Nuh-uh ABC News!

An ABC News article on home cooked meals for pets vs. kibble contains a couple of misleading statements by my interpretation. Regarding the major pet food recall of 2007, ABC says:

Dozens of dogs and cats died as owners learned about the tainted dog food, most of which was imported from Chinese manufacturers.

Firstly, "dozens" is misleading because it makes it seem like the total number of dead pets as a result of the melamine tainted food was less than the thousands who likely died. Secondly, although the melamine tainted ingredients were imported from China, the toxic pet food itself was largely manufactured in the U.S., using the poisoned ingredients. No one should feel automatically "safe" buying a pet food just because it wasn't made in China.

As far as so-called regulation goes, ABC notes:

Gallagher and Thompson [from the Pet Food Institute] didn't dispute some of [Dr. Richard] Pitcairn's claims of byproducts that were sometimes found in food, but pointed out that the commercial industry is regulated -- a stamp of approval not guaranteed with home cooking.

Again, misleading to my mind because the "regulation" of the pet food industry is done by AAFCO and it's by no means an independent, third-party "stamp of approval" for pet food products. Further, of course there is no guarantee that home prepared diets are 100% complete and balanced - whether you are feeding humans, pets, or weevils. That doesn't mean they're unsafe.