dog food: bait residues in game meat?

[Ilona & Gina]

Just wondering who feeds fresh meat to their dogs, especially kangaroo. It is supposed to be good, as these animals are wild, hence not pumped up with hormones and antibiotics. However, don't the pet meat abattoirs process road kill, which can be quite old and rotten?

 

Or how about residues such as the bait 1080, which by-the-way is laid out liberally in publicly accessible dog walking areas? Kangaroos may survive the bait and not necessarily die, but they may be poisoned, and our dogs eat their meat - yuk!

 

The same for wild goat - which is highly recommended by our vet, or, camel, or all the other meat that doesn't come from a farm.

 

We feed raw meat (beef, chicken, lamb, mutton, sometimes goat and kangaroo) plus vegetables, and our dogs are in perfect health.

 

But I do not easily trust what people say, be they "nutrition experts" or vets. Has anybody got some more trustworthy information about game meat?

[ricky young]

hi Ilona
Not many use roo meat. Even though it is readily available the health concerns with the process of getting to market is of concern and then when processed there would be plenty of additives.1080 is not much of a concern as it has been illegal for years. My dog has had it but gets diarea from it. Some of the hunting dogs do ok on it and pig.
Cheers Rick

[Ilona & Gina]

Are you saying that 1080 is not used in QLD? You are lucky. Legal or not, here in WA, it's liberally used in public areas, also in dog walking areas. But then, I am not surprised, living in the "Wild West" :))

[Gayle Sheridan]

Hi IIona.
I have always fed my dogs predominently meat and chicken purchased from licenced outlets. Back in the early days I used to carve up cows with friends - no fond memories of that! Here in NZ there is a real threat of 1080 residue in possums. This has been a problem when dead possums have been swept downstream to areas where dogs are exercised and dogs have died after eating them. It is apparently a very cruel death too so I would suggest you steer well clear of any possible contaminated beasts. I understand that NZ and Australia are the only countries in the world still using 1080 - not very good!
Best regards - Gayle

[Ilona & Gina]

Thank you for your advice. I don't believe in canned or dry food - too much insider knowledge.
A friend of mine worked as a conventional vet, before she became a naturopath. She shared her university experience, which is still common practice. Apparently, vet students have one lecture about animal nutrition, and this lecture is held by a guest speaker. Guess who is invited: Mostly public relations people of well known dog food corporations. Sounds promising to me...

It seems we have the choice between hormones and antibiotics and poison. I am still trying to crack the Jackpot, so we can feed them certified organic fillet steak!