I wonder how many Elderly people have been poisoned by Pet Food. Some eat it when broke.

I just wonder how many elder folks have been poisoned by the pet food fiasco, and I know this may sounds glib, but it's NOT.. I've met plenty of old folks doing community service who actually DO buy pet food, which is prepared under many health provisions - because they have to choose between FOOD and MEDICINE, they're BROKE.

I'm totally sickened by this, that so many folks have lost their pets, and this should spawn a HUGE Lawsuit, with many signing on, but at the same time, is ANYONE investigating if old folks have been poisoned?

Not to show any less respect to the poor folks that lost pets, but losing a Family member who's stuck eating cat food (which I've even heard from some folks that grandma puts Tobasco sauce on it to eat it), would be saddest of all.

I know it's an odd thought, but I think it may be valid, lot of Poor Seniors out there, and they'd also be at risk if it is indeed rat poison...

Once again, the Poor at Risk.

few years. There are many "people" food alternatives still cheaper. (exp. Ramien noodles are 6 for a dollar) Also, many towns now have home delivered meals at least once or twice a day. These are free to those who can't afford it.

And have plenty of protein.

I don't know about soy beans as I have never found 'em dried but other dried beans are a decent price.

its the next couple generations that will have to eat poisoned food, we are all good

:)

When working in Texas at a camp for sex offender teens, some of the children we had there were so neglected at home that they too ate dog food. One child we had (a brilliant twelve year old child who liked to read Alice Walker and REALLY got it because he identified with it)actually preferred the dog food we had for the camp dog, and several other kids we had during my time there had NO problem eating it as a snack when hungry, and acted as if I were strange when questioning them about it.

Apparently in some immigrant communities in Houston, dog food is used by people of all ages to make it until tomorrow. The twelve year old mentioned above actually preferred certain types of dog food, and his favorite was anything with the orange bits in it because he said they tasted like 'gold fish crackers his P.O. gave him once'.

We live in a fucked up country, more fucked up than many of us ever want to realize. Going on case visits to these children's homes was SOBERING to say the least, and I am from southern Louisiana - where extreme, grinding poverty is a pastime.

As with most tragedies, we will never know the full extent. Given the mortality rate of the animals tested and the sheer amount of the shit sold, it seems almost certain someone fell ill and that THOUSANDS of animals must have died.

What many people affected by this are gonna be heartbroken to learn is that in many states, you cannot get emotional distress or similar damages for the suffering or loss of companionship because dogs are considered property. This tragedy might change that in some more civilized states. The owner is truly not made whole when an animal dies as a result of negligence and all they receive from the guilty party is a check for the purchase price of the dog.

....when her mom had left her step dad and the woman who they were stayin' with only had dog food in her house...she called me cryin' sayin' she was about to eat it because she was starving and that's all that was there to eat...at her step dad's place all they usually had to eat was Jack Mackerel and bread...yet the fridge was packed with cheap beer and wine. :(

on edit..the next year at school...every afternoon I'd take her to Burger King and buy her a hamburger before takin' her home.

"its just a little kibble, I don't see what all the fuss is about."

So sad. We'll probably never hear about all the homeless people who die from eating that crap either.

One that I had thought about earlier today. I've seen 2 elderly gentlemen over the past year buying a large amount of dog food at the local grocery store. Upon leaving, I had seen both eating from the cans purchased on my way home.

Your thought isn't so odd, at all.

I mean, maybe back in the day, but dog food is tres expensive isn't it? I mean, a can of black beans or corned beef is cheaper, so why wouldn't people eat that?

The dog food I buy is about 3 bucks a pound, so I make homemade dog food using cheap cuts of meat, sweet potatoes and rice and cheap veggies. I've seen the cheap dog food on the shelves, but I wouldn't feed my *dogs* that crap, I can't imagine people eating it. It's basically sawdust, chicken feathers and beet pulp. Ugh!

Bottom round roast was just on sale for 1.69 a pound. Chicken thighs can be had for .29 a lb when you get lucky, .49 a pound is the normal "sale" price.

I think the dog food thing is an urban myth too.

and why this country is a wreck.. I guess too many people haven't had it ROUGH enough in life, lived in a car, where you don't have a STOVE, etc.. so they can't believe something like that..

Like that Urban Myth that returning soldiers sit in roach infested, moldy, rodent dropping loaded, rooms miles from a vet hospital..

SHeesh, I've stood in a vet hospital, seeking treatment myself while a guy in a wheelchair next to me shit his pants and NO ONE did anything about it.. and gee, NOW, folks are starting to believe that Just MAYBE the vets are being 'mistreated'..

God forbid, when it's so easy to eat healthy and so CHEAP.. man, oh man..

I grew up on wick, getting free lunches at school and not eating supper a couple of times a week, so your assumption is kind of off. Bananas are cheaper than dog food. Canned beans are cheaper than dog food. No stove or kitchen needed for either one.

Maybe I can't believe it because I know what kind of shit goes into cheap dog food and would rather try to survive on bananas than cheap dog food -- probably a wrong assumption on my part, but not based on a life of plenty.

I haven't lived like that since I put myself through school, almost 20 years ago now, but it doesn't mean I don't remember it. My mother was a single mother with four kids under five and an ex husband who never paid a dime of child support. So thanks for the lecture, but I don't think I need it. Things got better when she remarried, but since she remarried someone from her own socio economic class, meaning not a high school diploma betweent them, they weren't all that much better.

I live in Rhode Island and would love to hear about where you find these discounts.

