The New York times Magazine section published a piece on the pet food industry that ambushed me in the very first paragraph. The article begins with a graphic description of dogs undergoing laboratory digestion testing:

" ... each of the dogs had undergone a surgical procedure to string a length of tubing from its intestinal tract to a clear plastic spout that stuck out its side."

It goes on to describe the intestinal collection procedure, and I almost had to stop reading.

I persevered, and was happy to read about the pet food entrepreneurs who create "socially responsible pet food" using healthy human-grade products (with no reliance on the rendering industry and the academic research that requires the invasive surgical procedures mentioned above). The article called this emerging trend a "pet food revolution."

The pet food scares caused many of us to examine our dogs and cats' diets, but this article might give you yet another reason to do so. Check out the last paragraph ... heartbreaking.