This week on The Groomer Next Door Podcast our good friend Dr. Laurie Coger will be re-joining us discussing.

AAFCO MEETING BY: Susan Thixton (Truth About Pet Food)

Another Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) meeting is over.

This was the largest attendance of consumer advocates we’ve ever had at AAFCO. Dr. Karen Becker, Rodney Habib, Daniel Orrego, Dr. Barbara Royal, Dr. Natasha Lilly, Chelsea Kent, Tammy Akerman, B.C. Henschen, Laura Beveridge, Julie Elrod, Roxanne Stone, Billy Hoekman, (not pictured) Dr. Cathy Alinovi, and myself. (Also pictured who joined us for dinner is Audree, Dr. Josie, Jillian, and Maura.)

AAFCO meetings are a necessity. A necessity for us to be here, and a necessity for regulations to be established that properly regulate the food that animals consume. Part of the problem is that a great deal of effort is taken to write legal definitions of ingredients or determine the required font size on a label – but little enforcement of those detailed regulations happen.

As example…

We had a meeting with FDA right after the last session on Tuesday 7/31/18. One of the two pet owners that  spoke with FDA had multiple pets get sick from a commercial dog food. She told FDA that she purchased the dog food – in part – based on the images of steak on the label (just like millions of other pet owners have). What the label told her was in the food (steak) she later learned was not even close to what her dogs actually ate. The misleading pet food label cost her more than $6000.00 in vet bills – and the misleading image almost cost her her dog.

In the AAFCO book is this pet food regulation: “A vignette, graphic, or pictorial representation on a pet food label shall not misrepresent the contents of the package.” At a previous AAFCO meeting – probably 20 years ago – regulatory officials meticulously wrote this legal requirement of pet food labels. But…20 years later, not one State Department of Agriculture and not one FDA representative bothers to enforce this law.

Millions of pet food consumers unknowingly buy pet foods based on those misleading images on the label – images that are supposed to be regulated…but are not.

So part of the insanity of AAFCO is that many people work very hard to write legal requirements of pet food/animal feed…and then those very legal requirements are ignored.

Another pet owner shared her story with FDA during our meeting. Her story was of her dog’s death directly linked to a dog treat. This pet owner reported the incident to FDA, had the treat tested, provided all test results to FDA. But a full year after her dog died, FDA has done little to investigate the death. Through tear filled eyes, we all listened to her story and her pleas with FDA to do something to get a risky product off the market. She told the agency how concerning it was that she has to be the one to investigate the dog treat – because no regulatory authority was.

And again, we have another glaring concern of pet food. Lack of properly investigating a dangerous pet food or treat. Consumer tax dollars support the authorities that are supposed to be investigating a pet food/treat illness or death…but if we want an unsafe product off store shelves, consumers are left to investigate on our own.

What AAFCO members care most about is industry. And they are not shy about stating that. During the Ingredient Definitions Committee session a State Department of Agriculture representative reminded committee members that “firms are going to be hurting” if they don’t push through these ingredient definitions (they want to sell the ingredient but cannot until it is legally defined). During the Pet Food Label Modernization session (discussion on future updates to pet food labels), a State Department of Agriculture representative openly encouraged industry to complain about these label updates stating “this is going to cost you money to change your labels, more of you need to speak out against this”. This same State Department of Agriculture representative told the committee to “consider the economic impact to industry” regarding pet food labeling changes.

FYI – after the 2007 pet food recall, Congress required FDA to update pet food labels. Congress required FDA to complete this work by September 2009. This has never been completed by FDA. Nine years after law required pet food labels be updated, government officials complain the changes will hurt industry.

The biggest concern of regulatory authorities – AAFCO, State Department of Agriculture, and FDA – is industry. And we have to change that. Consumers are the largest stakeholder group of pet food. We are the reason commercial pet food exists. Somehow, some way…we have to constantly remind authorities that consumers ARE the most important stakeholder of pet food.

Our amazing team at AAFCO was wonderful. The caring energy from everyone was empowering. We were – as typical at AAFCO meetings – followed and listened to. During our meeting with FDA, someone was reporting every word back to another on a cell phone (yes, we saw you). But we didn’t care. We have nothing to hide, they do.

A special thank you to Dr. Karen Becker, Rodney Habib, Dr. Barbara Royal and Dr. Natasha Lilly for coming to AAFCO. You are appreciated more than words can properly explain.

