[phoebespeople]

I would like to buy certified organic and hormone free, free range and natural food for Phoebe, but it's not that easy to find and it's a lot more expensive. Is regular supermarket chicken, turkey, beef or pork bad for her? They are probably all given hormones and fed with food grown with symthetic chemical pesticides and herbicides, but is it cause for concern? Perhaps bison, rabbit, duck, and other meats like that are usually farmed under more natural conditions, but they are also more expensive.
Does anyone have any info on this tipoc?

 

[briteday]

It is illegal in the US to feed hormones to livestock. There is still the pesticide/herbicide issue for those that have been grazed, but I'm guessing most commercial cattle never see a pasture...just a feed lot with bins of processed livestock feed. Antibiotics are allowable but not within a certain time before slaughter.

Since I feed my dogs a raw diet I try to find the most wholesome meat for them at the grocery, not organic, I can't afford it. If it's good enough for me to eat, then it's good enough for them, IMO.

If you want to avoid all of the chemical issue I would think that wildlife such as venison would be the way to go. Find someone who hunts and beg for the parts they would throw away.

 

[Spicy1_VV]

The only way to know what went into your dog's food is to grow it yourself.

You can also get some from hunters or farmers in your area.

Most food in supermarket is from commercial farming, and what isn't is very expensive.

 

[Willowy]

I guess you could argue about the difference all day and night, but when you get right down to it, the vast majority of people and pets in the U.S. eat traditionally-raised meat and most don't have problems with it. As long as you don't mind contributing to widespread antibiotic resistance, I guess. Like Spicy said, the only way to know for sure is to raise it yourself.