Delta Society and Raw Protein Diets

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

I got this e-mail today from Delta Society and although it doesn't affect me because I don't feed raw, I was just curious to know what others thought about this!  I'm no "Food" expert, but seemed a little strange to me. 

Thoughts?

 

Over the past few years, the increasing use of raw protein diets and the health concerns and controversy generated have grown, not only between the public and veterinarians, but often within the veterinary
profession itself.

After careful consideration of all of the known scientific facts, and on the unanimous advice of the Delta Society Medical Advisory Board, made up of internal
medicine and public
health experts from North America, the board of directors voted
to preclude animals eating raw protein foods from participating
in the Delta Society Pet Partners program. This will be a
phased program, with complete compliance structured to be in place by June 30, 2010.

Please click here to review the policy and frequently asked questions about our
new Raw Protein Food
Policy as posted on the website (www.DeltaSociety.org/rawdiet).

If after reading the policy and FAQs you have any questions or concerns,
please email [e-mail] for the
Delta Society Medical Advisory group to address.

Thank you,

Dianne Bell
Pet Partners Program Manager

[Nugget's Family]

We feed raw and I totally understand Delta's position here. Patients undergoing chemotherapy are very immune compromised. If Nugget weren't so darn healthy on the raw, I would switch her. It gives me the "heebie-jeebies".

[LucyR]

Yes, I could understand their policy if it affected hospital visits. Patients undergoing chemotherapy should not have pet visitors of any kind. They should probably also limit their exposure to human visitors. The Delta Society eliminates all dogs, no matter where they visit, from participation in the program. This includes dogs who eat raw bones! I wonder if they exclude visits from cats to pregnant women in the hospital-a known source of Toxoplasmosis infections???

[Christina and Cooper plus Benny]

I would also think that things like bully sticks, pigs ears, hooves and things like that pose just as much risk for pathogen transmission as raw food. Just a thought.

[F, Calla & Luca]

There is some risk with those also but I think less since they are dried and some and some are smoked. The pigs ears do say to wash your hands after handling them. There have been recalls of hooves etc.for salmonella.

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

That is a very interesting post. TDI has not come up with anything like that...yet! Does anyone interpret this to mean that if you give your dog a meaty bone it is a problem?

[LucyR]

Yes, they stipulate raw bones as an exclusionary criterion. We are Delta certified but not involved in Pet Partners programs because they have no interest in setting these up in the Bay Area. If there is a significant risk to a hospital patient because of immunocompromise, then they shouldn't be receiving pet visitors-dogs or otherwise. Maybe they shouldn't have visitors at all! Ummmm, I haven't heard of any dogs spreading the MRSA around. Wonder where that is coming from? Not Fido, that's for sure. The studies that have been done on these issues are non-existent as good science. I will continue to feed raw and if we are booted out of therapy work, so be it. Ozzie will always be my personal therapy dog. Believe me, we have plenty to keep us busy with our training and competition work. Who needs this kind of stress and regulation???

[Christina and Cooper plus Benny]

My thoughts exactly! Also, on the Delta Society page, I just noticed, Purina is a primary sponsor....hmmmm....
Also, according to the head of the Delta Society training here in Portland, the MRSA is spread by someone petting the dog and then someone else petting the dog or perhaps me as the handler petting the dog and bringing it home on my skin.

[Adina P]

If patients sanitize before and after that should not be a problem.  And if someone with a known MRSA infection is a patient they'd be on Contact Precautions and you wouldn't be allowed to visit them anyway.

[Ladd Hill Labradoodles]

I can see from their perspective how it would make sense. My daughter feeds raw to her Aussies and has had extreme success with it curing allergies and behavioral issues but her vet scolded her for it since she is pregnant and told her how at risk it put her and her baby. I wonder how much testing has been done to find out how fast the dogs kill the harmful bacteria in their mouth after eating or how often other surfaces or people get contaminated. I would hope they would really test all of this out before excluding a large amount of dogs into their program. Interesting stuff to think about though.

[Sally, Echo and Emmi]

OK, after reading this article how many of you think this was done (Delta Society excluding raw fed dogs) out of concern for the patients. Purina banners on the therapy vests?? My oh my!

http://www.truthaboutpetfood.com/articles/this-is-nuts.html

[LucyR]

Yes, they have updated the FAQ site and now doggies that eat pigs ears are also excluded. The update is about as uninformative as the original post.

http://www.deltasociety.org/Page.aspx?pid=638

[LucyR]

The logos on the badge and vest don't bother me nearly as much as the stupidity of the directive and the total disregard Delta Society has shown for both Pet Partner volunteers, as well as patients. Having read the latest FAQ update, I am even more convinced that nobody knows what they are talking about. Specifically:

"NEW 7.09: What about other risks such as MRSA, C-Diff, Giardia, and other pathogens?
Pet Partners policies and procedures require that handlers and pets comply with recommended procedures on handwashing, pets being clean before entering facilities, etc. Any pet or person that isn’t feeling up to par or is having any kind of symptoms of illness should not enter a facility. Both volunteers and pets are at risk of picking up pathogens from a healthcare or other public facility. Pet Partners policies are designed to reduce the risk of disease transmission, but the risk to all individuals, humans and pets, can never be zero. Careful attention to hygiene and other Pet Partner protocols is critical to reduce the risk of transmission of pathogens such as MRSA."

If they are willing to accept the above hygienic practices for MRSA, C-Diff, etc why not the same for Salmonella? The incidence of organism detection other than Salmonella was NOT different among raw and kibble fed doggies. That is why hygiene is used for anything other than Salmonella. I guess Salmonella is in a category all by itself in terms of personal hygiene!!! They are revealing their total ignorance of the principles of epidemiology and are cherry-picking the data to suit their purposes. They are stonewalling and not answering the relevant questions. They are in an indefensible position. Having said that, they are an independent organization and can do whatever they bloody well please in terms of setting the rules. The thing that is infuriating is that they have changed the rules in the middle of the game. Some of us have invested money in Delta Society workshops, vest, bandanas, etc. BTW....I have a soon to be retired Delta Society vest WITHOUT the Purina logo that can be auctioned to the highest bidder....if there are any that are still interested in working with Delta Society.