Cat Food & Thailand

[butterfly32b]

I wrote to APPLAWS and this is what they said, hope this helps

Thank you for your response.
 
MPM (making pet food matter) is the name of the company and they have two brand names.  One is for the supermarkets called Encore and one is for the specialist market called Applaws which goes to vets and pet stores.
 
Only the dry food contains British chicken.
 
The can food contains chicken breast from local family run farms in Thailand.  All the chicken meat we use in our canned food has been passed as fit for human food use by independent government approved vets and we receive a government veterinary certificate for every shipment we receive.  Hope this clarifies every thing if not than please let me know.

[Honeysuckle]

I was concerned about Hi Life which change it's production to Thailand however recently the RSPCA has pointed out that chickens raised in Thailand are reared in better conditions than Britain!  Here is an article about it:

http://thaiintelligentnews.wordpress.com/2010/11/04/the-independent-brits-call-for-boycott-of-brit-chicken-for-humane-thai-chicken/

[butterfly32b]

thanks guys, I've been using Lily's Kitchen and cook my own chicken up.  I don't understand why UK doesn't produce a similar to APPLAWS using local sources of meat rather than have it shipped all the way from places like Thailand.  I read a report recently on fish sold for human consumption at TESCO and it was diabolical to see the conditions in which the fish was being prepared and packed.  No wonder we have become a nation less resilient to disease, illness than before if the majority of us are eating cheap, mass produced produce, dread to think what our pets are eating when it says 'produce of Thailand'

[Dawn F]

I do always cringe when I see thailand myself, I dread to think what conditions they are in although I suppose you could say that about anywhere if you look hard enough

[Mark]

Th bottom line is there is little or no animal welfare in Thailand. Even so called 'ethical' shops like the co-op only apply their ethics t their own-branded meat. In most cases, ready made meals contain meat from Thailand and Brazil. I always check that any meat I buy is UK produced - difficult to to with wet cat food as they don't tell you the source. Only last week we were shown a film of horrific practices shot undercover in France by Compassion In World Farming. The French are barbarians where animals are concerned and will allow all kinds of suffering to get a tasty product.

Anyway, for th price of Applaws, you ca feed Yarrah - I would ignore the top 2 on this list as they are vegetarian food for cats with taurine supplements - they might keep a cat alive but I think it is just wrong. If people can't accept that cats are carnivores, they should get a rabbit rather than feed a cat a veggie diet.

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/FreeBuyersGuides/fooddrink/catfood.aspx

I was surprised to see Classic rates highly.

[Fire Fox]

What do you mean by ethical? Free range/ organically reared meat, fair trade/ fair wage to the producer, good working conditions for the factory staff, low air miles, carbon offsetting? Basically are you more concerned about animal welfare, human living/ working conditions, or the environment? The whole issue is a minefield as meat uses a lot of resources to produce, and processed foods (i.e. all pet foods) can be the dumping ground of foodstuffs that would otherwise be wasted, however they are energy-intensive to manufacture.

John Lewis (Waitrose) are renowned for their customer service, so would be worth e-mailing them. Could also try Co-operative as they claim all sorts of ethical credentials for their products. Encore is produced by Applaws so you could read their website to see what their ethical policy is. This may also be of use http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/FreeBuyersGuides/fooddrink/Petfood.aspx

[butterfly32b]

Hello,

can someone help me, we are looking to buy ethically sourced cat food and I noticed the ENCORE and WAITROSE own say product of Thailand on them, what does this mean?  Thanks