Pet food and the sheep meat trade

[delilah]

Just put the dogs breakfast down and a question presented itself: How important is the pet food trade to sheep prices ? I would guess that for many households, the dog/cat gets more servings of 'lamb' than do the humans. Seems to be more dogs about than ever before, cats maybe the same.
Are there any figures on this ? Does it have an impact on price, putting a floor in the market ?

 

[borderterribles]

I can see where you are coming from with this question, and I don't know the answer, but one important thing to remember is that every part of the sheep can be called Lamb, as far as the pet food trade is concerned. That obviously includes the bits that have no other value to the meat trade.

 

[delilah]

A bit like sausages . Do all those bits have a value to the pet food industry, if so does that value work its way back to the price paid for the animal ?

 

[borderterribles]

Erm, excuse me, like SOME sausages. No eye holes, ear holes and a#$e holes here, thank you very much .
Yes, they have a value to the meat trade,as in the more that something has even a low value, its better than a bill for disposal.

 

[GeorgeK]

Pets are estimated to eat 20% of the world's meat and fish, and it can be the cuts people don't want so yes it boosts the value of every carcass.
(Apologies for the 'vegan' link, stuff's everywhere these days )

Pets Eat 20% Of The World's Meat – So Is Feeding Them Insects The Answer To Saving The Planet?

Is it actually good for your pet?

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

 

[delilah]

Pets are estimated to eat 20% of the world's meat and fish

That's a startling statistic. Given the pet ownership levels in the UK, and the fact that many households don't eat lamb regularly, could it be that over 30% of sheep meat here goes to pets ? If so it must be using more than the bits n bobs and creating a real demand ?

 

[michael N123]

Pets are estimated to eat 20% of the world's meat and fish, and it can be the cuts people don't want so yes it boosts the value of every carcass.
(Apologies for the 'vegan' link, stuff's everywhere these days )

Pets Eat 20% Of The World's Meat – So Is Feeding Them Insects The Answer To Saving The Planet?

Is it actually good for your pet?

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk

It’s the huffington post so probably a made up statistic

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

I can believe that it is true, when you look at some of those ewes that are nothing more than skin and bone, yet when they are all minced then it is great food for dogs and cats.
I was wondering what is happening to these Sows and Boars at the moment which are only 10p per kg or less. Does some of this meat find its way into pet food. If not where does it go?

 

[Bongodog]

That's a startling statistic. Given the pet ownership levels in the UK, and the fact that many households don't eat lamb regularly, could it be that over 30% of sheep meat here goes to pets ? If so it must be using more than the bits n bobs and creating a real demand ?

The petfood boxes just mention "meat from various sources" I've always assumed that there is a lot of odds and ends of chicken in that as it is cheapest, followed by pork. Whilst it is true that many households appear to not eat lamb, we need to remember that it is the meat of choice for many Moslems. Also it is allegedly in your late night kebab

 

[Anymulewilldo]

I’ve always smiled at what can be classed as lamb… pretty sure there’s not much prime higher goes too pet food. But as said above, pretty sure a lot of those boner hill ewes get skinned, gutted and then straight through those giant mincers… comes out as lamb mince then for the pet job…

on the kebab note, I was on way home the other day and the Mrs was out. As it was late I called at the kebab shop in the village. Lamb kebab with all the salad on Naan. It is probably lumps of old swale ewe, but it tasted proper nice and at £4.50 for a plate full I wasn’t going too knock it. The best donner kebab I ever had was at the local Greek spot. They used too buy full carcasses of lamb from the local farmers (us included) and do the full prep themselves. was too die for. Unfortunately the old guy and his wife retired and the new owners bought ready done crap that had hard bits in the meat…