Risk of Feeding Raw Meat - Page 3

It is always better to err on the side of over caution.  If the general public is not warned, then there would be an uproar when people get sick/die.  Not everyone is aware of the risk or how serious it could be to their health. 

"Raw feeders in general tend to be people who research, research research."

That's quite a claim!

I feed all raw. Always trying to keep things clean. Thanks for the reminder GGturner. I do get a bit sloppy sometimes when in a hurry. Sure is great to see these raw food conversations get so heated.

My feeling is that dogs have strong digestive acid to kill bacteria and eating raw is a fact. But I also think that there has always been a process of elimination. An occasional dog that lacks this ability will have died and not pass on its genes. Do you want this process of elimination to apply to your dog even if the chance is low? I think feeding only solid rare food, not ground, and cooking the first 1/4 inch of the surface is a good compromise. Most bacteria are on the surface of fresh meats.

Apple cider vinegar is good for killing certain stuff, too. Also helps in digestion and keeps bodies more acidic, therefore, less appealing to parasites in general.

Human digestive acid is more acidic than apple cider, I believe.

I think it is safe to say the majority of dog owners, including myself, ARE NOT BREEDERS. So we are not always trying to weed our dogs out through "survival of the fittest."

I have yet to hear anybody state any source of facts stating raw food is nutritonally more beneficial than cooked food. I'm not comparing raw to kibble. I'm just wondering why "raw feeders" don't cook the food first to reduce the risk. I do know and understand that dogs have stronger digestive enzymes than people. I am not sure that dogs recieve any helpful bacteria from eating raw food. pretty sure many of those helpful bacteria are passed from the mother to offspring through collustrum and milk. If that was the case dogs eating kibble would not have any of those helpful bacterium.

One poster stated because his dogs like the taste of raw food versus cooked food better. My little girl likes candy over peas. That's the least of my concerns.

I believe some pups fed raw for their first few months may have a very hard time going to kibble. Some won't eat it.

I think it's simply a matter of education. And yes, usually raw food feeders do a lot of research. I think it's very unfortunate that so many people, especially in North America are so unsure about food preparation. Which is surely linked to the masses of obese people, but that's another story.If your children prefer candy over peas you might want to rethink what you teach them...
The idea of eating products that are stored forever is maybe not such a good idea.If you only prepare fresh food, you have to worry less about bacteria, depending on which climate zone you live. However humanity wouldn't have survived if food preparation was indeed that dangerous. Obviously for many people healthy life style choices and nutritional education seem forgotten amongst the mass of preserved packaged food available.
I have worked for different veterinary hospitals and all "my" vets recommended and still do recommend raw food. They have not seen a dog/wild dog/wolf that cooked their food yet.

TingiesandTails, nice post, and unfortunately true among todays processed food generation :(