AAHA DENOUNCES RAW FOOD DIET

The American Animal Hospital Association has joined the American Veterinary Medical Association in taking a stand against raw food diets for pets.

AAHA published a position statement on its website that reported the association “does not advocate or endorse feeding pets any raw or dehydrated nonsterilized foods, including treats that are of animal origin.”  The association based its decision on “over-whelming scientific evidence” and cited 50 sources to support its decision.  The position includes raw commercial diets, said AAHA executive director Michael Cavanaugh, DVM, Dipl. ABVP.  “We’re not aware of accepted processes that a commercial diet could go through that could ensure there aren’t going to be pathogens present,” Dr. Cavanaugh said.  “If that were to change – if the government came out and said “This is an accepted process, this is the procedure’ – then it would certainly be time to change our statement.”

Up to 30 percent of dogs fed homemade or raw food diets may shed pathogenic or organisms in their stool, according to the AAHA statement.   The AVMA issued its statement in August, just prior to AAHA’s releasing its statement.  However, AAHA’s board of directors approved its raw food position several months ago, Cavanaugh said, and the timing was coincidental.  The reason AAHA delayed releasing its statement was because the organization was awaiting endorsements from the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, both of which ultimately supported AAHA’s statement.

In its statement, the AVMA recommended feeding “fresh, clean, nutritionally balanced and complete commercially prepared or home-cooked food to cats and dogs” but did not use the word “raw” when describing the commercially prepare food.  Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc.,  which does not offer any raw diets, is among AAHA’s sponsors, but the association’s affiliation with Hill’s played no role in it’s decision to come out against raw food diets, Cavanaugh said.  

“Just because we put out a position statement doesn’t mean that everyone will agree with it, but we express our opinion based on scientific information”, Cavanaugh said.