Bird Flu Information
Here at Raw Dog Food and Company, we are closely monitoring the events surrounding Bird Flu and concerns with raw pet food. Bird flu is not new. HPAI (highly pathogenic avian influenza - H5N1) has been around for many years and the suppliers we use are experienced in mitigating this risk and have never previously had an outbreak. The initial H5N1 outbreak (I use that term loosely) originated at 2 facilities that we do not source from. Subsequent cases have also come from facilities we do not work with. Currently, poultry from our suppliers has not been affected by this outbreak, and our suppliers have rigorous bio-security programs to prevent such an outbreak from occuring.
All of our food is rigorously tested IAW with all USDA and Food Safety Modernization Act policies and requirements and combined with our food safety protocols, quality suppliers (we do not use feed lot animals) and stringent facility measures. Additionally, our suppliers are human-grade USDA inspected and passed, and our poultry suppliers are registered with the federal program for controlling HPAI. This includes testing all of their poultry for HPAI before it ever reaches our producer.
Although we have never recommended cooking our food, our producers have told us that the food is perfectly safe to cook if it makes the pet parent feel better. The ground bone does not present any danger to your pet if cooked. Please allow me to emphasize this only applies to the blends with ground bone. We still maintain that you NEVER cook whole bones, such as duck feet, turkey necks, etc, and then feed those to your pet! Here are some guidelines to follow when cooking the food:
- Use a meat thermometer to cook to an internal temperature of 165F.
- Add a human-grade nutritional yeast or B vitamin supplement to replenish the B vitamins lost from cooking.
- Minimize fluid loss from cooking by choosing an appropriate cooking method for pets. Baking, pressure cooking, or sous-vide are good options for cooking food for pets. Do not microwave raw pet food. High heat frying or boiling raw pet food is also not ideal.
Lastly, we believe it is fair for consumers to be aware that they were not given all the information concerning the previous cases of sick cats. The original case of the sick cat in Oregon is what has fueled the hysteria around raw pet food, but consumers were intentionally mislead by the FDA and the Oregon Department of health who both withheld information that provided context. It is far more likely that the cat in Portland was exposed through their environment and not the food they were eating. Despite repeated reports that the cat was an indoor cat, neighbors reported that they frequently saw the cat outside. The owner, when pressed by a consumer advocate, admitted the cat was indeed an outdoor cat and frequently travelled with them. Secondly, the testing that the FDA did to "confirm" the presence of H5N1 was only done on an opened bag of food provided by the owner. This violates all testing protocols that require the FDA to test an unopened bag of food. No subsequent tests on the companies food tested positive for Bird Flu.
With all that said, we are very confident in the safety of our food and we think you should be too. We are all raw feeders here ourselves and none of us have changed anything we do with regard to feeding our pets. Sourcing is very important in this industry and when you know where your food comes from you can be confident in it.
