Company Has to Stop Mixing Meat From Dead Dogs

QUEBEC CITY (Reuters) - Bowing to public concern that Fido might end up eating Fluffy, a Canadian company has decided to stop mixing meat from dead dogs and cats into its processed pet food.

Quebec rendering giant Sanimal, which used to process the meat from about 18,200kg of dead cats and dogs a week, said it was no longer accepting the carcasses of domestic animals, many of which had come from Canadian animal shelters.

"Clients were concerned and we had faced pressures in the past. It is a question of public image," said Mario Couture,  Sanimal's vice-president of procurement.

Coutire,  whose firm has revenues of more than 46 million pounds a year, renders 18,200kg of meat carcasses a week. It said dead cats and dogs had previously been processed into powder that was mixed with cereal to produce petfood.

"This food is healthy and good, but some people don't like to see meat meal that contains any pets," Couture said.