Let’s look at the pros and cons of B.A.R.F.!

Gina
- March 23, 2022

While we hoomans have many diet choices according to each individuals’ lifestyle pets also now have many choices as well! These diets are cultivated for our paw friends’ good health and/or to fit the lifestyle of their pet pawrents, those of whom are the ones choosing what they think is right for their babies.

One of these popular diets is the Raw-Meat Diet Pet Food, also known as “B.A.R.F.” (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food) in Thailand. Due to the increasing popularity, many small business owners are making and distributing B.A.R.F. from their backyard. People believe that non-processed, natural raw food is more beneficial to the health of their pets. They believe that it helps with the digestive system, weight control, odor issues, and provides a healthier coat and skin. If you are cooking it by yourself, you will be able to control the nutrition and ingredients.

However, there are several research pieces that prove that feeding B.A.R.F. to pets has potential risks to the pets themselves as well as to hoomans.

In 2018, Paul Overgaauw, veterinarian and visiting researcher at Utrecht University, Netherlands, reported that feeding a raw-meat diet to pets is risky to the pets themselves, but even riskier to the human bodies because pets can be carriers of pathogens, and that can cause diseases in humans.

B.A.R.F.’s production process could contain cross-contamination in the ingredients and containers during food preparations as well as in the cleaning process. By examining 35 frozen pet foods from 8 brands in the Netherlands, researchers found that in 14 out of 35 products examined (40% of all products), there are high levels of E. coli, more than what humans can consume. This causes diarrhea. There are also Listeria and Salmonella, bacteria that have been causing illnesses in the human body for a long time. In addition to this, there are Sarcocystis cruzi which are protozoa that are harmful to farm animals, and also Toxoplasma gondii, parasites that might cause illness in cats and humans.

The standard of meat production process, as well as the slaughterhouse in Thailand, is not as good as the European one. Most brands produce homemade B.A.R.F, in Thai tropical weather. They are not audited by the Department of Livestock Development of Thailand. So, there are high chances of your pets getting infected from contamination. Also, some of these B.A.R.F aren’t even healthy in terms of the combination of nutrients. Selecting good pet food should be considered based on sanitary, safety, and complete nutrition. 🐾

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