Is your dog on this food?
Dog owners are opting for a more luxurious diet of fresh raw meat for their dogs, but it turns out it could actually be quite harmful for both the dogs and their owners.
It’s being hailed as a superfood by some people, but recent research has found frightening results which prove quite the opposite.
According to RTÉ, the research was carried out in the Netherlands on raw meat being sold at pet stores. The study found varying levels of bacteria such as E coli, Salmonella, Listeria and parasites, like Toxoplasma gondii, in the meat.
Of the 35 raw-meat foods from eight different brands that were tested, eight had traces of E coli, while nearly half of them had Listeria and one in five had Salmonella.
Those bacterias and parasites can have adverse effects on humans, as well as dogs. Owners who serve the food or who get licked by the dogs could pick up infection.
Commenting on the results, one of the authors said:
“It is clear that commercial RMBDs (raw meat-based diets) may be contaminated with a variety of zoonotic bacterial and parasitic pathogens
Two products were infected with Toxoplasma gondii.
This is in contrast with dry, semi-moist and canned pet food, which is rarely contaminated with pathogens.
It is important to encourage awareness of the possible risks associated with feeding RMBDs to companion animals, and pet owners should be educated about personal hygiene and proper handling of RMBDs.”
