 Barked: Thu Jun 7, '12 6:13pm PST |
 | |  | | Alaskan salmon *is* a potential carrier of the rickettsia (kind of like bacteria) that cause "salmon poisoning", and I've heard varying theories on whether home freezing can actually reduce or eliminate the risk in infected fish. If you do decide to rely on home freezing make sure you're keeping your freezer cold enough (I'd use a separate thermometer inside the freezer) and that you freeze for long enough -- a couple months is what I've heard from other raw feeders. I am confident enough that commercial flash freezing can eliminate the risk, and do feed raw Alaskan salmon. Even "fresh" Alaskan salmon in most stores has been flash-frozen before it's thawed again and sold as fresh, but you need to trust your source and information. There was a dog owner who posted here on Dogster a couple years ago who is certain that her dog contracted salmon poisoning from raw salmon purchased at Whole Foods.
This is definitely one of those cases where there isn't really a need to research this, at least so far as funding agencies and corporations are concerned, so there isn't a whole lot of what I'd consider reliable information. I think the decision to feed raw salmon from the waters of the Pacific North West needs to be a personal one based on how well you understand your supply, and what risks you are willing to take. From what I understand if caught VERY early a dog infected with salmon poisoning can be saved, but if not the outlook is pretty dire.
"Atlantic" salmon is synonymous with "farmed" and farmed salmon, IMO, is pretty much tantamount to poison due to PCBs, heavy metals, antibiotics, and disease. Salmon farming has also proven to be catastrophic for the environment and certain economies, though it's generally regarded to be safe from the rickettsia that causes salmon poisoning.
If you decide salmon's not something you want to feed, there are plenty of other fishies that don't carry such risks. Cold-water fish like sardines, herring, and mackerel are nice and oily and high in Omega-3 EFA's, which is usually why people want to include salmon in their dog's diet. They're also fast-growing and harvested before heavy metals and PCBs have much of a chance to build up in their systems, compared to salmon at any rate.
Canned salmon is heated sufficiently to kill off the rickettsia that causes salmon poisoning, it's still a good source of O-3's, and I love to keep it around the house for days I forget to defrost meat for the dog's dinner and/or for small meal days following a really big meal. |  |  | |  |
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