I'm just curious (and certainly not trying to attack anyone), why don't some people feed raw?
I see a lot of people say, "I'm just not ready to do it." or "I just don't want to." So I'm just wondering what some of those reasons are. Why are some people not ready to and not sure they ever will be (come on this is feeding your dog, not having a baby).
Since this thread has been revived, I'd like to answer this question.
First, because raw is not proven, scientifically, meaning, no studies. We have to take the word of those who have done it for years and sometimes, that is hard to do when you don't know the people.
Second, it is more expensive than kibble.
Third, often times, people have no idea what is in their pet's food and most just trust that their vet wouldn't lead them astray or that the pet food industry wouldn't dare include ear tags in the mess they mash together and cook for our pets. Who would do such a thing!
Fourth, scare tactics can work. Your dog will choke to death on a chicken bone, your dog will die of e-coli, salmonella, bacteria, parasites, worms, etc. You will kill your dog if you feed it raw. Dogs are not wolves. Blah, blah. We've all heard those arguments and many people just believe those arguments. Even ones who research can have a hard time making the leap. It sure wasn't easy for me the very first time I fed my dogs a raw chicken bone. I sat right next to their crates and watched, with an eagle eye, for any problems. When it comes time to feed raw fish, I'll do the same. We get told something for so long, even though we read that it's not true, it can be difficult to undo all those years of believing a certain way.
Fifth, some of us have a hard time feeding animal parts. I'm not a vegetarian but I do have a hard time eating a lot of different types of meat simply because I know how some of them are raised, shipped and slaughtered. The first time I caught myself stuck behind a semi carrying live chickens, I didn't eat chicken for a year after that. As it is, I'll eat cow and drink cow milk. I feel terribly guilty for killing an animal to eat it but the taste wins every time. It's an ongoing conflict. We need protein, I love the taste of cow...but, I'm sorry cow.
There are animals that I will never be able to bring myself to feed my dogs. I cannot feed them anything I've ever had as a pet. This includes rats, mice, birds, (not chicken or turkey although I've met a few really cool chickens in my life and this is not easy for me), guinea pigs, rabbits, etc. I can't do it.
I'm in conflict right now with deer/venison. I do not like hunting. A co-worker of mine likes hunting and talks about killing things all the time. He is going on a hunting trip in November to kill deer. After a discussion, I realized that most of that deer is not used. On the one hand, I don't want to be a party to killing the deer but on the other hand I think, if it's just going to waste, that is worse. At least use all or most of the deer. If he won't eat it, my dogs will. For me, it's not even about the "score" of getting free meat, it's about not wanting to waste a life like that.
I know people won't agree with me and that's fine. This is how it is for me. I read a lot about raw feeding and while I'm doing good for my animals, I'm contributing to the slaughter of others. For some people, this is not a problem. For others, such as myself, this isn't easy.
What makes it different, since I know there is meat in kibble, is that with kibble, it was easier to fool myself. Not so easy when you're looking at animal parts or a whole animal and feeding it to your pets.
But, I'm working on that and my dogs will get raw because I believe dogs are carnivores and should be fed a diet suited to a carnivore whether I have personal issues with it, or not. That is what I finally told myself and then made the switch. That did not happen overnight...there was a point where I, "wasn't ready".