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Health & Fitness

Pet food consumers banding together to test pet foods for dangerous toxins.

Hello, Patch Pet Lovers!

I am so sick and tired of hearing about pet food and toxins and recalls!!! So….  If you want something done -- correctly -- you do it yourself!  And that's exactly what Susan Thixton of TheTruthAboutPetFood.com is doing!!!  

Pet food consumers banding together to test pet foods for dangerous toxins.


Press Release:

Safety Harbor, FL - April 23, 2014. American pet food consumers have initiated a crowd funding program to test multiple pet foods sold in the U.S. and Canada. The consumers have established a minimum of $10,000.00 to raise for their pet food testing fund, but hope to raise thousands more.

Over the past year, pet food/treat recalls have occurred at a rate of one per month (in the U.S.). In May of 2013, pet food consumers learned dog DNA was found in pet food/animal feed in Spain. In March 2014, a consumer association based in Hong Kong tested various pet foods and found some popular pet foods manufactured in the U.S. contained dangerous aflatoxins, melamine, and cyanuric acid. Pet food consumers have had enough.

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Supervised by a U.S. consumer group - Association for Truth in Pet Food (ATPF) - pet food consumers are banding together for an unprecedented pet food testing project. The groups goal is to raise thousands of dollars to test pet foods manufactured in the U.S. and Canada for dangerous contaminants such as mycotoxins, pesticides, heavy metals, and drugs.

"Testing on this large of a scale has never been done before" says Susan Thixton of the ATPF regarding the pet food testing project. She shares "After learning of the test results in Hong Kong - consumers wanted this to happen. One consumer got it started by offering to donate $2,500.00 for pet food testing, and within moments another offered to match that donation. It was amazing."

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Thixton shares various industry experts are providing input as to what the worst dangers of pet food could be (to test for). So far, she's been told mycotoxins are the largest threat to pets - even at low levels (FDA allows 20 parts per billion in pet foods for aflatoxins). But with recent news from Hong Kong finding melamine and cyanuric acid (the contaminants responsible for the 2007 pet food recall) in U.S. manufactured pet foods, consumers have numerous fears of what their testing might find.

The group shares if enough funding is raised they also will test pet foods that contain rendered meat ingredients (such as meat meal, meat and bone meal) for euthanizing drugs and ultimately species specific DNA. FDA currently allows pet food to include "animals which have died otherwise than by slaughter" which would include any animal that was euthanized (FDA CPG Sec. 675.400 Rendered Animal Feed Ingredients). Thixton states the worst fear is euthanized pets becoming rendered pet food ingredients.

Consumers have initiated a Indiegogo crowd sourcing fund to raise money for the pet food testing. 100% of funds raised will go towards pet food testing (purchasing products, shipment to labs, laboratory testing). To donate to this worthy and ambitious cause, visit igg.me/at/thepetfoodtest

For more information contact:
Susan Thixton Susan@AssociationforTruthinPetFood.com

About Association for Truth in Pet Food. The Association for Truth in Pet Food (ATPF) is a pet food consumer advocacy organization that provides pet food consumers a voice within the industry. The Association is a little over a year young, but within its first year the group has been provided advisory positions on two AAFCO committees and has been acknowledged by FDA to represent pet food consumers. ATPF hosts the pet food transparency effort - Pledge to Quality and Origin - where 23 pet food and treat manufacturers have provided full disclosure to the grade and country of origin of their ingredients. For more information visit www.AssociationforTruthinPetFood.com 

The Pet Food Test


Pet food consumers banding together to test pet foods for dangerous toxins.


Why do we need to test pet food for contaminants?

Recently, some US manufactured pet foods were found to contain low levels of cancer causing mycotoxins, as well as dangerous melamine and cyanuric acid - reminding consumers of deadly recalls of the past (2005 Diamond pet food, 2007 hundreds of pet food brands - the deadliest pet food recall in history).  We wondered...how many pet foods contain dangerous contaminants?  We all deserve to know.  

Pet Food Consumers Take Action

Typically, unless there are numerous reports to FDA of serious illness or death linked to one pet food - little to no testing for contaminants (other than Salmonella) is done on cat food or dog food.  So...we are taking matters into our own hands.

Our goal is to raise $10,000.00 to test many different brands and varieties of pet food for dangerous contaminants.  All test results will become public information (including brand names) and all at-risk results will be provided to pet food regulatory authorities (FDA and each State Department of Agriculture).    100% of funds raised will go towards...

  • Purchasing pet food products.
  • Shipping costs to labs.
  • Testing charges.

Association for Truth in Pet Food (pet food consumer association) will oversee the pet food testing project - documenting each product tested, compiling results and providing results to the public and authorities.  

What We Need

We need to raise a minimum of $10,000.00.  Testing is expensive - just a couple of simple tests will cost upwards of $100.00 each pet food.  Add in costs of purchasing the pet foods and shipping to labs - we estimate we'll only be able to test 70 to 80 different pet foods.  This is only a tiny portion of available pet foods on the market (more than 4,000 different brands and varieties of cat food and dog food for sale in the U.S.).  

If we raise $20,000.00, we can test more varieties of pet foods and test for multiple contaminants...

  • Full mycotoxin panel.
  • Heavy metals.
  • Pesticides.
  • Drugs used to euthanize animals.
If we can raise $25,000.00 or more - we can DNA test pet foods found to contain a euthanizing drug.  We can test to determine if euthanized pets became pet food ingredients.
The Impact

This is - the largest effort of random pet food testing supported solely by pet food consumers....ever.  It's one of a kind.  It will show all pet food manufacturers we will not sit back and allow our pets to be poisoned.  It will show we fight for those we love - no matter how powerful the foe.  

Depending on what is found by our testing - the impact can save lives.  Our testing can hold a manufacturer accountable for a contaminated product.  And depending on the results - our testing could even force a recall.  

We might not find anything, or we might find the worst horrors of pet food (dog and/or cat remains, lethal levels of contaminants).  We won't know for certain until we test.  

Within the past year - testing of pet foods around the world has confirmed the presence of dog DNA (Spain), aflatoxins, melamine and cyanuric acid (Hong Kong testing of US manufactured pet foods).  With your help we can find the truth about many pet foods made and sold in the U.S. and Canada.

Other Ways You Can Help

Please share the news of our ambitious and much needed pet food testing project with every pet food consumer you know.  'Like' us on Facebook (The Pet Food Test).  

Send your local news media the press release about The Pet Food Test.  Click here for that press release.


Find This Campaign On 

Team Susan Thixton

Web site

Help make it happen for The Pet Food Test and Susan Thixton!

CONTRIBUTE NOW


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Helping to keep beloved furry babies healthy and safe... and pet parents informed!

Lori

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I've Got the 'Scoop'!, LLC, in Palmyra
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(856) 906-7111

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