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Dear         :

This letter is being sent to implore your involvement in effectively regulating the pet food industry in Canada.  Until the recent debacle that started with the Menu Foods recall, Canadian pet owners were duped into believing the food products they buy for their cats and dogs were safe.  The Canadian Food and Inspection Agency (CFIA) states, “the manufacture and sale of pet food is not regulated in Canada by the CFIA, nor by any other governmental department. There are voluntary quality assurance programs in place which deal with the quality, safety and nutritional value of pet food.”  In light of the current recall situation, and the resulting hundreds, if not thousands, of pet deaths reported to date by both the Veterinary Information Network (VIN) and petconnection.com, the voluntary quality assurance programs are clearly not working.

It is estimated that Canadian families own 8 million cats and dogs, with approximately one half of all households having at least one pet. (Statistics Canada, 2006)  The pet food industry is a lucrative one, with total sales of approximately $1.4 BILLION dollars in Canada alone. (Stats Can., 2006)  In addition, it has been determined that Canadian pet owners are both willing and able to pay top dollar for premium products and services.  Why are Canadian pets and their owners being subjected to less than mediocre quality enforcement when it comes to the nutrition we provide for our pets?  Why has our government been permitted to fall short where half of its taxpaying households are concerned?

Currently, the only regulation afforded to pet foods in Canada is undertaken by the Competition Bureau and is exclusive to the labels put on pet food packages.  With regard to nutritional content, the guidelines state that a food can be labelled “complete and balanced nutrition” if they have “successfully passed an animal feeding protocol for a given life stage.”  Typical animal feeding tests, however, are woefully inadequate.  A typical feeding test consists of a six-month feeding trial with at least eight animals - of which only six must complete the trial. If the six that finish don't show severe health problems or significant weight loss after the six-month trial, the company's entire product line passes and the food can be labelled “complete”. Surely you agree this is hardly enough evidence to generalize the nutritional adequacy for the entire lifetime of an animal?

The universal use of such improperly tested foods is far from harmless.  Cats, for example, are provided diets of highly processed “breakfast cereal-type” ingredients that are nutritionally equivalent to “junk food”, despite the fact that they are obligate carnivores (exclusive meat eaters), and therefore require a low carbohydrate, high protein diet to be healthy.  This “junk food” processed by the pet food manufacturers, whether in wet or dry formulas, is causing epidemics of obesity and diabetes in our beloved pets; cats in particular.  Unwitting owners pay large sums to purchase so-called premium wet and dry foods, and pay even more to purchase disease-specific pet foods from veterinarians, who are educated exclusively by pet food manufacturers, only to have these foods ultimately lead to illness and/or death for our pets. How is this allowed to happen?

The truth of the matter is most courses in animal nutrition at veterinary schools across Canada are sponsored and/or taught by representatives affiliated with pet food manufacturers.  Canada’s leading veterinary school, the University of Guelph, does not have animal nutritionists on its faculty.  Rather, guest lecturers that are affiliated and/or employed by pet food manufacturers are sponsored through a US-based source, Mark Morris Associates, which is directly connected to a major pet food company.  How is it that this self-serving practice of pet food manufacturers promoting their own, untested and unsubstantiated claims about their supposed nutritional and disease-preventing products has been allowed to transpire right in the veterinary classroom?  Are there not regulations over universities in Canada preventing this very thing from happening?

The Canadian Food and Inspection Agency’s website states they are “dedicated to safeguarding food, animals and plants, which enhances the health and well-being of Canada’s people, environment and economy”.  It is very clear this is a grossly misleading message being delivered by the CFIA to all taxpaying households across Canada. The CFIA most certainly is not taking any interest in animals, other than those ultimately used for human consumption.  The CFIA was not even involved in Industry Canada’s Working Group to advise on the Labelling and Advertising of Pet Food. How exactly is the CFIA living up to its mandate for Canadian families, half of which own pets?  For that matter, the health and well being of Canada’s $1.4 billion dollar pet food and supply economy? 

Our Agriculture Minister, the Hon. Chuck Stahl’s statement that his agency’s responsibility “is to look after human food safety and production, and that’s what we focus on” is but a slap in the face to Canadian families when it comes to the lack of care and regulatory due diligence being provided by Agriculture Canada to homes with pets.  Why is Agriculture Canada allowed to dismiss their responsibilities when it comes to products purchased or grown for inclusion in Canadian pet foods? 

Canadian pet owners, until now, have placed a very significant and very blind faith in the safety and efficacy of pet foods sold by the entire pet food industry.  This misplaced faith has been based on manufacturer-controlled, in-house taste testing, the self-serving marketing hype spouted by pet food manufacturers, and our belief and confidence that our veterinary doctors have sound and unbiased knowledge of animal nutrition.  Fortunately for Canadian pet owners, these closely held secrets are now very clearly out in the open.

What will you do to create and support legislation to get the Canadian pet food industry regulated, ensuring that millions of pet owners and their animals are protected from the profit-making interests of the pet food manufacturers? 

Thank you in advance for your efforts concerning this very serious matter of Canadian consumer protection and pet health.  I will expect your response within 30 days.

Sincerely,

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