• Big Dog products are not affected by this recall.
• We only use human-grade ingredients.
• We do not source ingredients from knackeries; we do not use pet-grade meat.
• We do not use horse meat.
• Our products contain only what is on the label.
• We are members of The Pet Food Industry Association of Australia (PFIAA)
• We are third party certified to comply with the Australian Standard for the Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food (AS5812).
• We are committed to providing safe and nutritious foods for pets.
Pet food in Australia should be safe for our pets to consume. Sadly, this is not always the case, and we are devastated to learn of even more dogs affected; suspected to be linked to consuming a raw meat product from a knackery in Victoria.
We feel it’s important to help our customers understand the differences between meat sourced at a knackery vs. an abattoir. Meat products sourced for human consumption are processed at an abattoir. Abattoirs have standards they are regulated to, to ensure the quality and safety of end products for human consumption. The distinction between human-grade meat and pet-grade meat isn’t widely known and we would like that to change.
At Big Dog, we only use meat and animal ingredients that come from abattoirs. Sourcing ingredients exclusively through for-human-consumption facilities means that the safety you would expect from a raw meat product you buy at your local supermarket or butcher is what you can expect from the meat used to make our pet food. We have been working with our suppliers for many years, some for the 20 years that we have been operating, and we trust the product they supply us with.
While some pet food companies don’t always label their products to truthfully explain where their meat-based ingredients come from, we want to reassure our customers that at Big Dog we always do. The ingredients listed on our labels are what you will find in our food.
We are voluntary members of the pet food industry body here in Australia. We, with them, fully support the need for the regulation of pet food in Australia. As part of our voluntary membership, we are third party certified to comply with the Australian Standard for the Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food (AS5812). Pet food manufacturers who choose not to be members of this body, have no obligation to comply with the Australian Standard and there is no-one monitoring and enforcing compliance.
In the absence of regulation in the Australian pet food industry, it falls on consumers to be as educated as possible on pet food in Australia before making the decision on what they feed their pets. This is easier said than done with a lack of publicly available information.
We, as a trusted pet food manufacturer, are committed to providing, not only safe but nutritious food for pets and, our team is always available to discuss any questions you may have and to help clear up any confusion you may be experiencing about pet food in Australia.
Together, we can help make pet food in Australia safe for our pets and regain the trust of Australia’s pet-owning community.
Chris Essex,
Founder and Managing Director, Big Dog Pet Foods.
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To read more about our quality processes, visit https://www.bigdogpetfoods.com/news/trusted-raw-feeders-since-2000-for-a-reason
