Bullet Fragment Found in Raw Paws Pet Food – Truth about Pet Food

December 9, 2022 Kar-Bay-Inc

An alert pet owner was feeding her cats and noticed a silver chunk in the food.

The pet owner wondered what this piece of metal was, wondered if by chance it was a bullet fragment. She asked a friend familiar with guns/ammunition and he shared it appeared to be a .22-caliber bullet fragment.

Concerned she communicated with the pet food company. The company told her all meats are sourced from local farms, the pet food company referenced the meat source as a “USDA facility” numerous times. In writing Raw Paws told her: “In short, the farm doesn’t know how something like that could be in the meat given the process of making the rolls. They’ve never seen it before.”

But on a phone call…

…the company admitted the farm humanely uses a .22-caliber. The company stated they don’t use head or neck meat due to using a bullet in that area.

In other words, this pet food company admitted in a phone call their products include meat from animals that have died other than by slaughter.

Why would a farm kill a cow with a bullet instead of sending it to slaughter?

It could be the animal was ill or injured. USDA slaughter facilities would reject a downer animal. If the animal was ill and being treated with a medication, the animal would also be rejected for slaughter. Farms that repeatedly try to sell livestock for slaughter with drug residues get flagged by the USDA. The agency even publishes a list of ‘repeat offenders’.

It could also be the farm slaughters their own animals by the bullet to the head process. It’s difficult to say whether this method or the USDA method of slaughter is more humane for the animal. But, this method of slaughter would not be considered human edible meat; meat from animals any farm has self-slaughtered is not USDA inspected. (By the way, even though pet owners should be informed if the meat in a pet food is sourced from USDA inspected and passed animals, condemned animals, dead animal carcasses or farm slaughtered animals – regulations don’t require that disclosure. Human food can ONLY contain meat from USDA inspected and passed animals, but the FDA allows any source/quality of meat in pet food without disclosure.)

This pet owner did the right thing, she reported this issue to FDA and to her State Department of Agriculture. This pet food is adulterated with a foreign object and should be recalled. Time will tell if that happens.

But…bullet fragments are not the only problem we see with this pet food.

The Raw Paws pet food website provides this image of their label:

Pet food regulations require manufacturers to disclose on the label if the pet food is Complete and Balanced or for Supplemental Feeding. If the product is Complete and Balanced, the label is also required by regulation to disclose if the pet food is formulated for Adult Maintenance or All Life Stages and state if the food meets AAFCO nutrient profiles or if the food is proven to be complete and balanced via a feeding trial. Most pet food brands also disclose this information on their websites.

However, this pet food label and website does not appear to disclose this pertinent, required labeling information.

The Raw Paws website does suggest the food is “Complete“. The term is included in the product name:

The pet food website also implies the food is ‘complete’ for All Life Stages:

But…there does not appear to be any mention on the label or company website if it is complete and balanced for All Life Stages per AAFCO nutrient profiles. This lack of labeling information does not provide pet owners with a clear understanding if this pet food would provide all necessary nutrients or if the food could result in a nutrient deficiency or excess (and remains a violation of pet food regulations).

Personal statement: My thanks to this pet owner for sharing her story and for taking the time to report the issue to FDA and her state.

To Raw Paws: You need to do much better. If you are selling a pet food commercially, you have the responsibility to know and abide by the regulations of that industry. Pet’s lives depend on that.

Wishing you and your pet(s) the best,

Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
TruthaboutPetFood.com
Association for Truth in Pet Food

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