Happy Hips
- Thread starter Kagome100
- Start date
I've never tried the Happy Hips, but their Breathies chicken treats used to be Meg's absolute favorites. I've stopped purchasing them since the problems with food coming out of China. It is small print, but if you search around on the back of the package, it does say Made in China.
My guess is that, like most of the similar treats and foods that contain joint supplements, it is probably far too low an amount to really help. There are great joint supplements on the market that you can get for your dog. I use Hylasport Canine from Horsetech for Meg.
My guess is that, like most of the similar treats and foods that contain joint supplements, it is probably far too low an amount to really help. There are great joint supplements on the market that you can get for your dog. I use Hylasport Canine from Horsetech for Meg.
So I'm not crazy!
I looked and looked all over their website for something about the fact that they're made in China and couldn't find it but remembered faintly something in my brain told me they were. I blamed it on old brain
I'm so happy to know my brain isn't old and crazy
I didn't want to post something I didn't know for sure.
I looked and looked all over their website for something about the fact that they're made in China and couldn't find it but remembered faintly something in my brain told me they were. I blamed it on old brain
I'm so happy to know my brain isn't old and crazyI didn't want to post something I didn't know for sure.
I actually said something to them in my email about how it is impossible to tell from their site that they are made in China and in light of all the issues with China people need to be informed so they can decide if they want to take that risk. Here's the email exchange:
mine:
When I read about your treats, and saw the website, I was pretty convinced that these were the best treats for our dog and cat. I ordered some and was dismayed to see that they're made in China. I understand that you do all the testing, etc but we are trying to cut out China made items in our house, including pet items. I can't return the treats (I bought them from petfooddirect.com) but I can't justify paying over $30 for them and throwing them out. I wish you would at least disclose, on your website, the fact that your products are made in China. That way people can decide for themselves if they want to buy them based on that information. I pray that these treats are safe for our pets, because my kids would be completely devastated if anything happened to them, but I won't be buying any more dogswell or catswell treats.
theirs:
I'm sorry that you won't be buying them. Natalie will email you our safety procedures.
Unfortunaty [sic], the media has blamed China for many of the faults of US companies. I've personally been there many times and our plant is more safe and clean than most plants I've visited in the US. Did you know that 90% of the faulty toys last year were due to US company design malfunction and not due to China issues?
The media has attempted and is succeeding at painting China as a bad place. This is simply untrue. But media needs to sell newspapers, so they will spread fear in order to make people buy.
Please know that I am aware of problems from China. But every country has equal issues. In fact, on an export dollar basis, China produces the least amount of faulty goods. If you would like to discuss this, please do call me any time.
mine:
One issue for me is that
you don't disclose anywhere on your site that the treats are made in China
so that people can decide for themselves.
theirs:
We do list it on every bag. And we do have more information than most other companies that are made in the US.
and then they sent me this with a picture of some chickens (the picture was too small to make any determination) and a document about how much their product was tested:
Although our treats are made in China, I can assure you that our products are safe and clean. We have USDA permits for each of our products and our facility has an FDA registration number. We know every single supplier to our manufacturer. We test our ingredients for melamine, bacteria, pesticides, and contaminants. We know our suppliers and we test our products before they are shipped to our distributors. Testing is done at a FDA and APPMA approved lab, Cornerstone Laboratories, located in Tennessee. I have attached a copy of our results for your review.
Our product is the cleanest on the market. It is very difficult to find antibiotic and hormone free chicken in the United States. Assuming we could find a reliable source domestically, it would be impossible to find the same healthy, cage free, antibiotic free, and hormone free product at this price point. Marco routinely visits our factory in China. In addition, his brother lives there and monitors the day to day of our factory and suppliers. I have attached a photo of our cage free chicken; you will see that it is clean, humane, and safe.
We know that it is easy to become concerned as the media is emphasizing safety issues in Chinese products. Dogswell shares your concern. We look forward to the day when all factories in the United States are met with the same level of scrutiny we have put our suppliers through. Let me assure you our factory is one of the cleanest, not only in China, but by American standards as well. We trust them with the safety of our pet's health as our pets are family too.
I hope that you will continue as a Dogswell customer. If you would like us to send you samples, please let me know. We'll be happy to do so.
mine:
When I read about your treats, and saw the website, I was pretty convinced that these were the best treats for our dog and cat. I ordered some and was dismayed to see that they're made in China. I understand that you do all the testing, etc but we are trying to cut out China made items in our house, including pet items. I can't return the treats (I bought them from petfooddirect.com) but I can't justify paying over $30 for them and throwing them out. I wish you would at least disclose, on your website, the fact that your products are made in China. That way people can decide for themselves if they want to buy them based on that information. I pray that these treats are safe for our pets, because my kids would be completely devastated if anything happened to them, but I won't be buying any more dogswell or catswell treats.
theirs:
I'm sorry that you won't be buying them. Natalie will email you our safety procedures.
Unfortunaty [sic], the media has blamed China for many of the faults of US companies. I've personally been there many times and our plant is more safe and clean than most plants I've visited in the US. Did you know that 90% of the faulty toys last year were due to US company design malfunction and not due to China issues?
The media has attempted and is succeeding at painting China as a bad place. This is simply untrue. But media needs to sell newspapers, so they will spread fear in order to make people buy.
Please know that I am aware of problems from China. But every country has equal issues. In fact, on an export dollar basis, China produces the least amount of faulty goods. If you would like to discuss this, please do call me any time.
mine:
One issue for me is that
you don't disclose anywhere on your site that the treats are made in China
so that people can decide for themselves.
theirs:
We do list it on every bag. And we do have more information than most other companies that are made in the US.
and then they sent me this with a picture of some chickens (the picture was too small to make any determination) and a document about how much their product was tested:
Although our treats are made in China, I can assure you that our products are safe and clean. We have USDA permits for each of our products and our facility has an FDA registration number. We know every single supplier to our manufacturer. We test our ingredients for melamine, bacteria, pesticides, and contaminants. We know our suppliers and we test our products before they are shipped to our distributors. Testing is done at a FDA and APPMA approved lab, Cornerstone Laboratories, located in Tennessee. I have attached a copy of our results for your review.
Our product is the cleanest on the market. It is very difficult to find antibiotic and hormone free chicken in the United States. Assuming we could find a reliable source domestically, it would be impossible to find the same healthy, cage free, antibiotic free, and hormone free product at this price point. Marco routinely visits our factory in China. In addition, his brother lives there and monitors the day to day of our factory and suppliers. I have attached a photo of our cage free chicken; you will see that it is clean, humane, and safe.
We know that it is easy to become concerned as the media is emphasizing safety issues in Chinese products. Dogswell shares your concern. We look forward to the day when all factories in the United States are met with the same level of scrutiny we have put our suppliers through. Let me assure you our factory is one of the cleanest, not only in China, but by American standards as well. We trust them with the safety of our pet's health as our pets are family too.
I hope that you will continue as a Dogswell customer. If you would like us to send you samples, please let me know. We'll be happy to do so.