or raised to be thus) are feeling, then you can probably shut out a lot of the normal feelings that the people you know subject you to. Certainly, a study has been done somewhere to support the age-old suspicion that this class of people just ain't right in the head. (In Japan and India they are an ostracized class of people). Something's off, something's missing. Therefore, aren't we, the consumers of meat and leather and perfumes and other animal and animal-tested products psychologically in a similar situation if we hire them to torture and murder for us? Just because we don't see it happen, doesn't mean we can ethically remove ourselves from responsibility for our actions in the consumption of its results. In fact, we are in my eyes more culpable. We are the people who give the murderers justification for what they are doing - we pay them to kill. We are the bankers of terrorists and serial killers. Would anyone say that sponsors of suicide-bombers are any the less responsible for the bombers' deeds then the bombers themselves?? In fact, without the bankers the bombers would absolutely fail at least in the severity of their effects upon the innocent.
All the people who come to this website love their pets so much that they want to protect them as much as they can...how can you not extend that protection to all of God's creatures, great and small...We are their family; It's what we SHOULD do.
I understand the confusion about the new pet food, and do recommend checking out the FAQ section of the Humane Choice website. One of the things mentioned is that you should always check with your vet before switching foods. In addition, part of what is important to remember about this food is that it is simply an alternative option. There are people who want to feed their dog non animal based diets, and this food gives them an option that meets nutritional needs.
Just like you have many different types of dog foods out there of the same flavor, this is simply another option for those that want it. I hope that helps clarify some things. Thanks!
Susan... "According to a recent study reported in the prestigious British Journal of Nutrition (Vol. 102(9), 1318-1323. 2009), dogs are perfectly capable of thriving on a well-balanced vegetarian diet. The study fed sprint-racing Siberian huskies either a vegetarian diet or a meat based diet for four months, and performed batteries of blood work on the dogs throughout and after the experimental period. The study reported that the results of the blood work 'for all dogs, irrespective of diet, were within normal range throughout the study and the consulting veterinarian assessed all dogs to be in excellent physical condition.'"
Here is the link to the abstract: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstra...
So, there is some "unbiased scientific research." Like Jenny, I have known people with vegan dogs who lived longer than average healthy, active lives. Where is the unbiased (this being the operative word) scientific research that says a meat-based diet is more healthful for dogs? I have been researching this for awhile and there seems to be a lot of hysterical shouting about dogs needing to consume meat to enjoy optimal health, and no scientific evidence to support this assertion. I currently do feed my dog meat, but I am also interested in truth over propoganda.
Incidentally, I reposted this from Ryan S.'s post on the Seattle PI blog about the same subject - hence the quotation marks: (http://blog.seattlepi.com/pawsfurthought/archives/...).
My gorgeous adopted german sheperd was raised a vegan. She never had any health issues and passed away of old age at about 18. Yes, dogs can be happily vegan. I totally support this concept.
RE: Jenny's comments:
You do realize that PETA considers keeping pets as enslavement, right? This shows up the slippery slope of definitions and the need to stay away from holier than thou attitudes.
Other thoughts:
After the Great Recall of 2007 many of my raw-food compadres got a little puffed up thinking that they were soooooo smart about their pet's nutrition. The raw industry is reaping the backlash from that attitude as regulators are now scrutinizing that sector as its popularity has grown.
And to those of you who are critical of out of country manufacturing of pet food, the HSUS is far from the only one doing it. TikiCat and Weruva are two "premium" brands that are manufactured in Asia.
Many food companies are obtaining vitamins from China. Natura (Innova/Cal Nat/EVO) is one of the few who are 100% China free.
An additional comment about ingredients...
Natural Balance Vegetarian is not based in soy protein, the major problem that I have with vegetarian pet food, HSUS's included.
Wysong Vegan contains soy and corn gluten meal - proof that vegetarian food can be just as poor as many grocery store or prescription brands.
Like most medical journals today, a study may be paid for by those who have most to gain, and the results may be tainted. (This is the same problem with human studies). The study in the BJN is for a very short period, and it doesn't take into account what happens to offspring of those dogs tested. I'd question the soybean inclusion as dangerous. Also these dogs started out in excellent condition. What about dogs in only fair condition or much older? Too limited a study.
I'm a vegan who works at an animal shelter...and I would never feed my dog this stuff! While I agree that most pet food is made inhumanely, and I certainly support the movement to stop factory farms, I don't think that feeding a species-inappropriate diet is the solution. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it's irresponsible for one of the world's most prolific animal welfare organizations to be promoting a potentially harmful diet for dogs. As an alternative to completely unnatural dog food, I think anyone interested in feeding their pets more humane diets might benefit from adding local, humanely raised and humanely slaughtered meats to their pets' meals. I've lived in many places in the USA and have always been able to purchase organic, free-range, local meats from small farms to feed my pets.
I will say that, as a vegan, it's an interesting paradox to shun animal products myself and yet live with six furry carnivores who need animal protein to thrive. I understand where the HSUS is coming from, but I do worry about the long-term health of pets who are put on unnatural diets. Vegan diets for natural omnivores (dogs) and carnivores (cats) seem like putting a band-aid on the problem rather than actually solving it.
The bare fact that HSUS is very controversial does in fact hurt the animals they are attempting to help financially, but those are the times: http://www.humanewatch.org/
That does not mean they are wrong, we will have to wait to see if they can control production values in S.America where even Human Rights traditionally waver with the changing leadership.
Saving any animal is a wonderful thing. Right now I'm struggling with my own decisions but also voting daily online to get grants & better food to shelter pets.
Many of the people at this site write as if money does not matter or politics does not matter, it in fact does.
A better target for your ire...Walmart in my town is selling one year old expired IAMS Protective Care Kitten food on a regular basis. Can't wait until they partner with the US Govt! I already know the problems with IAMS, but you should see what I am eating just to get them all their shots & operations. I was hazed by the local animal control as well...attack, attack, attack anybody who steps up to take responsibility for strays or rescue a cat and it seems to be coming from all sides.
HSUS, according to all the studies I read both here and abroad is not correct in their nutritional values, but animals, like people, can adapt and survive. (Backpacked through 12 countries alone, penniless, while a bunch of military a******* made fun of me for sleeping in the streets to do discovery on the NY Times)