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Just Food For Dogs Book attacks Veterinarians

December 23, 2020

Just Food For Dogs top brass denigrate, taunt veterinarians

Asked to respond to Dr. Larsen’s comment about the “kibble cash” chapter, Mr. Buckley tried to walk the chapter back a bit. “We have the greatest respect for the veterinary community,” he emailed, echoing the website’s praise of the community. “We routinely work with those in academia and have enjoyed a meaningful relationship with some for many years,” he continued.” If someone has read this chapter,” he adds, referring to the chapter about veterinarians and “kibble cash,” “as a ‘false narrative continually pushed to dismiss our [veterinarians’] expertise’ then there is a serious misunderstanding or misstatement somewhere. That is not how we feel.”

December 9, 2020

As pet insurance market expands, regulators near completion of model law draft that could come as soon as next year

Emily Brill

Working with apparently no publicity, a group of state insurance regulators who formed a Pet Insurance task force under the auspices of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in 2019 is approaching the finish line of a working draft for what could ultimately be America’s first significant piece of legislation for the fast growing pet insurance industry.

June 24, 2020

Controversy swirls around journal’s non-disclosure of conflicts in DCM article. Journal CEO says inquiry is underway.

Emily Brill

Controversy is swirling around a prominent science journal’s article that defends the pet food industry against charges that one of its products endangers canines. Last week, the Journal of Animal Science — which describes itself on its website as “one of the most frequently cited peer-reviewed, agriculturally oriented research journals in the world” — and whose publisher is Oxford University Press — published an article that seeks to debunk the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s reports about its investigations into cases of canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) – a progressive heart disease that can eventually lead to congestive heart failure – and possible links to certain types of diets.

June 19, 2020

Pet food industry funds consultancy that funds ‘study’ asserting no link between diet and canine heart disease – – and no conflicts of interest

Emily Brill

Buzz is building in veterinary circles over a study published in a prestigious academic journal. This week a group of veterinary academics published an article under the auspices of Oxford University Press’ Journal of Animal Science declaring no link between grain-free diet and canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).

November 20, 2019

IN AKC WE TRUST

Emily Brill and Margaret Menge

The American Kennel Club (AKC) is the world’s brand name authority on dogs. It has such credibility that a holding company licenses the AKC name to sell AKC-branded pet insurance, much the same way the AARP sells its endorsement to United Healthcare to brand its Medicare insurance.[i][ii]

However, a three-month investigation by The Canine Review found that the go-to authority on dogs is designating thousands of breeders as “Breeders of Merit” without any prerequisite onsite inspection, even as the AKC assures the public on its website that it considers them “the most conscientious and most committed breeders.”[iii] The AKC’s business model and simple math reveal that terms like “routine” and “thorough” are misleading. In fact, even if only the 11,000 Breeders of Merit were subject to inspections, “routine” and “thorough” would be a stretch, as The Canine Review’s examination will show.
The oldest, largest, and most prominent dog registry in the world, the AKC attracts about 2 million visitors every month to its online Marketplace.[vi] There, they can use the AKC’s “Puppy Finder” to search for AKC-registered puppies and breeders, including the approximately 11,000[viii] AKC “Breeders of Merit” who all supposedly meet the AKC’s requirements.[ix] The AKC’s credibility is such that, according to the AKC Board of Directors’ published minutes of a November 2016 meeting[x], “[AKC.org is] the number 1 content site among all dog sites.”[xi]
However, The Canine Review has found that the world’s authority on dogs is making promises on its website about its quality controls that it cannot possibly be keeping. For example, the AKC promises visitors to the Marketplace that all puppies listed “receive health care, good nutrition, socialization, and love from day one” because all breeders listed “are subject to routine kennel inspections….”[vii]). Yet the math behind the AKC’s business model, explained in detail below, makes such quality controls impossible….
CEO Dennis Sprung and other AKC officials would not comment when asked to discuss the Marketing Plan cited in the July 2015 Board Minutes. Brandi Hunter, the AKC’s spokeswoman, provided an answer presumably intended to address several questions, including our questions about an apparently top-secret Marketing Plan: “There will be no divulgence of marketing plans, internal case reviews or operating costs that are not already publicly available. Those are internal documents and are confidential.”

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