Mythbusters: Rawhide

I’ve been talking about chews all this week - so let’s talk about one of the most popular and at the same time most nasty chews out there: commercial Rawhide.

Rawhide is supposed to be nothing but animal skin, which actually has benefits for dogs! I mean, that’s literally what it’s called ‘Raw’ ‘Hide’ - untreated skin is an organ that consists of different nutrients, for example collagen which helps keep the skin flexible. But the Rawhides that are sold in stores contain none of that after the heavy processing they go through. Quite the contrary actually - they’re bleached and chemically preserved in a way that can be highly dangerous to your dog.

The Hides (Animal Skins) are shipped to tanneries for processing where they are treated with either an ash-lye solution or a toxic recipe of sodium sulphide liming so that any fat or hair will be stripped from the hide.
After this, hides are treated with hydrogen peroxide and/or bleach!
Yes, that’s bleach in your dogs’ treat right there.
By now they contain carcinogens and preservatives like sodium benzoate too.

The cherry on the cake is when the hides are glued into appealing bone shapes with glue that is known to contain things like lead, arsenic, mercury, chromium salts, formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals.

Still wonder whether fur is dangerous for your dog?

Fresh, raw chews are a much safer alternative. Although dogs can choke on just about anything, fresh edible chews are digestible such as necks, wings, feet and more.
Plus many of our chews still have the nutritionally beneficial fur and feathers attached and also have tons of other nutritional benefits! Unlike processed, chemical treated hide.

If you want to know more about what Fur& Feathers do nutritionally, check out my Blog on the topic ❤

📝source: dogs naturally magazine