Originally Posted by Yorkiemom1  I am sure there are people on this forum that will see Ashley's posts and her qualifications (a real live nutritionist and not just a wannabe) and association with actually an outstanding pet food company ( do a little research on their existance since the 1967's), and benefit from the opportunity to consult her and learn from her and her experience and knowledge base, as well as information she can gleen from any of the multitude of vets and research people that are bona fide canin nutrition block builders. Then there are others that will not choose to utilize this wonderful opportunity. We all make our choices and we experience the results of those choices, be they good or bad.
I also have a repulsive visceral response to calling a company that has been devoting the financial committment, scientific research and testing and clinical trials to PROVE their nutritional based formulas are exemplary and are true GLOBAL benchmarks in the making of pet food, "unethical" simply because they did not splash "NEW" or "CHANGED" all over their bags! IMO, "unethical" is deliberatly deceiving people into believing something that is untrue. "Unethical" to me, is when, for example, a dog food company not only denies they use "by products" or whatever is offensive to people, they unabashedly advertise nationally, bragging about how they DONT use a specific product in their food....then when they get "caught" in the LIE, they pass the buck....to me, this is "unethical" behavior. There are several more examples from a couple of the "great" dog foods that are used by many people, but no need to even go there. Then there are the recalls because of many reasons, including but not limited to, improper packaging, ommission of preservatives to prevent a variety of mold, contamination by ecoli, salmonella, foreign objects like hunks of bone or plastic or glass chips, etc..... Then there was that little issue of overdosing dogs on vitamins (which resulted in dogs dying and permanent organ failure in many animals) included in the "vitamin bits", where more is not always better!..... RC changes the order of ingredients or adjusts the % of ingredients, still balancing nutritional requirements required for a healthy pet, and they are "unethical", because they did not splash "NEW" all over the bag or "LOOK AT OUR INGREDIENT LISTS" with flashing arrows pointing to the ingredients, or changing the graphics or art on their bags??? They did not try to hide the changes, they did not lie/deny/pass the buck about any of their labeling.....that in your opinion makes them unethical???? Amazing!!!
When my dogs begin to show that Royal Canin has suddenly, after 45+ years, "forgotten" how to formulate nutritional dog food, and the shifts/changes made in the formulas/ingredient label begin to become evident with lack luster coats, decreased energy levels, diminished stamina, physical symptoms, weakened newborns, etc. then I will change dog food. The ingredient organization as listed on the label is not what I depend on to keep my dogs healthy and in the tip top shape they are in....the stuff inside the bag is what I judge, and that is based on the effect it has on my dogs. I could care less if it contains Dunkin Donuts as "the first ingredient", as long as my dogs continue to be the picture of health that they are. I could care less if the company announces in bold lettering, "NEW", or "CHANGED", or if they change the color of the bags or the pictures of the dogs on the bag!!! I dont even care if they package everything they mak, in the bags they use in France, all in French! As long as the food contained inside that bag provides what my dogs need to remain in "tip top shape, without ANY GI issues, itching, scratching, gas, bloating, smelly fur, oily fur, glommed up eyes, excellent lab work workups annually, etc., I am thrilled and I will pay what RC evaluates their contribution to the health of my pets as well as my breeding mothers, studs, and my resulting newborns, is worth. If I can no longer afford to pay for it, I will have to rethink my business budget! If my dogs begin to decline, I will rethink my choice of dog food.
I appreciate the efforts made by Ashely...like I said, I know of NO other major dog food company that has ever availed themselves to this forum in an effort to answer questions or concerns and generally actually educate people on nutrition and dispelling some of the myths and confusion about specific ingredients that some people recoil from, for whatever reasons. I do hope Ashely knows that there are many people here that will benefit from her contribution. She has included a phone number and an email address where you can contact her also. I have these people on speed dial so my questions/concerns can be clarafied or explaned to me immediately!
LOOK!!! I even made paraghraphs for those that cant read long paragraphs!!! See....we can ALL learn fro professionals!!! |