European Pet Food Industry Federation promotes responsible pet ownership in schools

The European Pet Food Industry Federation, FEDIAF, is promoting its Responsible Pet Ownership program with a new video trailer that explains the group's resources for teachers in educating young children about pet ownership.

The four-minute trailer shows cats and dogs, and their relationships and interactions with families and children. The intro is provided by the FEDIAF secretary general, and a teacher follows with testimony on the development and practical use of FEDIAF's educational materials for schools.
Teaching materials include "Fascinating Cats" and "Fascinating Dogs" for primary school children, and "Dogs and young children" for children over the age of 3. The school programs were developed by educational experts and are published in English on FEDIAF's website, with translations done by national petfood industry associations also posted.

The video trailer can be downloaded online from FEDIAF.

European Pet Food Industry Federation revises pet nutrient guidelines

The European Pet Food Industry Federation, FEDIAF, has revised its nutrient guidelines for dogs and cats. These nutrient guidelines are often used by pet food manufacturers when formulating recipes.  

For the 2011 edition, available for download on the FEDIAF site, the federation collaborated with scientists in the academic world to form the Scientific Advisory Board. The board will advise FEDIAF on how to further improve its guidelines to ensure they reflect the most current scientific data and research.

Pets contribute significantly to economy, society, FEDIAF says

The European Pet Food Industry Federation, FEDIAF, reported updated statistics that show pet animals make a significant contribution to the economy and to society.

Throughout Europe, approximately 550,000 direct and indirect jobs, such as veterinarians, breeders or connected supply industries, are created as a result of pet ownership. The pet food industry and related supply and services represent a combined annual turnover of about €24 billion (US$32.8 billion). The petfood industry serves an estimated 70 million pet-owning households, with annual petfood production of over 8 million tons, according to FEDIAF.