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Pictures from concerned dog owners claiming to have found what looks like wires embedded in their Pedigree dry dog food, have gone viral over social media this week.
Hearing the reports, Samantha Barrett checked her own bag of Pedigree brand dog food, hoping it might explain why her dog has been eating grass and having stomach issues.
“Sure enough almost every piece of food had these black (and some lighter color) hairs coming out of them. Some people think it is wire, some think it is pig or cow hair, but it is pretty sharp,” she explained to WWBT.
A second 12 On Your Side viewer sent in a photograph of a piece of kibble from her own bag of the popular dog food, clearly showing some type of unidentified hair or wire-like object poking out.
Along with the photo, the viewer posted, “PIECES OF WIRE FOUND IN EVERY single piece of my pedigree dog food! Don’t feed your dog pedigree! My dogs have been acting funny from eating! You can see it from just holding it or when your break open its in there!”
Now, dog owners around the country are taking a closer look at their dog’s food, and many are finding the same unidentified “hairs” in Pedigree brand food.
Francesca Gordon posted a photo which clearly shows a fiber poking out of a single piece of kibble, asking Pedigree for answers. “Can you tell me what this is in my dog’s food? It feels like a plastic fiber.”
Missie Carter posted another photo, explaining, “My dog has been feeling sick and not eating and couldn’t find anything wrong until this morning making his breakfast I noticed what I thought was a hair and went to pull it out and was surprised it was a wire imbedded in the grain.“
“So I started looking through the bag of pedigree and there is more of the wire through out the bag of dog food. This needs to get out before a love one passes from this,” she continued.
Pedigree customer Iliana Williams posted yet another photo of a single piece of kibble with what appears to be a short black hair or wire sticking out from the side. Rightfully concerned, she says, “Pedigree… We want an explanation. I see zero replies to people’s posts.”
Melanie Miller says she’s trusted Pedigree for years, but when reports of wire-like objects in her dog’s food began circulating, she decided to check her bag, too.
“We have been buying Pedigree for years because we trusted it. Late last night, we were alerted by one of my husband’s friends that there were fibers in the food.” Miller wrote.
“Next day, we checked our HALF USED (meaning our poor dog has been eating this crap!) bag of food and sure enough, we find these clear wire things! Upon further investigation, I find Pedigree isn’t doing anything about it! We are not buying Pedigree for our dog anymore until a recall is done. This is not quality food.”
A look at Pedigree’s Facebook page reveals dozens of the same – photos of kibble with mysterious hairs, fibers, or wires sticking out, upset, concerned customers begging for answers, and stories of dog becoming sick after eating the same food they’d been consuming safely for years.
The one thing that is blaringly absent from Pedigree’s Facebook page is a response to the dozens of customers begging for answers, aside from the occasional “copy-and-paste” response that reads:
“Our team has conducted testing on affected kibble and determined these are natural fibers from meat and bone meal, like pig hair, that occur with products made using those ingredients. PEDIGREE is completely safe for your dog to enjoy. If you have any other concerns, please call us at 1-800-525-5273 (8:00am-4:30pm CT), or send us a direct message with your phone number so we can call you directly during those hours. Thank you.”
Unfortunately, there have NOT been any recalls.
Pedigree has admitted to recently changing to a new “meatier” recipe, which could explain why dogs who were fed the original formula for many years have suddenly rejected the food or experienced upset stomach after eating.
Still, customers are alarmed at the appearance of hairs, fibers, or wires now found in their kibble.
As always, The Dogington Post urges pet parents to thoughtfully consider their dog’s diet. Look for high quality foods that are made and sourced in the USA, from a company that is completely transparent and forthright with their ingredients and manufacturing processes.
Your dog is your family, feed them as such.
If you find a problem with your pet’s food, please stop feeding it at once and report your findings to the FDA through their online Safety Reporting Portal by clicking here and report to the USDA by clicking here.
Brandon
Aug 21, 2015 at 2:54 pm
Been finding this in dog chow
Brandon
Aug 21, 2015 at 2:52 pm
Been finding this in dog chow to
Caroline Snyder
Aug 21, 2015 at 10:29 am
UPDATE ON PEDIGREE DOG FOOD CONTAMINATION – VIDEO SHOWS COPPER WIRE
COPPER and (likely) STEEL wire, as it is attracted to a magnet appears to be at least SOME of the contaminants in this sample of PEDIGREE Dog Food. The camera gets a close-up for us. This is bad news!
Copper dissolves in stomac acid guys, to make soluble copper chloride and a dog’s, or cat’s stomach acid is WAY stronger than ours so they are at VERY high risk of serious illness.
A copper overdose is VERY likely, even from just one bowl of kibble, as dogs only require a few milligrams daily frown emoticon Copper poisoning can be LETHAL!!
Copper toxicity can be acute or chronic, affecting the GI tract, the liver and then the kidneys. Clinical signs:
Symptoms of acute copper poisoning are nausea, vomition, salivation, purgation, violent abdominal pain, dehydration, tachycardia, shock and collapse, ending in death.
Treatment:
1.Rapid remove of poison from the stomach by stomach tube.
