Is it safe to feed my dog pig and cow ears?

Last year salmonella outbreak left many pet owners concerned about the safety of ear treats. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) had investigated a few strains of Salmonella suspected to be contaminating pig ear treats and infecting people who handle them.

The FDA released a pig ear alert on July 31, 2019, advising dog owners to stop feeding pig ears to their pets completely. By September 5, 2019, the CDC reported 143 people infected from 35 states, with 33 people hospitalized and fortunately no deaths. So what exactly is Salmonella, and is it okay to give ears treats to your pets.

What Is Salmonella?

Salmonella is a bacteria that can sicken both humans and animals. Infected people's symptoms include abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, chills, bloody stool, headache, and fever, which may take a few days to recover and, in some cases, can lead to hospitalization and even death.

Much like humans, dogs and other animals are also susceptible to salmonellosis. The symptoms include vomiting, bloody stool or diarrhea, lethargy, loss of appetite, and fever. If your pet has developed salmonellosis symptoms, take him to see a veterinarian right away. In some cases, infected canines may not necessarily show signs of being sick, but they can still shed the bacteria in their feces and saliva. Keeping your pet healthy will also help you stay healthy.

Rising above the competition

At Big Lu's, we pride ourselves on our product quality and the farm to package the process we follow. We work directly with quality farmers and to assure the quality of our product through the entire process. Before any chew is prepped and packaged at our headquarters, they are carefully processed and cleaned to ensure our chews are free of any bacterial contamination, such as Salmonella and e-coli through the process of Irradiation.

Although Irradiation is rarely mentioned, most of the food we consume and the medical devices we use are irradiated. A sanitizing process approved by the FDA and WHO. As an extra precaution, we get all our products microbiologically tested, hand-inspected, and packaged to ensure the quality of our product is up to Big Lu's standards. For additional tips and information on dog treats, subscribe to our weekly newsletter.