by katiek0417 » May 10th, 2006, 2:52 pm
SisMorphine wrote:katiek0417 wrote:Personally, I would never feed my dogs anything besides good feed....but I'm definitely in the minority. I know many people who feed Nutro, Pedigree, etc....Why? Well, I think there are several reasons.
1. People simply don't know any better and fail to educate themselves on feeding better foods (and the benefits of doing so).
2. I have several friends who feed "not so good" foods...they do it because they simply don't have the money to do otherwise. This is not a question of a bottle of Jack Daniels....these are people who look for "free" things to do in my area (which isn't hard since the Smithsonian museums are free, etc)...they really don't have the extra money.
While I think we know how important it is to feed good foods, if one of us found ourselves in a very bad financial hardship, we might also have to feed one of these "less than very good" foods. We may not want to do it, but might have to in order to eat ourselves.
I think it's important to know about a person's reasons for not feeding better foods. If it simply a matter of "non-education" then we can educate them (provide artilces, etc). I think if it's a matter of money, then we can't really judge them. If it's a difference between feeding a "not as good food" or giving the animal up...well, I think we all know what we'd rather see....
I still don't accept the "no money" as an excuse. If I were in need of cash I would strip on amature night once every month to make the dough to feed my dog. I would be a telemarketer . . . again (horrible memories). I would do whatever it took to be able to feed my dog, and myself.
It's like the people who say that the poor can't get any furthur education. They can if they try hard enough and actually have the want to do it (my old roommate worked fulltime and not only put herself through college, but also through grad school). But if people don't actually want to feed their pets good food then they won't make the effort. And that's sad, to not make the effort. And beyond that, to not make the effort to at least LEARN about proper animal nutrition.
I had a good friend who went from feeding her dog raw, to having her husband shot and killed, her being laid off, with a child (of 2 years old). She didn't go out. If she did anything with friends it was because we went there...we often brought her food because she was on welfare (and we wanted her to be able to have some extra money)...this is someone with a good education, too (had her M.S)....
She didn't want to give up her dog....Do you know how much her monthly income on unemployment/welfare was? Do you know how much it costs to live in DC? (lets put it this way, if you can find an apartment, and I'm talking an efficiency, for under $1000/month, you're damn lucky, or you're living in a very bad neighborhood).
Some people aren't as fortunate as the rest of us...
And how do you explain elderly adults who are on a fixed income?
"Rumor has it, compulsion is evil."
Katrina
Sacha CGC - Dumb Lab
Nisha CGC, PDC, PSA TC, PSA 1 - Crazy Malinois
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