I have been reading all about dog food since reading this forum . I was feeding my dogs Nutro choice for several months which is American . On searching the web for a British premium dog food I came across a Andrew Lewis who has written a book called "The shocking truth about commercial dog food" he is  saying that sodium pentobarbital is in dog  food, this is the drug to euthanize cats & dogs and that these animals are sent to rendering plants for processing! I went on to nutro website and there was a trace of this drug when tested some years ago ? I was wondering if anyone else has seen this site ? If so what are your ideas on this . I now have brought Arden Grange as my pet shop stopped buying in Nutro also because it is made in Britain .

Not read his books but sounds a bit of a crank to me :)

I rate good nutrition and my dogs being in optimum condition very highly and very seriously.  However! some folks take things to the extremes IMO and anything with shock/horro value is generally just twaddle from someone who cant differentiate between a healthy interest towards the pursuit of perfection and an all encompassing unreasonable obsession.

In an ideal world every dog owner would be super conscious of their dog's diet (including every ingredient!), general health, mental and physical welfare etc but some folks have to manage on an income or timetable valuing X while others benefit from a higher income or greater time etc. and can therefore do more - doesn't make one right and another wrong as long as the dogs are getting the best they can from what their owners have available to them :)

regards, Teri

"Pentobarbital has been used as a sedative and anesthetic agent in horses, cattle, swine, sheep and goats. Often the drug is given after a preanesthetic agent to reduce pentobarbital dosages and side effects."

It seems more likely to me, that if traces of this drug have been found in dog food then it has got in via cattle, not somebodys euthanised pet!!!

ive heard of this scare before, and the "report" i read said that dog food companies also employed people to drive around and pick up roadkill to put in the foods....hmmm
dog foods are generally quite regulated and safe, some are obviously of better quality than others, but all are suitable to feed.
with regards to it getting in via cattle, all drugs used in large animals have withdrawal periods that legally they have to be off for a set amount of days before they are slaughtered so that seems unlikely as well.

Magica i have read similar claims numerous times,and no one can say for sure if they are true or not true.I tend to sway more toward stories such as these being true.
You should see the crap and sometimes lapsed attitude toward foods destined for the human market...I dread to think how things are when foodstuffs are earmarked for "pet food only"

> I dread to think how things are when foodstuffs are earmarked for "pet food only"

but there is a big difference between how a dogs stomach works/what it can deal with compared to us humans. Dogs get no ill-effects from licking thier own bottoms/eating dog poo - not a good idea for a human to do that. My old dog has given me a nervous breakdown by stealing & eating a rancid, green, slimy chicken carcass from the rubbish - the only ill effect he had was a bit of wind, if I had eaten that I imagine I would be in hospital with food poisoning!!!

Yeah it does say that on the bag of old food I brought. Saying that when I first put my old dog on it after 9 days he seemed to of lost years off him and his coat became real white. At least now I 'm buying British rather than American with the carbon wotsit . I did read years ago a study  some big dog food corp in America in there laboratory had 100 labradors at there kennel, half they fed the recommended food amount for the breed and the other half they keep lean and the lean dogs lived longer . Truth is I'm there worrying about whats in the food I buy and its expensive look what you can buy out there for £6 for 15kg bag ??

mastifflover but don't our dogs deserve the best and freshest produce that we can provide for them. Just because dogs don't get sick eating rancid crap does not mean that we should feed them cheap bottom of the barrel food! I much prefer to feed my dogs quality human grade foods rather than food "fit only for pet consumption".

>what you can buy out there for £6 for 15kg bag ??

I dread to think...

> mastifflover but don't our dogs deserve the best and freshest produce that we can provide for them. Just because dogs don't get sick eating rancid crap does not mean that we should feed them cheap bottom of the barrel food!

I don't feed my dogs rancid food!!!!! I was using the stolen rancid chicken as an exapmle that dogs are different to humans and as such can thrive on a diet that would not be deemed fit for human consumption. I doubt there are many humans who would eat raw chicken wings (for example) for breakfast (and it defiantely wouldn't be advocated by human-health proffesionals), but many a BARF feeder would agree that it is a fantasctic meal for thier dogs. In just the same way as I see the benefits of my dogs eating tripe, but wouldn't dream of serving green tripe to my children. I myself am very partial to drinking coffee - that is deemed fit for human consumption, but I would never give it to my dogs.....

I was referring to your comment of

> I dread to think how things are when foodstuffs are earmarked for "pet food only"

Our pets can thrive on food that is not fit for human consumption, the same as humans can eat food that is not fit for pet consumption. I understand that you put a lot of effort into feeding your dogs what you consider to be the best available, but it is unfair to imply that foods specifically made for a dog/pet  is a load of rubbish just because it is not fit for human consumption.

i bought a tin of hot dogs the other day to use as treats for puppy class and for boyfriend lol (im veggie) and the ingredients read chicken 32% (mechanically recovered), ugh, that sounds disgusting!!!!!!

>But there is a big difference between how a dog's stomach works/what it can deal with compared to us humans. Dogs get no ill-effects from licking their own bottoms/eating dog poo - not a good idea for a human to do that.

I don't think we know as I don't know of any humans who lick their bottoms and eat poo but I very much doubt the human race would die out if they did.  No doubt it wouldn't agree with some. :-D We are spoilt in this country, too much food, we can pick and choose and form opinions as to what we think is good for us and what isn't.  Too much rich food all the time is not good either IMO, we need variety.

When I read plain old books on nutrition etc, etc, (not the slagging off commercial dog food type ;-)) I always feel I'm missing something and I still do, I don't think we quite understand the full workings of the organism yet when it comes to food.

I believe this is more a problem state-side than in the UK. Worth emailing the company that supplies your current food though, and asking if they test for barbiturates, or can guarantee none in the food!