Could be an urban legend--but the article was supposed to have appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. It would not surprise me to learn it is true - look at how feeding sheep to sheep and then feeding sheep to cattle in ireland/england led to mad cow disease.

"San Francisco Chronicle Staff writer John Eckhouse wrote an exposé entitled "How Dogs and Cats Get Recycled into Pet Food".

Eckhouse wrote: "Each year, millions of dead American dogs and cats are processed along with billions of pounds of other animal materials by companies known as renderers. The finished product...tallow and meat meal...serve as raw materials for thousands of items that include cosmetics and pet food."

Pet food company executives made the usual denials. But federal and state agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, and medical groups, such as the American Veterinary Medical Association and the California Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA), confirm that pets, on a routine basis, are rendered after they die in animal shelters or are disposed of by health authorities and the end product frequently finds its way into pet food."

My dog is also a pug--who was put on science diet last year and has gotten nothing but fat! He put her on a lo-cal low fat food and she has gained 6 lbs. He accuses us of giving her "treats" - and we never did or will. She was trained using the Monks of New SKete methods, and no treats were ever used to get her to behave or do tricks. This dog never had a treat in her life, just 2 small meals a day. On Sci-Di she is sleepy and lazy and getting fatter.

Ally