A CHINESE MYSTERY

Last year, and on a couple of occasions before that, our little Beagle Dog went through periods of sickness, that we never could determine the cause. The symptoms were always gastrointestinal, which included loss of appetite, and a general lack of energy. She even had difficulty getting up the steps of the motor home. Two or three episodes ago, we took her to the Vet, trying to determine what was going on. Blood tests, and a general examine did not reveal what was making her sick.

When Nancy was here a few weeks ago, right after she picked up her new motor home, she saw me giving Sami one of these Chicken Tender Treats. Her immediate comment was that this particular brand of dog treat is made in China, and that it had been rumored to be linked to dog illness and death. She had stopped giving this treat to her dogs months ago. When I examined the package closely for the first time, sure enough, the dreaded "Made in China" is right there on the back.

When buying almost anything these days, part of my routine is to look at the packaging to see where it's made. If given a choice, even if the alternative is more expensive, I absolutely will not buy anything that is made in China. Unfortunately, there often isn't a choice, so you either do without, or make the purchase. Looking at labels on food products has NOT been something that I have routinely done in the past, although we did discover awhile back, that some fish products sold at Costco were a product of China.

When I did some checking, I found on Snopes.com, that the F.D.A. has issued 3 warnings related to chicken products from China that are processed into dog treats. There has been no direct evidence, but the warnings were a result of multiple complaints by dog owners and Veterinarians. The symptoms in those complaints were exactly what our dog experienced, and I'm now convinced that this product was the cause of my dog getting sick.

This is just one more possible example of a bad product coming from a country that has become the poster child for poor manufacturing and potentially dangerous products. The fact that Chinese ingredients in dog food resulted in recalls not too long ago, is more reason to be extremely suspicious of any food product (pet or human), originating in this country. Yes, I will be reading even more labels now, and I just wish I would have connected the dots a long time ago.