Should dogs be given a raw food diet?

I AGREE that dogs should have a raw food diet where possible. When I first had dogs, we fed them on tripe bought as frozen food, but changed to a Kibble-style food, which was supposed to be better. Our first two dogs lived to be 16 and 15. In 2000, we heard about the Barf (bones and raw food) diet for pets and decided to try it. Though it wasn’t easy to source all the foodstuffs, we persisted. When we first fed it to the dogs they were hesitant: I recall our black working cocker, Carrow, looking at a chicken wing as if to say: ‘But it’s not cooked; I don’t do raw.’ Eventually she ate it and didn’t look back. I have a brilliant butcher who gives me bones every week. Our dogs all loved raw bones as well as eating most things including meat, yogurt, vegetables and eggs. They have lovely clean teeth, glossy coats and need few trips to the vet. Of our current dogs, we’ve had the cocker, Tikka, since she was seven weeks and a sheltie, Prince, for seven years. He had 11 teeth removed before we took him on, but he took to the raw food diet well and loves his bones. Tikka is 15, fit and loves to walk for an hour a day. Prince has blossomed and has lost almost half-astone in excess weight in the past year.

JILL WHELAN, Larne, Co. Antrim. I FoUnd Jonathan self’s claim that ‘pet food is killing your dog’ (Mail) rather mystifying. he says dogs ‘bolt’ processed dog food because ‘they’re trying to get it where all the digestive action is as soon as possible.’ Thinking dogs? he says dogs on a diet of processed pet food can be hyperactive and lethargic — a contradiction, surely. he thinks the meat used for the manufacture of pet food is condemned and has ‘gone off’. I was an industrial refrigeration engineer and installed plant at a household-name pet food manufacturer. I saw tons of fresh meat and fish delivered to the factory and never got the slightest whiff of bad meat or fish. The best accolade for the wholesome nature of this pet food came from one of the mechanical fitters, who said: ‘Can you imagine the disaster for this firm if it supplied inferior pet food and there were widescale deaths to the nation’s pets? They probably take more care with this than if they were supplying for human consumption.’

PHILIP ROE, Stamford Bridge, N. Yorks.