Jerky treats unsafe?

[Tara]

I found this article interesting.  It's a discussion of dogs becoming ill from eating US made and sourced jerky treats.  Spot Farms--which was discussed here recently--is specifically mentioned.  I'm wondering what those of you that are better at research than I am think of this.  Thanks!

http://www.seattledogspot.com/dog-health-wellness/chicken-jerky-mad...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is the only reported case of any pet becoming ill from jerky treats sourced in the US and so far, it is purely anecdotal. "Seattle Dog Spot" is not exactly known for investigative journalism, lol, and this is the only source for this incident that i have seen anywhere. And believe me, I;ve searched far and wide since I first saw it. There is no way to know what made this dog sick. There is no way to know that the dog wasn't getting other kinds of foods and treats which may have been imported from China. Since the vet only has the owner's word for it, she doesn't know either. The jerky is human grade, and sourced through Perdue, who certify that their chicken "hasn't crossed an ocean". It seems unlikely to me that it is really the cause of this dog's illness. 

Regarding dogs becoming ill from jerky which is made in the USA, we have discussed for years that "made in the USA" doesn't mean the ingredients don't come from China or elsewhere. We just had a discussion here about this. The manufacturing location is meaningless, you must know where the ingredients come from, and the company needs to know that too. This is often not the case when a company uses a third party food broker to purchase ingredients for them. The company whose name is on the label may not know themselves where the stuff came from. That's why we don;t recommend products from multinational corporations.

I would not panic about this one incident. However, there are all different kinds of treats other than jerky. There are biscuits, there are soft, chewy treats, there are freeze-dried treats, and lots of kinds of each. It would seem prudent to give some other type of treat, especially if you have a smaller dog, since the small dogs are the ones who seem to be most affected. If your dog must have jerky for some reason, it's not hard or expensive to make your own, with or without a dehydrator, and we have discussions and recipes about this here in TFG. 

I can tell you that since he was diagnosed with serious digestive disease, JD cannot tolerate jerky type treats of any kind, not even dehydrated sweet potatoes. He can eat sweet potatoes without a problem, he can eat chicken without a problem, but he cannot eat either one in a hard dehydrated form. I do believe the lack of moisture in this kind of treat makes them difficult for him to digest, and that might be true of other dogs. But this is only speculation on my part. The article did mention that homemade jerky, which I have not tried, is softer and not as dry as the commercial stuff, and there are no reports of any dogs having ill effects from homemade jerky. Food for thought, lol.

[Tara]

Thanks, Karen.  I knew you'd lend perspective--which is what I was looking for.  :-)