Thursday, January 19, 2006

The Raw Food Debate

In yet another installment of "I Read Salon.com So You Don't Have To" (also known as "Yes, I'm all out of creative ideas for today") we turn to the wacky world of folks who feed their pets raw food. The basic argument is that the ancestors of dogs and cats in the wild eat/ate raw food, so it must be better for household pets to eat raw food. It's an interesting article, but there's one unaddressed flaw in this premise. My dog eats poop. Every chance she gets--goose poop, deer poop, poop of indeterminate origins, whatever--it all goes in her mouth if she thinks I'm not looking. In other words, when left to her own devices, she's not just chasing after squirrels, she's munching on whatever disgusting things she can scavenge. By the logic of these folks, since my dog would naturally eat poop, I should feed her a diet rich in poop. And yet, I see things like "broccoli, carrots, sweet potatoes, red chard, parsley, garlic, ginger, kelp, alfalfa, zucchini or squash" on these dogs' menus, but no poop. You're going to tell me there's some large band of wild dogs (or wolves) running around harvesting kelp for themselves in the wild? That more dogs would rather eat parsley than poop? I'm just not convinced. Many of you oppose socialism because it eventually gives people no motivation to work, since there is no reward. But seriously, when you read about folks feeding their pets three to five hundred dollars worth of food a month, don't you, just for a second, entertain the idea of taking their spare cash away from them?

12 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

My plan for relieving these dinks of their cash involves starting a raw foods pet food company.

1/19/2006 08:47:00 AM  
Blogger Aunt B said...

See, this is why you are the evil genius and I am not. Brilliant plan.

1/19/2006 08:47:00 AM  
Blogger Exador said...

Ancestors of dogs and cats also died a lot, and at a young age.

Zachary consistently finds some mysterious food source in the wilds of my backyard that leaves him with vomiting and diarrhea. You'd think he'd quit going back for more. If I left devices to natural selection, I'd have a cute, new puppy every 6 months.

1/19/2006 09:09:00 AM  
Blogger Newscoma said...

My dog eats tomatos,zucchini and anything I accidentally drop on the floor but her most favorite cuisine is poop.
Why can't I come up with brilliant ideas for making money?
How about organic poop? I guess it's already organic, but what the hell.

1/19/2006 09:57:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

For all you dog owners....

Most cities have trouble getting rid of the results the waste water treatmenet plant. You could probably get it cheap if not free to feed your dogs. It's concentrated poop. Super poop, if you will.

There may be a business idea in there somewhere. I want some royalties if you make it work Sarcastro.

A benefit of the raw vegetable approach though.... Lots of fiber = more poop for the dog to eat.

W

1/19/2006 10:11:00 AM  
Blogger Kat Coble said...

One of our dogs is a Snobby Breed. We got him by accident, as the other people in town who have one love to attest. We are not Worthy of a Bernese Mountain Dog. Our incomes are too low, my waistline too high.

BARF is a huge diet for most of the Berner Community. (Bones and Raw Food). Steak Tartare, T-bone Steaks, etc. When the Other Berner Owners found out that we feed Casey STORE-BOUGHT DOG KIBBLE they refused to speak to us again.

Some people have more money than sense

1/19/2006 10:19:00 AM  
Blogger Kat Coble said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

1/19/2006 10:21:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I gave Hank broccoli once, and for a full 24 hours, his ass produced the foulest, most god-awful stench I've ever experienced.

1/19/2006 11:25:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I thought the only vegetation dogs ate in the wild was that from the stomach of their prey. Dogs are carnivores, right?

1/19/2006 01:47:00 PM  
Blogger Titusina Andronica said...

Dogs are actually omnivores. Cats are totally carnivores. That's why dogs like cat food (and kitty cakes) so much. The reason you're not supposed to give cat food to dogs is, since dogs are naturally omnivores, their kidneys/livers cannot handle an all the byproducts from eating so much protein.

I used to feed my cats a bones and raw food diet. It was more effort than it was worth, though. It wasn't all that expensive, though, since I gave them spare parts from stuff I wasn't going to eat anyway (like chicken gizzards, etc.)

1/19/2006 02:46:00 PM  
Blogger Lee said...

Cribbs likes cheese. Loves it. Can't get enough of it.

He also likes rolling in afterbirth when a cow gives birth to a calf on the farm.

I wonder if we could sell our afterbirth to rich people to have their dogs roll in.

1/19/2006 05:03:00 PM  
Blogger Aunt B said...

Shoot, I think rolling in afterbirth might actually be brilliant. I know Mrs. Wigglebottom would love to eat that stuff and I bet other girl dogs would as well. I bet that's just your dog's way of luring the ladies.

1/19/2006 07:54:00 PM  

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