French Bulldog Rescue Auction Donations Needed!
Hey Frenchie people – we are gearing up for the French Bulldog Last
Chance Rescue MEGA auction, and we need YOUR help.
Do you have an item you can donate that will help us raise much needed
funds for the dogs I affectionately refer to as “The Island of Misfit
Frenchies”? The dogs that sometimes fall through the cracks – the
maybe not so conventionally cute dogs that need a little bit of extra
time, love or work. As you can imagine, these are the dogs that tend
to need the MOST financial help and support, and yet have less heart
tuggingly cute stores to impel people to donate.
Because of that, we have to work a little harder, and ask supporters
to dig a little deeper. You can help, by rooting through your closets
and finding us items we can auction off for FBLCR! Your donations
don’t have to be Frenchie themed (altho it’s great if they are!) –
instead, think of this as a virtual Frenchie focused Facebook Yard
Sale!
Heck, your items don’t even have to be ‘items’ – if you can offer a
service, a skill or even a restaurant meal, we’ll auction it to
someone in or willing to travel to your community!
So, come help us to help Frenchies!
All we need from you is an email to fundraising@fblcr.org with the following info:
- A description of the item
- A photo of the item
- Measured dimensions of your item (so we can estimate shipping costs, if there are any – or let us know if you’re willing to donate shipping costs)
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your postal address (for shipping cost estimates)
That’s it! Auction starts April 27 – stay tuned for details!!
AAFCO Admits Rendered Pets in Pet Food
UPDATED 03-20-2014: article link via Dr. Patty Khuly on barbiturate trace levels in pets, due to rendered pets and animals in the pet food supply chain.
When I first wrote an article years ago stating that some pet food companies were using the rendered remains of euthanized pets in their food (under the ingredient designation “meat and bone meal”), I got some pretty nasty email from people telling me I was either insane, or a liar.
For those who were still on the fence, here’s a just released video of AAFCO’s president finally admitting, on camera, that it’s allowable (and, in fact, fairly common practice) for rendered pets to end up in pet food.
AAFCO, by the way, is short for The Association of American Feed Control Officials, and is the regulatory body that sets guidelines for pet food and pet food ingredients in the USA. They could quite easily ban the use of rendered pets as acceptable for inclusion in pet food – but they don’t, because pet food companies value the cheap protein count that comes from rendered meat and bone meal.
What else can be rendered and made into “meat and bone meal”? Euthanized pets, road kill, expired grocery store meat (including the packaging), kill floor detritus, dead stock… etc.
Ethical considerations aside (and they are numerous, in my opinion), rendered pets (and horses) bring something else along with them – trace amounts of the chemicals used to kill them.
This is no minor matter – the Veterinary Industry takes this risk seriously enough to have studied barbiturate levels in pet foods, and to have assessed them as a risk to pets who consume them. Trace barbiturates consumed by pets create a tolerance level which has decreased overall effectiveness of barbiturates, making dosing pets increasingly difficult for veterinarians. Additionally, the chemicals used in euthanasia are, obviously, deadly.
Dr. Patty Khuly has an excellent article on this topic here – http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2010/oct/rendered_barbiturates-10474
As I’ve been saying for years — It really, really DOES pay to read the label.
H/T to the ever awesome Yesbiscuit for the video link
Another Missing French Bulldog – Guelph Ontario Area
Another lost or stolen French Bulldog has been reported, this one in the Guelph Ontario area.
Mikey is a neutered pied (black and white, to the average person) French Bulldog. He went missing on March 15th, from the area of Kingsmill Avenue & Eramosa River in Guelph Ontario. He was wearing a blue harness – there is no word on whether or not he is microchipped. His owner believes he may have crossed over the river to play with other people or dogs.
There is a reward for his return.
If you spot him, please call Deb at (519) 763-6166
More details are on the Helping Lost Pets website – http://www.helpinglostpets.com/petdetail/?id=174930