Healthy Dog Expo 2019

Dr. Kendra Pope

Kimberly Gauthier

Kimberly Gauthier is the blogger behind Keep the Tail Wagging and author of A Novice’s Guide to Raw Feeding for Dogs. Kimberly and her Significant Other have raised two sets of happy, healthy littermates and one demanding cat (all raw fed) in the Pacific Northwest. When she’s not digging into the latest sci-fi program or Marvel movie, Kimberly is hanging out with friends and plotting to morph the world into a dog-friendly planet. Learn more at her website, Keep The Tail Wagging.

Kohl Harrington

Writer/director Kohl Harrington exposed the truth behind the pet food industry in his second directorial effort, Pet Fooled. As the winner of the aptly named  Catalina Film Festival’s Unsung Hero award, Kohl brought forward many of the unsavory details of commercial pet foods, and the misleading marketing techniques that sell consumers on these products. Since its launch on Netflix, iTunes, and Vimeo, citizens in over 82 countries have seen the truth behind the colorful bags and cans. And Pet Fooled is just the tip of the iceberg. Kohl is already at work on Pet Fooled 2.0, which is sure to be a heart pounding, jaw dropping investigation bringing much needed clarity to consumers everywhere.  Follow the story at the Pet Fooled Facebook page and the Pet Fooled 2.0 fundraiser.

Suzanne Clothier

Suzanne Clothier has been working with animals professionally since 1977, with a deep background of experience that includes obedience, agility, puppy testing, breeding, Search and Rescue, conformation, instructing, kennel management and canine midwifery. She is well respected for her holistic Relationship Centered Training™ approach to dogs and the people that love them.

She has taught in the US, Canada, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Japan, Australia and New Zealand for groups as varied as Wolf Park, NADOI, Association of Pet Dog Trainers, FEMA (Northeast Region Disaster Dog Teams), Alaskan Dog Musher Association, Chicago Anti-Cruelty Society, AKC Obedience judges, many national specialties, and numerous obedience, agility, breed, rescue, shelter and SAR groups.

Her book, Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships With Dogs has received wide spread praise from every corner of the dog world, including twice being included in the Wall Street Journal’s list of Top 5 Dog Books. An award winning author of videos, books, booklets and numerous articles, Suzanne has written articles for the AKC Gazette, Dog Fancy, Dogs In Canada, Off Lead, Clean Run, Wolf Clan and breed magazines and newsletters around the world. She served as a committee member for the AKC’s Agility Advisory Board, and as a committee member of the American Humane Association’s Task Force for the Development of Humane Standards in Dog Training.

She has served as a consultant to Guiding Eyes for the Blind (Patterson, NY), Southeastern Guide Dogs (Tampa, FL), Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation (Bloomfield, CT), Assistance Dogs of the West (Santa Fe, NM) and Guide Dogs of America (Sylmar, CA). For all these organizations, Suzanne utilized her Relationship Centered Training™ approach and her Enriched Puppy Protocol™ to assist in the restructuring of the puppy raising programs.

A German Shepherd breeder, her 8 generations of Hawks Hunt German Shepherds have been successful in obedience, agility, search and rescue, tracking, herding and therapy work; she is also the co-breeder of a National Specialty BOB Brittany. She lives on a working farm in upstate New York with husband John Rice, and their considerable animal family of dogs, cats, parrots, tortoises, Scottish Highland cattle, horses, donkeys, pigs and more. Find out more about Suzanne’s work at her website.

Dr. Debbie Torraca

Dr. Debbie (Gross) Torraca has been involved in the field of canine physical rehabilitation and conditioning for over twenty years. She began her career in human sports medicine and quickly made the transformation to canine physical rehabilitation and sports medicine. She began with a BS at Boston University, and then obtained an advanced MS from Quinnipiac College and a doctorate at the University of Tennessee. She is also a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner, and one of the founders of the University of Tennessee Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner program. Dr. Torraca believes that each day should be a learning experience and continuously seeks opportunities to further her education in the classroom and through real life experiences!

Debbie has taught throughout the world on many topics and is widely published in the field of canine physical rehabilitation, as well as canine performance. She has many DVDS, articles, and related information published for the dog lover in the areas of conditioning, structure, injury prevention, stretching, strengthening, performance, and rehabilitation. She has been very involved with professional research in the realm of canine performance. In addition, she absolutely loves spending time in her clinic, Wizard of Paws Physical Rehabilitation for Animals, LLC (www.wizardofpaws.net).  She believes EVERY dog deserves the best quality of life for the longest time possible whether they are 8 weeks of age or 18 years of age. Her rapport with animals and passion for rehabilitation is evident in her practice and teaching.  It’s no surprise that Debbie’s advice and insight is sought from all over the world by veterinarians, owners, and researchers.