FDA to check pet food for possible salmonella contamination

Posted on November 2, 2011 by admin

To check for possible salmonella contamination in pet food, the Food and Drug Administration is checking pet food for evidence salmonella contamination that is affecting pet owners. FDA is taking samples of pet treats, pet food and diet supplements from various retailers and distributors like PetCo, Target, PetSamrt and Sam’s Club.

FDA has expressed concern over salmonella being transmitted to pet owners from pet treats, pet foods and supplements. FDA is of the view that transmitted to humans when they fed the pets in their home.

FDA is not only checking dog and cat food but is also checking food that is given to birds, fishes, reptile, mice, hamsters and pigs.

According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, most people get salmonella contamination when they eat food that is contamination. People can also get sick when they put figures or object that contain these germs in their mouth. Salmonella contamination not only affects humans but also pets that eat contaminated food.

To reduce the risk of salmonella contamination, it is important that people wash their hands after they feed their pet. Also, it is important that adults keep kids away from pet food.

Recent data that was collected by FDA showed that about 70 people became sick from January 2006 through December 2007 in Pennsylvania because of salmonella contaminated dog food. The outbreak included a bacteria strain called Schwarzengrund that us resistant to antibiotics that are used to treat the infection.

Pet food industry is huge industry in United States and has a turnover of several billion every year. Last year about $8 billion worth of dog food, $3.7 billion worth of dry cat food and $2 billion worth of dog treats last year.

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Will a ban on sale of pet in pet stores help?

Posted on October 15, 2011 by admin

Recently there was news of protest by some animal-welfare activists who wanted to prevent selling cats and dogs. According to these animal-welfare activists, if stores were stopped from selling pets it will help in preventing puppy-mill operations.

These protests by activist will definitely help in preventing the sales of pets at these stores but will not reduce the demand for pets. People who want to buy and sell pets will look at alternate ways of buying and selling pets. When people sell pets online, it will become extremely difficult to monitor their operations.

Today, the main problem is that economic recession is forcing people to abandon pets. For instance, in some places the average time that people have pets at home is just 18 months. By stopping the sale of pets at stores, animal-welfare activist are not dealing with the real problem. They need to find rational solution to the problem. They need to understand the larger problem rather than deal with minor issues that may not have any consequence on the well-being of the animals.

Animal welfare activist must also look at other issues that will help in improving the living condition of animals. They must try to set guidelines that will decide who can sell animals and the number of animals that live in a specified area.

Another important problem that they need to understand is that most people who buy and sell animals don’t require any permit. Also, some people don’t have proper training to handle animals. Therefore it is important that an authority is set-up that can control the buying and selling of animals. The authority must also have the right to decide who can sell animals and the space that must be given to each animal. The authority must also check if the pets have been vaccinated and they are not harmed by their breeders.

If you ask me, the animal welfare activist must not stop pet shops from selling pets. Instead, they should they to regulate the pets sold by them. These stores must be certified and regular inspection of these stores must be done by right authorities.

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