Since my post about Delta Society and raw diets, I’ve had multiple questions or comments about the research behind it.
Here’s one question:
"Please site the research that "clearly show…" that raw-fed animals shed bacteria at a higher rate."
Here’s the answer:
Lefebvre et al, Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 2009
- Study following therapy dogs over the course of a year. Diet history was recorded. Raw-fed dogs were 17 times as likely to be shedding multidrug-resistant E. coli compared to non-raw-fed dogs, and more likely to be shedding Salmonella.
Leonard et al, Zoonoses and Public Health, 2010
- Study of healthy dogs in households. Dogs fed a commercial or homemade raw diet were greater than 5 times as likely to be shedding Salmonella than other dogs.
Lefebvre et al, Zoonoses and Public Health, 2008
- Study investigating therapy dogs in Ontario and Alberta. Raw-fed dogs were 23 times as likely to be shedding Salmonella and 17 times as likely to be shedding multidrug resistant E. coli.
Lenz et al, Canadian Veterinary Journal, 2009
- Campylobacter jejuni was found in the feces on 2.6% of raw-fed dogs and Salmonella was found in 14% of raw-fed dogs. Neither was found in any dogs not fed raw meat.
That’s pretty clear to me.