2. Giving pencillamine and BAL to combine with copper and convert it into non-toxic substances.
3. Adding of molybdenum to the animal food to prevent reserving within the liver.
4. Dietary supplementation with zinc acetate may be useful to reduced the absorption of copper.
What in God’s name is the manufacture of Pedigree, Purina, Merrick doing? Covering up, that’s what! What are the FDA doing? Sweet F.A. Because no-one is REPORTING this to THEM!
ACTION! Check YOUR dog or cat’s kibble very carefully! Look for tiny strands of wire or or plastic.. especially if your ingredients list includes “Meat and Bonemeal” or “Animal Fat” or “Animal Digest”. if you find anything suspicious, do NOT feed any more. Bag it and REPORT to the US Dept of Agriculture and the FDA (there is online reporting available!).
Feel free to contact me personally if you want links and go to my Facebook post of the video and SHARE!
facebook.com/groups/Pedigree.Killing.Or.Sickening.Dogs/permalink/839906389412505/
Caroline
Aug 20, 2015 at 10:23 pm
What do these people expect when they’re paying $25 for a 50lb bag??? Pedigree is NOT a good food. With VERY few exceptions, a good rule of thumb is, if you can buy it at Walmart or the grocery store, it’s usually poor quality. If your dogs are “like family”, why is it not worth it to make sure they are eating decent food?
Chris Steiner
Aug 20, 2015 at 10:16 pm
Mike, Author Ann Martin agrees: amazon.com/Ann-N.-Martin/e/B001KCICNY/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
Margie
Aug 19, 2015 at 11:43 am
Call me a cynic, but the only one looking like it’s actually coming out of the food is the green one. The others all look like the ‘wire’ is held between the finger and the food. Or the table and the food. Just all looks suspicious. If I took a picture of something like that, I would have zoomed in to prove it’s actually coming out of the food.
Ilaria
Aug 20, 2015 at 3:43 pm
Doesn’t really matter anyway, because brands like Pedigree is about the worst brand you can give to your dog. So in any case, wether this is true or not, I wouldn’t feed my dog this junk.
Leann ramirez
Aug 19, 2015 at 4:03 am
These folks need to file reports with the FDA.
Melanie Hoyt
Aug 18, 2015 at 9:25 pm
Couple years ago I found not one but several chicken claws in dry kibble made by Lotus which is supposed to be a top of the line organic dry feed. I contacted the company and essentially got
nowhere. I also contacted UC Davis vet school and spoke with one of their professors. The follow up
is that the Department of Agriculture is overwhelmed and could not send an inspector. I was told that
because the feed was opened it would be more difficult. But how could you discover the problem
otherwise. I was just lucky that the bowl of kibble in the back seat of my Explorer spilled and I
was using my hand underneath the seats to search blindly for any kibble that fell that way. It pricked my fingers. No doubt that I go nowhere because I was one individual who found this. Lotus did state that they were changing their manufacturer. Did they? I have no idea, but I stopped buying it. Perhaps in this present case since there are more people there will be action. Let’s hope.
Then again Consumer Reports Magazine states that again the USDA is overwhelmed that almost 99.999% of the food items entering this country, e.g., shrimp, etc., are never inspected. Frankly we need a Presidential candidate who focuses on the most critical issue there is — our food supply
and the treatment of our animals. None of them do. So maybe they want everyone to die. Our system is broken and no one cares, at least the ones running for office. Nothing practical comes out of their mouths, e.g., our food supply, our animals, a cross-country water pipeline so that there are never drought concerns, etc. etc. etc.
Gillian Gardner
Aug 18, 2015 at 8:03 pm
The answer is easy, no dog should be totally reliant on dry food because it is bad for them, feed them raw meat and raw bones and less grainy carbohydrates which make your dog fat. Dogs don’t eat grain. Kibble is a way of saying….i don’t care what I feed my dog as long as it’s fed.
mike
Aug 18, 2015 at 4:16 pm
Pedigree dog food uses free animal protein, the killed dogs and cats from animal shelters are delivered to the rendering plant.
They leave all the collars and metal buckles, metal leash rings, etc on the dead pets when cooking them at the rendering plant.
Any metal on any of the dead pets are not removed, but cooked and processed in the food
Pedigree pet food is one of the worst foods to feed your pets.
I saw metal fragments in the neighbors Pedigree dog food, and when I told them, they finally decided to feed healthier raw food.
Avoid Pedigree pet food if you love your pets.
Read the book at amazon, Pet Food Pets Die For
to become informed about pet food
Griffin
Aug 25, 2015 at 4:07 am
Pedigree is the best dog food!
I have fed my Jack Russel Pedigree dog food since he was a puppy.
He is now 15 years old. He is not overweight and is still running around chasing cats, birds and catching a ball. He still loves swimming and cannot wait to play ball in the pool.
All the above comments re how bad Pedigree is, is total rubbish.
joanne
Aug 26, 2015 at 12:37 am
omg griffin do you live under ground ? this has easily been one of the worst dog foods out there for many years ! it is cheap shit , but since you choose not to educate yourself on what you are actually feeding your dog – how can you then say its great food ? do some research griffin and get ur head out of your ass !!!
Lainy
Aug 18, 2015 at 3:40 pm
My dog food is fine! I feed Nutri Source, grain free. It may cost a little more but I can feed it without worrying what’s in it. I have studied canine nutrition for many years and there are many good reputable dog foods out there, none of which you will find in a grocery store.