The “gourmet” Pigs Ear treat pictured can be found on the shelves of Woolworths, although most supermarkets and pet food retailers have their own products. This is an IRRADIATED product imported from overseas, but it doesn’t tell you on the packaging.
IRRADIATED pet meats are known to KILL CATS. It is therefore illegal to sell irradiated pet meats to cats. For dogs however, it’s UNKNOWN what damage it may cause them. Because it’s unknown, it is still legal to sell irradiated pet meats for dogs.
How can you tell if a pet meat is IRRADIATED?
Take a look at the label of the Pigs Ear. You won’t find the word “irradiated” anywhere on the label. It doesn’t even tell you which country the product came from, only that it was “processed and packed in Australia”.
The key words are MUST NOT BE FED TO CATS.
The Australian Standard for Manufacturing and Marketing of Pet Food (AS 5812:2017) stipulates these words are the only labelling requirement for an irradiated and imported pet meat.
Always read the label of any pet food or pet treat you buy, and do not buy irradiated products.
A list of treats we consider safe (and healthy) can be found here.
You don’t mention the use of plastics in some of these imported pet treats. Surely this is even more important than irradiated foods given what gets put in it?