Save-a-lot and Price-rite haven't sold thighs that cheap in the last 4 years as far as i have been able to find.



And as for the myth. My parents ate dog food when i was a child. My brother was born with some expensive problems and they had to make ends meet and since my mother was breastfeeding a new child they couldn't skimp on the amino acids that you get from meat. The experience made them leave the city and move out into the countryside so that at least they'd be able to grow things. Luckily they had that choice.


Also one of the reasons that you haven't hear about it in Rhode Island is because it is an urbanized area that has a good amount of soup kitchens. There has also been a movement among the poor to dumpster dive and thankfully with the large amounts of college students who throw away everything once or twice a year, there is a fair amount of necessities that the poor can get off the curb.

There are a lot of areas where the poor have fewer resources than RI.

Chicken thighs from Dockside for .29 a pound - but Dockside closed. The little store at the greenwood bridge sometimes has them for .29 and sandy lane meats has them for .49. Sometimes Stop and Shop has them for .49. I have a freezer in my basement where I store bulk purchases. When boneless skinless chicken breast was on sale for 1.69 a pound a couple of months ago, I bought 50LBS of it for jerky -- for training the dogs and for instant chicken soup. Not only do I cook for my dogs, but I cook for my elderly parents and learning disabled brother.

Two weeks ago, Shaw's on Warwick Ave had bottom round for 1.69 a pound. Dave's at hoxie four corners and dave's at wilde's corner has meat on sale for under 2 dollars a pound all the time.

In the summer, I go down to galilee and get fish right off the boat for 1-2 bucks a pound. it's not the best fish in the world, but the dogs love it.

I shop at the save rite on Elmwood, by cranston bowl and veggies are super cheap, as are dried beans and most types of potatoes.

You can tell by my username and the stores I shop where I live in RI.

Also, I buy bulk beef liver for the treats I make, 1.39 lb from AJ Martin, then sell at training class for a nice profit. Last time I tried to buy the normal 50 LBS though, they tried to charge me 1.69 a LB. I decided to pass and try again in a few weeks.

I'm thinking about making trainging treats as a business and have to find a reliable wholesaler who will keep a stable price or a price based on something other than who is working the desk.

If you're flexible on what you want to buy, you can find deals almost anywhere.

They eat that instead of oatmeal or cereal.

Not only have I seen Veterans do it, and I worked in a Vet hospital for a year after Nam, but I've personally seen old folks, hence the 'tabasco sauce' on cat food remark..

Urban myth.. nope. Notice other's have SEEN it posting here?

It's more prevalent than people might think.. old folks have no idea what tofu is, they may think it's something you SIT on, they're old school, and want protein, so they eat catfood, etc..

I can see someone saying that aborted fetuses riding alligators that have been flushed down toilets, forming an army in the sewers as an "URBAN MYTH". but old folks eating cheap ass catfood?

It's real..

but beans or tinned beef at el mercado down the street is a hell of a lot cheaper than any cat food I've ever seen.

that people who eat pet food don't HAVE to eat pet food. They should look around the other aisles at the store, it seems.

(By the way, I'm familiar with your work and I've always admired it. Keep it up!)

reasonable in addition to being filling. I don't know much about nutrition but those packages of noodles with chicken broth etc. are only fifty cents each. I think people who eat pet food have got bigger problems than not having enoough money for real food. (IMO.)

Like no fuel for a stove, no electricity for a Hot plate.

I can't believe that people can't even IMAGINE the shit that's going down in this country.. MILLIONS of kids are Starving here, but it's always easier to relieve ourselves of responsibility, ignore it, and call it a myth..

People need to get out more, meet some of REAL folks fighting to survive in this country..

From decades of experience in social work, frequently with those from rural, low income extended families, I can say that it is not a myth.

Anyone telling you different is an idiot.

They were not extremely poor as far as I knew. But they were on the cheap side. I thought they were nuts back then. I still do.

Don

There is a population of so poor a population that they are reduced to acting as animals many times to meet basic needs.

Here in New Orleans today, there are HUNDREDS of kids who returned without their parents and are doing AWFUL things to survive. Eating dog food doesn't sound out of bounds compared to what these kids are living in and doing for money.

When working in Texas, we often saw proof of people getting food from either inedible items (such as bait, dog food, trash and discarded food) or from theft or prostitution. Children often ate dog food.

One of the children I worked with was a child prostitute for a family in Houston that prostituted him to their drug dealer for crack, and he was kept up in his room - locked - with no food. When the family would leave, he would sneak out and eat whatever he could find -- and often the only thing he said he could get to was the wal-mart version of kibbles and bits. He was caught when he left his house and acted out (read 'raped') a neighborhood boy.

Absolute fact. Swear to god. Heard it in court when I appeared as his CASA worker, read it in the case file, and saw him eat the camp dog's food on numerous occasions. And he was not the only child we had with experience in eating pet food.

Also, I am sure there are many prideful elderly who either will not ask for help or feel they cannot, and are making due in the true tradition of Depression survivors. Then, there are the senile and mentally ill in the elderly and unsupervised adult impaired population.

I am sure the number is small, but probably not non-existent.

Very, very sad.

is that people eat dog/cat food because they don't have any other option...

Not having pots and pans or even a stove makes it hard to cook. Sometimes the skill or energy to cook isn't there. For some people the pet food justs tastes better and is easier to chew.

who do eat pet food regularly . . . and if the effect on humans is the same as the effect on cats and dogs, it could end up becoming a huge and tragic story . . .

which the corporate media will no doubt squash . . .