A ‘consumer advocate’ recently stirred up drama from July 2017 re-circulating an article (figure 1) claiming that Earth Animal No-Hide® treats were rawhide, again. This was on the heels of the announcement of a class-action lawsuit (figure 2) against Earth Animal Ventures (EAV) questioning the ingredients and sourcing of No-Hide® products. I didn’t think I would have to address this issue, but apparently, I do since misinformation and cherry-picked information from the original chain of events keeps circulating (if it’s on the internet it must be true, right?). Consumers and retailers alike need to see the situation for what it is, so I’ll also write this from both a retailer and consumer standpoint to provide the level of transparency I hold others to. As you read this, you’ll understand that both sides have significant issues. In fact, No-Hide® being (or not being) rawhide is hardly the issue. Instead there is a pervasive lack of transparency and misinformation from both the consumer advocate side and EAV.

In 2018 a blog from a veterinary nutritionist sparked a controversy between ‘BEG’ diets and heart disease in dogs. For the past two years, despite an FDA investigation, scarce and vague scientific data has created major issues for pet owners and the pet industry. For clarity, ‘BEG’ diets are known as Boutique, Exotic protein or Grain Free. A recent article published in the Journal of Animal Science titled, “Review of canine dilated cardiomyopathy in the wake of diet-associated concerns” that appeared to be a saving grace for many advocates of ‘BEG’ diets. This paper investigated a potential association between grain-free pet food and dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in dogs. The authors state, “based on this review of the current literature, there is no definitive relationship between these implicated diet characteristics and DCM.” Despite this statement, realize the purpose of this paper was to identify numerous knowledge gaps surrounding DCM and nutrition, rather than to draw conclusions. While no link between ‘BEG’ (boutique, exotic, grain-free) was found, this does not mean that nutrition and other considerations are not at play.