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General discussion / Re: Is this safe to feed
« on: Jan 04, 2021, 08:45 »
Hi Lagottolove and many thanks for raising this very interesting topic and thank you to Dottie and Seaweed for the insights you have been able to uncover. I had honestly never given much thought to lead contamination of meats but you are quite right that it is worrying.
As you have found, there have not been many studies into the implications of lead shot in meats even for human consumption, let alone out pets so drawing any concrete conclusions is difficult. However, according to this study from 2016 "a daily dose of around 1 mg lead as lead acetate/kg body weight for ten days may be considered as a Lowest Observed Effect Level in dogs" and they conclude that "feeding dogs trimmings of lead-shot game may represent a risk of lead intoxication", although they do go on to say that more studies are needed to assess the exact consequences.
With this in mind, it would certainly seem wise to keep game meats as a fairly small and occasional part of the overall diet, at least until we know more or until lead shot is outlawed for game hunting. I'll have to include some kind of footnote on any applicable products we feature on the site. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention.
As you have found, there have not been many studies into the implications of lead shot in meats even for human consumption, let alone out pets so drawing any concrete conclusions is difficult. However, according to this study from 2016 "a daily dose of around 1 mg lead as lead acetate/kg body weight for ten days may be considered as a Lowest Observed Effect Level in dogs" and they conclude that "feeding dogs trimmings of lead-shot game may represent a risk of lead intoxication", although they do go on to say that more studies are needed to assess the exact consequences.
With this in mind, it would certainly seem wise to keep game meats as a fairly small and occasional part of the overall diet, at least until we know more or until lead shot is outlawed for game hunting. I'll have to include some kind of footnote on any applicable products we feature on the site. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention.