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In this blog we are here to let you know that we are having an amnesty on rawhide dog chews and giving you the opportunity to swap yours for a healthy alternative natural dog treat for FREE!
Rawhide chews, in the first instance, may sound like a good idea when looking for long lasting, natural dog treats but we want to let as many people know (that don’t already) that, on the whole, they are not natural in the slightest!
Many people think that rawhide is a by-product of the beef industry but it isn’t. It is actually a by-product of the leather industry. Rawhide is in fact the inner layer of the skin that isn’t used for leather itself.
Sadly, rawhide goes through such a process that it becomes dangerous in many cases for dogs when given as a chew.
Cattle hides usually go from the slaughterhouses firstly, to the tannery where they are soaked and treated with either an ash-lye solution or alternatively, a highly toxic solution of sodium sulphide liming to strip the hair and any remaining fats that may still be attached the hides.
The hides are then treated with various chemicals that help to expand the hide, making it possible to separate the layers needed for the various uses.
The outer layers are then moved on for use in clothing, shoes, bags and everything else we find made of leather.
It’s the inner layer that is used to make in to rawhide.
The remaining inner layer then goes to the post tannery stage, where the hides are washed and whitened in a bleach bath using a solution of hydrogen peroxide. If the bleach isn’t strong enough for the particular hide in question then even more toxic chemicals can be applied to achieve the right result.
Producers of rawhide chews then get creative with their blank sheets of tough leather by-product by putting through a number of additional processes. These can include but are not limited to, being rolled, pressed, glued and shaped into countless differing varieties, like the ones we see on the supermarket shelves.
Rawhide can even be smoked, flavoured and coloured using chemically produced dyes and paints in order to make them look even more appealing to pet owners and the pets themselves.
The lists of potential chemicals that can be used in the production of rawhide can include Lead, Arsenic, Chromium salts and Formaldehyde to name but a few of the more well-known ones. The bottom line here is that if you knew what was actually in it you wouldn’t go near in it!
So apart from the poisonous element that are connected to rawhide there is a more immediate potential danger that rawhide can pose to dogs and that’s choking.
The reason that rawhide poses a choking hazard is that it doesn’t break up and disintegrate like natural dog treats. Instead, once a piece has been chewed or ripped off that piece turns into a chewing gum like substance that dogs then eventually try and swallow whole, and in the worst cases causes them to choke.
In other cases, the rawhide chewy ball shaped object travels down into the digestive tract, slowly unrolling from the ball shape it was swallowed in and ties up the intestines. In the worst cases of this the dog may need major surgery to have it removed.
The best thing you can do if you have rawhide chews for your dog is to throw it away, or right now… bring it to one of our stores based in Upton or West Moors as part of our ‘Rawhide Amnesty’ and swap it for a natural dog treat that is firstly safe for your dog and is secondly healthy for them as well.
If you would like to have a look at our range of natural dog treats then click here and check out our full range.