knackeries and dog food

Penny generally eats a diet of raw food, but sometimes we supplement it with packaged 'pet food'.

My attention was caught by a piece in today's career section of The Age newspaper - an interview with a knacker. I'll quote a bit of what he said because I can't find a link to that section of the paper.

The worker, George Marsh, said, "We only do animals for pet food. The good meat goes into pet food and the rest of it is boiled down.' He had previously explained that they slaughter animals like goats, sheep, cattle or horses, basically animals that are suffering with things like broken legs. He said sheep and goats don't have much meat on them.

Here's the bit I found interesting. "Anything that's adulterated - like with cancer or something - can't go to an abattoir...we do things that aren't fit for human consumption." Further on he said, "But now the Government want our places looking like (an) abattoir - like the food's for human consumption - that makes it hard."

To me it's a case of "good news and bad news", the positive side being that not all of the diseased or cancerous material goes into the pet food and the fact that the government is trying to regulate this industry.

The negative? Well, the implication is that even the so-called "good meat" isn't too good.

And don't ask me to write about the indescribably sad accompanying photo of horses waiting to be killed.