Sunday, March 25, 2012

Why Are Dog Treats From China STILL On Store Shelves?

Nikita loves to roll around in the snow!

In November of last year, it came to my attention that the dog treats, I was purchasing for our dog, Nikita are causing other dogs to die of kidney failure. Today, I found out that the FDA was first aware of the problem with these treats back in 2007! This makes me VERY mad! My dog is a loved member of our family and if I lost her due to her eating those treats, I will be even angrier. I can only imagine how the other dog owners feel who have lost their beloved dogs.

I still have two brand new bags of this poison in my pantry that are, and will remain unopened. I am saving them in case I need to have them analyzed. Too many people have lost dogs due to these treats for anyone to take the chance of buying them now. It really bothers me that Walmart still has them on their shelves, along with tons of other dog treats from China. The same with Save-Alot. Here is another link for the newest ABC news story on these treats, Toxic Treats From China Killing US Dogs, Say Pet Owners.

Nikita Blackwolf

Here are two recipes I found for making my own dog treats for Nikita. They are not hard to make at all, and  she likes them even better than the store bought ones. I am just praying, that she was not effected by the ones that she ate in the past. And she did eat a lot of them.


Homemade Chicken Jerky Dog Treats

chicken breasts (or turkey) make as much as you want
Seasonings depend on dog, garlic (see note below), parsley, mint, rosemary or sage
olive or canola oil

Preheat oven to 180 degrees
Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with Pam spray.
Slice chicken breast very thin with the grain
Pat dry and then lightly coat with oil so the seasoning will stick
Lightly season, optional
Place chicken slices on the baking sheet in single layer spaced evenly apart
Bake in oven for 6 to 8 hours turning every two 2 hours.

Ground Chicken Jerky Dog Treats

1 pound raw ground chicken
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder (see note below)
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
Combine ingredients and puree in food processor. Spoon into baking pan lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with Pam. Spread the mixture evenly in the pan. Bake in oven at 180 degrees for 2 hours.
Remove from oven and cut into desired sizes using a pizza cutter or knife. Place back in oven and continue to bake for another 1-2 hours or until dry and leathery.

NOTE: Be aware that it is often recommended to NOT give your dogs garlic. Large amounts of garlic can cause anemia in dogs, however, many experts agree that small amounts of garlic are actually beneficial to dogs. Garlic should not be given to dogs that are already anemic. Otherwise, for seasoning purposes do not exceed 1/4 teaspoon per pound of meat. If you are concerned - simply omit the garlic from recipes.


What do you think? Do you think Walmart and Save-Alot and other stores should take them off their store shelves? I think they should take them off the shelves now! I think what makes me really mad is that here, they are so busy trying to arrest farmers and homesteaders for selling raw milk, when these foods from China are causing our dogs to get sick and die! Come on FDA! Do something to earn your paychecks for us, the American people, who love our dogs!




Copyright © 2012 Kathleen G. Lupole
All Photographs Copyright © 2012  Kathleen G. Lupole

4 comments:

The Redhead Riter said...

That link infuriated me too!!!

Thanks for the recipes. I have bookmarked them.

carol l mckenna said...

Great post, kat ~ What are the dog treats that are a problem ~ can you say? I don't shop at Walmart ~ but my doggie loves the dried chicken with healthy stuff ~

carol l mckenna said...

Great post ~ can you tell us what the problem treats are? I don't shop at Walmart but am still concerned ~ My doggie likes the dried chicken with healthy stuff like flaxseed ~ hope they are okay ????

Sunny said...

The problem is that there has not been anything found in these treats. I have been feeding them to Rocky. I started after he was diagnosed with diabetes in September 2010. He has ha his ups and downs since then. I finally found that the symptoms caused by these treats are very similar to diabetes. We decided to stop feeding them to him and we think we are seeing a change in his blood sugar. We won't be able to say this is the cause for several months though. It may be that the treats themselves are not the problem, but that the combinatiion of these treats and an already present health conditon in the dog is too much. Either way, we have made the deision not to feed them any more.