Cruelty-free pet food
A few years ago, I moved to a different neighbourhood and had to find a new source for healthy cat food and bio pet supplies within walking distance. The pickings were slim and I was relegated to checking the options at the grocery store. That’s where I found Iams. Okay, I thought; affordable food, close to home, and by a well-known, reliable pet food company that really loves my kitties. I knew this last part, of course, because that is what the Iams people have been telling me for years in their commercials. As it turns out, they might love my kitties but other cats and dogs… not so much.
By some bizarre coincidence – happenstance, perhaps, serendipity or divine intervention – I found myself researching something on PETA’s website mere days after my Iams discovery at the grocery store. There, on the home page, ready and waiting to capture my attention, a story about Iams’ “policy” of caging dogs and cats and turning them into guinea pigs (see www.iamscruelty.com). As it turns out, they are not the only ones. Pet food companies routinely use confined animals to test their products or lend them out to laboratories for experimentation. This discovery led me on a search for cat food that was not only healthy, but also cruelty-free.
Luckily, there is a growing market for ethical pet products, including a great find: Holistic Blend. A family-owned, Canadian company from Mississauga that set out to change the pet food industry 15 years ago, its motto is “If we can’t eat it, why should our pets?” They offer grain-free, wheat-free, low carb, high protein options for cats and dogs, as well as treats, supplements and alternative aids for a variety of pet-problems, such as hairballs, anxiety, diabetes and bad breath.
It is a sad fact that there has to be a distinction for cruelty-free animal products. Fortunately, Holistic Blend is just one of the many homegrown businesses that are striving to make our beloved pets as healthy as can be. Let us hope this will take a bite out of all the “Iamses” of the world.
About the writer: Sophie a freelance writer, proud mother of four exceptional cats and a strong believer in ethical consumerism, cannot claim any expertise (in ethical pet care or anything else) other than the knowledge she has acquired over the years, researching products and shopping for myself. She believes in buying fair trade products, supporting companies that do not test on animals, opting for the recycled-material options, encouraging independent retailers, and on, and on… In a nutshell, She’s just a girl trying to make the world a better place, one bag of cat food at a time.
Tags: bio pet supplies, cruelty-free pet food, Holistic Blend, organic pet food
March 18th, 2010 at 10:39 am
http://www.iamstruth.com
do your research. your readers deserve a balanced and well-informed opinion.
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:51 am
Thanks for your comment Allison. The author did do her research and this is her opinion. According to the website that you suggest readers look at…
“An animal rights organization is making misleading allegations about feeding studies performed for The Iams Company at an external facility that we left in early 2003. These allegations not only are old, but also are highly sensationalized and laced with untruths.”
It goes further to state:
“FACT: Iams is committed to the ultimate elimination of laboratory feeding studies as scientifically valid alternatives become available -and we are actively using, developing and seeking alternatives!”
I think this is what the author is referring to in her article. It seems she is interested in finding pet food companies that have never used external facilities that may be suspect nor performed ‘laboratory feeding studies’ that have been found to limit the movement of the animals in a manner she considers unnecessary.
Again, thanks for your comments. Dialogue is just what we need.