It doesn't have to be certified organic, there are many different levels of quality in meats from different suppliers. For example if you buy poultry that is strictly vegetarian fed, you will know at least they weren't raised on cheap feed that includes exactly the same, low quality, generic rendered animal products as grocery store type pet food.
I'm not debating that the majority of pet foods out there is of poor quality, but lumping the same companies in with them that truly do make an effort to produce high end stuff (and buy good quality ingredients) is unfair.
While it is important to inform people about what's going on in the pet food industry, there is also a lot of baseless paranoia out there and it's simply not true that all commercial foods out there are "crap".
Consider that you also don't know what's in grocery store meat unless it has some kind of legally valid certification.
I know a lot of people don't really care where their food comes from, and I have a different point of view on that, but when I read things like that it is legal here in the US to feed animals harvested for meat recycled waste of other animals and similar stuff (official 2006 AAFCO publication), or see hundreds of cows stand cramped in dirty, stinking feedlots, i'm disgusted.
And as I said in my post above, with the Tyson products it's not only the quality that concerns me, but also how they treat the animals they raise for a profit (did any of you know that poultry is not protected by the US humane slaughter act?) and their unethical business practices.
Ethical choices like that are up to every single individual out there though, and for me personally it's not just about cheaply feeding my dog a raw diet, but also about the quality of products I buy for the humans and the animals in our household, and being conscious about my impact on the environment.
I'm glad that I'm in a position where I can buy various kinds of meat from free range animals raised by local farmers through my raw food supplier, but at times I do have to rely on grocery store meat, I definitely pass on Tyson & Co.
An excellent place to look for really good deals on quality meats are farmers markets. You can get really good deals if you talk to the people there about wanting to purchase "odds and ends" for feeding your dog and they are always happy to answer questions - at least from my experience. Supporting local businesses is a nice side effect.
I'm not debating that the majority of pet foods out there is of poor quality, but lumping the same companies in with them that truly do make an effort to produce high end stuff (and buy good quality ingredients) is unfair.
While it is important to inform people about what's going on in the pet food industry, there is also a lot of baseless paranoia out there and it's simply not true that all commercial foods out there are "crap".
Consider that you also don't know what's in grocery store meat unless it has some kind of legally valid certification.
I know a lot of people don't really care where their food comes from, and I have a different point of view on that, but when I read things like that it is legal here in the US to feed animals harvested for meat recycled waste of other animals and similar stuff (official 2006 AAFCO publication), or see hundreds of cows stand cramped in dirty, stinking feedlots, i'm disgusted.
And as I said in my post above, with the Tyson products it's not only the quality that concerns me, but also how they treat the animals they raise for a profit (did any of you know that poultry is not protected by the US humane slaughter act?) and their unethical business practices.
Ethical choices like that are up to every single individual out there though, and for me personally it's not just about cheaply feeding my dog a raw diet, but also about the quality of products I buy for the humans and the animals in our household, and being conscious about my impact on the environment.
I'm glad that I'm in a position where I can buy various kinds of meat from free range animals raised by local farmers through my raw food supplier, but at times I do have to rely on grocery store meat, I definitely pass on Tyson & Co.
An excellent place to look for really good deals on quality meats are farmers markets. You can get really good deals if you talk to the people there about wanting to purchase "odds and ends" for feeding your dog and they are always happy to answer questions - at least from my experience. Supporting local businesses is a nice side effect.