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Thursday, March 22, 2007

Dog-Safe Dog Foods and Who Knew Dick Van Patten Was So Cool?

So, yeah. I had no idea most dog food was tested on laboratory dogs. Disturbing ingredients sometimes, yes, of course. But the recent Menu Foods pet food recall headlines opened my eyes wide to something I think I should have known all along.

And so the search for a new dog food begins. Lizzie, Angelyne, I know you love your Nutro Natural Choice, but they seem to be offenders, too. I know you wouldn't want to live in a cage and be poked and prodded so that other pooches out there can live the high life on pet food that has who-knows-what in it.

I worked from the PETA site IamsCruelty.com, which has a list of companies that do not test on animals.

Searching for a new favorite doggy dinner was a little more entertaining than one would think. I mean, people, come up with some better names! Burns Pet Health? Harbingers of a New Age? Green Tripe?! Though I have to admit I'm a fan of names like PoshNosh and Stella & Chewy's.

The coolest thing is the celebrity foray into pet sustenance. Newman's Own Organics now has a line of pet food. But, sorry, Paul. I think I'll have to pass you over for Dick. See, Dick Van Patten has a company called Natural Balance Pet Foods and he makes his food in his own kitchen! No laboratory dogs, no siree. Dick tests it on himself! The food is organic, has high-quality protein, and all that jazz. So now we'll just see if Angelyne digs it. (Lizzie is my Mikey. She'll eat anything.)

Oh, and the neatest thing about Dick's pet food is that if you save up your UPC codes and receipts and send them on in, they'll make a donation to your favorite non-profit animal charity. So he's not only cute, he's cool, too.