Give your dog a bone

The pet food industry is thriving; there are SO MANY different kinds of pet foods for our beloved fur friends, but what is the best food for our dogs and how is the pet food industry regulated in Australia? Here is a brief snapshot into a minefield of information.

Pet grade v human grade meat

To get back to basics, an abattoir slaughters and processes meat for human consumption, a knackery slaughters and processes animals other than for human consumption, i.e. by other animals. Animals processed at the knackery may have died or been killed prior to arriving at the facility, or rejected from an abattoir.

Abattoirs are regulated in accordance with the Australian Standard for the Hygienic Production and Transportation of Meat and Meat Products for Human Consumption (AS 4696:2007), which is enshrined in law by the relevant state bodies. This Standard sets the requirements for the receipt and slaughter of animals, the dressing of carcases, processing, packaging, handling, and storing of meat for human consumption, whether for domestic use or for export. Abattoirs produce meat legally suitable for human consumption. The meat is handled in a strictly monitored manufacturing facility with quality control checks to ensure cleanliness and regulations are adhered to. Licensing of facilities is required by law and regular site inspections conducted.

Knackeries produce pet grade meat. This is a broader term and whilst it is not completely unregulated, the pet food industry is less transparent regarding what’s permitted and what its packaging says. An example of this is pet meat may have been affected by things such as abscesses, cysts, flystrike or delays in processing but can still be sold.

As to packaging, have a look the labels in the pet food section – you’ll probably see mention of fillers, preservatives and additives. Some are used to make the product stay fresh for longer, and to mask an unappealing smells to pets despite how harmful they might be to consume.

In Victoria, the Meat Industry Regulations 2015 establish labelling requirements for pet food packaging. As per the Australian Standard for Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food (AS 5812:2017), pet food that is prepared for retail sale must be labelled as ‘pet food only’, and display a picture of the whole of the body, or the head, of a dog. No additional regulations exist for the manufacture of meat used in pet foods.

Is the pet food industry unregulated in Australia?

You might hear comments about the pet food industry not being regulated; this is not entirely true.

State and territory governments retain primary responsibility for food safety regulation. There are some differences in how pet food regulations are administered across the jurisdictions, and no single jurisdiction has specific legislation in place to deal with manufactured pet food.

Pet food labelling requirements are regulated in some jurisdictions however (with the exception of Queensland) there are no provisions in place to require manufacturers to state the actual ingredients or methods of processing pet food products on their labels.
Australian pet food manufacturers are largely self-regulated but companies can opt to become voluntary members of the Pet Food Industry Association of Australia (PFIAA) which means they must follow a set of Australian manufacturing standards, however the standards are not enforced.

Why do we need regulations for pet food?

Whilst the low number of pet food recalls in Australia suggests self-regulation works quite well, foods that may have problems can be withdrawn from shelves avoiding a recall, but potentially at risk to the health pets (think mouldy batches of food). And who can forget the case involving the Maffra Knackery where over 20 dogs died and over 50 dogs were treated for liver toxicity? The illnesses were linked to toxic raw horse meat supplied by the knackery marketed as “pet meat” – which is now the subject of a potential class action according to the Maurice Blackburn website.

Regulations would ensure strict minimum standards and would hopefully include mandatory food recalls when animals become sick from food.

So what can we do to make sure our dogs get the best food available?

Don’t assume because your dog’s food is made in Australia that it is fresher, safer, better quality or more nutritious. If you purchase dog food, investigate the company making it – ask questions, find out if it’s made by qualified dog nutritionists, check out their website and be proactive.

Otherwise there’s lots of information available to make your own balanced dog food using human grade meat, and of course give your dog a bone!