Why We Feed Our Dog Flint River Ranch
Letters and articles from Veterinarians
A letter to Jim Flint (President of Flint River Ranch) from Dr. Junia Childs of Best Friends Animal Clinic in Atlanta, GA. (Reprinted by permission - original on file with FRR)
Dear Jim:
I'm so glad that I decided to become a Flint River Ranch distributor. Not only is FRR an excellent food, I also feel we are uniquely positioned to take maximum advantage of the marketing opportunity here in the Southeast. The market is virtually untouched. I'm truly excited by the prospect of bringing such a great product to the pet food buying public.
As you know, I have been retailing FRR in my clinic for several months now. I have had only positive results. The food is so palatable, I have yet to have any pet refuse to eat it. The clients are seeing noticeable improvement in their pet's skin, haircoat and general level of vitality. I have a three year old Westie that suffers from atropy and allergies in general. Her owner commented just today that she has never seen Maddie's hair look so good! I agree! Another patient was in the clinic almost every other month with chronic yeast or Staph. When I saw him last week, his ears were clean and healthy. The owner reports no changes other than feeding Flint River! I also have a couple of FUS cats now on FRR instead of Feline C/D. so far so good!
Only a couple of years ago, I was one of the top retailers of Hills Science Diet in the metro Atlanta area. I felt comfortable feeding and recommending these products to my clients. Now, however I am seeing the results of feeding a high quality ALL NATURAL food. Those artificial ingredients and preservatives truly do (directly or indirectly) cause a host of problems. I'll never again recommend any food that is not totally natural.
Since the introduction of the Petsmart stores in our area, I had sharply curtailed the retail side of my business. Why try to compete with the "big guys"? There was no way I could compete with their prices -- they were selling some Science Diet products for less than I could purchase them wholesale! Now, not only do I have a much superior product to offer my clients, I can also offer HOME-DELIVERY at no extra charge! Since Flint River will never be sold at discount prices at a pet superstore, I am developing client loyalty that will last the life of the pet, even if the owner moves out of my area.
I'm excited about working with you to bring Flint River Ranch foods to a much wider market. By sharing this product with my clients, as well as other vets and pet care providers, we are providing a means of improving the overall health of pets in general, as well as developing a sustantial income for ourselves! What a "Win-Win" proposition!!!
I hope to see you soon! Feel free to call me at any time if you have suggestions. Ann Tift and I are working hard to get our volume up so we can have a Flint River plant here in Georgia in the next year or so!
Yours Truly,
Dr. Junia Childs
FOOD NOT FIT FOR PETS
by Dr Wendell O. Belfield, D.V.M.
The most frequently asked question in my practice is, "Which commercial pet food do you recommend?" My standard answer is "None." I am certain that pet-owners notice changes in their animals after using different batches of the same brand of pet food. Their pets may have diarrhea, increased flatulence, a dull hair coat, intermittent vomiting or prolonged scratching. These are common symptoms associated with commercial pet foods.
Pet food company executives make the usual denials. But federal and state agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, and medical groups, such as the American Veterinary Medical Association and the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), confirm that pets, on a routine basis, are rendered after they die in animal shelters or are disposed of by health authorities; and the end product finds its way into pet food.
For seven years I was a veterinary meat inspector for the US Department of Agriculture and the State of California. I waded through blood, water, pus and faecal material, inhaled the fetid stench from the killing floor and listened to the death cries of slaughtered animals.
To prevent condemned meat from being rerouted and used for human consumption, government regulations require that meat be "denatured" before removal from the slaughterhouse and shipment to rendering facilities. In my time as a veterinary meat inspector, we denatured with carbolic acid (a potentially corrosive disinfectant) and/or creosote (used for wood-preservation or as a disinfectant). Both substances are highly toxic. According to federal meat inspection regulations, fuel oil, kerosene, crude carbolic acid and citronella (an insect repellent made from lemon grass) are all approved denaturing materials.
Condemned livestock carcasses treated with these chemicals can become meat and bone meal for the pet food industry. Because rendering facilities are not government-controlled, any animal carcasses can be rendered - even dogs and cats. As Eileen Layne of the CVMA told the Chronicle, "When you read pet food labels, and it says "meat and bone meal", that's what it is: cooked and converted animals, diseased meats and grocery store rancid products, including dogs and cats."
Some of these dead pets; those euthanised by veterinarians; already contain pentobarbital before treatment with the denaturing process. According to University of Minnesota researchers, the sodium pentobarbital used to euthanise pets "survives rendering without undergoing degradation". Fat stabilizers are introduced into the finished rendered product to prevent rancidity. Common chemical stabilisers include BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole) and BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene); both known to cause liver and kidney dysfunction; and Ethoxyquin, a suspected carcinogen. Many dog foods contain propylene glycol; first cousin to the anti-freeze agent, ethylene glycol, that destroys red blood-cells. Lead frequently shows up in pet foods, even those made from livestock meat and bone meal. A Massachusetts Institute of Technology study, titled "Lead in Animal Foods", found that a nine-pound cat fed on commercial pet food ingests more lead than the amount considered potentially toxic for children.
I have been practicing small-animal medicine for more than 25 years. Every day I see the casualties of pet industry propaganda. But the professors in the teaching institutions of veterinary medicine generally support an industry that has little regard for the quality of health in our companion animals.
(Dr Belfield is a graduate of Tuskegee Institute of Veterinary Medicine and is now in private practice in San Jose, California. Dr Belfield established the first orthomolecular veterinary hospital in the US. He is co-author of The Very Healthy Cat Book and How to Have a Healthier Dog. This article first appeared in Let's Live Magazine, May 1992 -- In the same year all natural Flint River Ranch first came into the marketplace)
