Kosher pet food for your dog?

As Jewish families try to respect tradition over the holidays, when rules for
eating are especially stringent, they hardly know what to do about their pets.
Short of locking their dogs in the garage and feeding them there to avoid
bringing impure food into the house, the recent solution on the market appears
to be kosher pet food.

“My home is kosher. You want to meet those
standards,” said the dog’s owner, Gayle Ostro of Lincolnwood. “A lot of dogs eat
dried pig ears and raw hide, but I don’t bring any of that in my house.” Then
she learned about Holly Cher’s company. “Just this year and last year we were
able to use food approved for Passover,” Ostro said. Cher, owner of Evangers Dog
and Cat Food Co. based in Wheeling, recently began producing kosher food for
pets. She distributes her products to pet stores worldwide.

Though many
Jewish families embrace kosher food for their animals, the Bible
may not necessarily call for this measure. Rabbi Sholem Fishbane from the
Chicago Rabbinical Council said pets have no obligation to keep kosher although
many feel that their four-legged companions should be included in the family’s
rites and traditions.

He also explained that kosher food for pets is not
kosher for people too. Approved pet food producers follow the fundamental rules,
but the single ingredients of the product are not kosher. For example the meat
could come from impure animals, such as pigs and horses, and is not butchered
according to Jewish guidelines.

Related folder:
Dossier AllAbout Pet Food 

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