Recently in Wisconsin, a high school staff member was accused of feeding a 15 year old autistic/non-verbal freshman a can of dog food.
The Madison Metropolitan School District said it is reviewing staff procedures and protocols and providing “additional training regarding snack protocol.”
What those investigating this horrible crime are probably unaware of, the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) allows pet food to utilize highly inferior ingredients (dangerous and illegal to consume for humans and animals). The former director of the CVM stated: “we do not believe that the use of diseased animals or animals that died otherwise than by slaughter to make animal food poses a safety concern and we intend to continue to exercise enforcement discretion.”
“Enforcement discretion” means FDA will ‘look the other way’ (refusing to enforce federal laws) when decomposing dead animals are disposed of into pet food. The FDA looks the other way when condemned, diseased animal material is disposed of into pet food.
What those investigating this crime are probably unaware of, the FDA allows pet food to be a waste disposal system. Per USDA statistics, more than 174 thousand livestock (cattle, hogs) were condemned in 2025, more than 5 million poultry were condemned. All of those condemned animal carcasses are allowed to be disposed of in pet food – with no disclosure to the consumer.
And this total does not include diseased tissues cut away from a carcass and does not include millions of animals that die on-farm annually.
What those investigating this crime don’t know is that the FDA refuses to require disclosure on labels when illegal waste ingredients are included in a pet food. The FDA outright refuses to provide consumers with label information in order to avoid horrendous waste ingredients.
It is a horrible crime for a high school staff member to feed an autistic/non-verbal student dog food, that individual should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. The young man’s family should be notified to alert doctors to potential poisons he could have been exposed to through this dog food.
It is another crime that the dog food fed to this young man is allowed by the FDA to contain diseased, condemned animal material. Personal opinion: The FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine should face criminal charges.
Susan Thixton
Pet Food Safety Advocate
Author Buyer Beware, Co-Author Dinner PAWsible
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