Pet Fooled

So, a lot of people have been asking me, ‘If you are so lazy why don’t you just feed kibble instead of a raw diet for your dogs? It comes in large bags at a low cost, doesn’t require refrigeration, and is available everywhere.’ And that is a good question. One I would have asked before I found out what was in kibble, what grows on kibble, and how little kibble supports my pups. I know all of these things from my job. But, not everyone gets a job that immerses them in nutritional information about their pets. So, when I had a chance to talk with Kohl Harrington, director of the documentary Pet Fooled, I jumped on it. You see, Khol is not a pet person, he doesn’t even have a dog. He is a documentary filmmaker with a producer that has a dog who had an itchy tummy. When he decided to make a documentary about the pet food industry he had no idea what he was going to find. Below is my interview with him along with shameless plugs for his film, Pet Fooled now streaming on Netflix.

Kohl Harrington on Making Pet Fooled

AJ: What did you think was going to be the best dog food?

KH: I thought it was going to be a grain-free kibble or something like that. I had no idea about a raw dog food diet.

AJ: When did you think when raw feeding for dogs was mentioned?

KH: When raw feeding was mentioned, I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t know if it meant a chicken leg from the supermarket or what. The question that led me to “raw” feeding or “species appropriate” feeding was, why is appropriate for dogs and cats to eat if it’s not processed dry foods full of corn and wheat? I’m from Florida where everyone hunts and fishes and the idea of species appropriate foods wasn’t far off for me to understand because I grew up with cats and dogs roaming outside so I was able to see them catch things in action. So I know that’s the natural bias of the species. 

AJ: What was the most shocking thing you uncovered about pet food during the making of your film?

KH: There are many but I would say that dry food isn’t species-appropriate feeding. That’s most shocking because it’s what we all have been fooled in a way into thinking is natural or the best. 

AJ: How do you feel about kibble now?

KH: What people don’t talk about when they talk about “kibble” is convenience. Trust me, after making this film, I see how much consumers crave convenience. I’ve received quite a bit of feedback from stores across the world who all want me to make public statements about how consumers want dry food and buy dry food because they crave convenience. And my response is if dry food is for convenience purposes, then stores and companies are welcome to talk about dry food from that angle. That would be more honest in my opinion versus talking about dry food being optimal health. Dry food being optimal health isn’t ringing true to consumers anymore. People are wanting to feed real food and fresh food.

What Else Pet Fooled Has to Offer

The feature film documentary goes into the gritty details about what is really in your kibble and what kibble has done to our pets over the last 50+ years. It features my a few of my favorite vets talking about what dogs really need nutritionally to thrive, and also covers the low-quality ingredients that the big brand pet food manufacturers use. If you haven’t seen it yet I urge you to go watch it. Then if you still don’t understand why I bother with all the hassle of a raw diet hit me up on Twitter. I would love to go a few rounds, respectively, about it.