Easy Peasy Treats

I went grocery shopping Monday. The next to the last stop was at Costco. I get dry dog and cat food there and sometimes pick up treats. Monday they had jerky treats from 2 different companies, Waggin’ Train and Cadet. Both of these treats are made in China.

With the most recent FDA warning about jerky treats from China, I refuse to buy them. Over 350 dogs have died from these treats in the last couple months. I won’t put my dogs in that kind of danger for a treat. But it still amazes me how many people will still buy them. While I was in Costco I warned several people about the death of dogs because of the jerky treats. I just can’t believe they didn’t already know.

Jerky treats look like something all dogs would love. And they do love them. You just have to find ones made in the US. Kona’s Chips are made here and there are some others made here too. You just have to be careful and read the labels. If you really want to make sure the treats are fresh and safe, make your own. Making jerky treats is so easy to do and it’s safer than buying them.

Buy some boneless, skinless, chicken breast. You can get them on sale and stock up. Wash the chicken off and remove any fat. Cut into strips with the grain of the meat. Strips should be 1/8 to ¼ inch thick. Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Lightly grease a baking sheet or use some cooking spray. Place the strips on the baking sheet and bake for about 2 hours. Treats should be firm and dry, not soft or spongy. If they aren’t firm and dry, bake them a little longer. Cool on a wire rack. After they’re cool, cut them in to pieces with kitchen scissors or a pizza cutter.

If you need to store them, place in the fridge for up to 3 weeks. For longer storage (if you stock up), freeze them for up to 8 months. The ones I make aren’t around that long. I told you they were easy peasy treats! Mac and Munch love these and I know they’re safe.

While you’re waiting for the treats to bake, there are a couple things you can do for other dogs. The City of Hampton wants your input about tethering or chaining dogs outside for long periods of time. They’re thinking about putting limits on how long a dog can be tied outside. You can tell them what you think at http://hampton.us2.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_0jQoQN1yUatPUgY. The survey will be up through the 17th.

The UK is thinking about allowing a company to breed beagles for live animal research. These little beagles will be subjected to cruel experiments, made to inhale toxic substances, have toxic stuff dropped in their eyes and rubbed on the skin. There is no love, affection, or compassion. These dogs are bred just to experiment on and then they’re killed. You can sign a petition to stop this puppy mill before it starts at http://forcechange.com/10854/dont-breed-beagles-for-painful-experiments/.

Skechers has a new commercial ready to air during the Super Bowl. This ad promotes greyhound racing just to sell shoes. It was filmed at a greyhound track and shows dogs racing against a smaller dog wearing Skechers. The little dog wearing shoes wins the race. The company obviously didn’t pay any attention to the living conditions of the racing dogs or the fact that they are usually killed when they can’t race any more. Greyhounds are sweet loving dogs that shouldn’t be treated like this. You can sign a petition to stop Skechers from airing this ad at www.change.org/petitions/stop-the-super-bowl-ad-promoting-dog-racing.

Well, that should get you started. Your dogs are going to love the treats and they’re so easy to make. I’ll have something new for you tomorrow.

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