Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Is feeding Deer safe?

Collapse
X
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Is feeding Deer safe?

    Hello all. Hunting season is coming up and I was planning on asking a couple of hunters I know to help me out with some deer meat/scraps. Someone has told me that I should not do that because of the prevalence of Lyme disease and other diseases deer can carry. We do have a lot of Lyme disease and other tick borne illness where I live. What is your opinion on feeding deer? Could my Dane acquire a tick borne illness from eating deer meat/bones?
    sigpic
    There Is Nothing Like A Dane!!!!!!
    Cheech~Chihuahua~5/26/98-4/23/10
    Valentina~Merle Dane~11/1/03-2/3/12
    Emalee~12 1/2 yrs Red Doberman
    Takoa~2 1/2 yrs ~Harlequin Dane
    Sunshine~11 3/4 yr Orange Tabby

  • #2
    The leader of the co-op I use has fed venison for 30 years without issue. I think if you freeze it for a month like you should freeze all wild game, it should be fine. I've heard not to feed any nervous tissue like brain/spinal cord due to chronic wasting disease, but I've also seen info from the CDC saying that it's not really a risk for dogs. I've been feeding the blue ridge beef venison and I plan to feed venison this fall if my family gets any deer.
    sigpic
    Chaucey
    Asaah ~ xxx Asaah LaLa, CGC, registered therapy dog

    Comment


    • #3
      Hmmm, That is an interesting thought. We have a very high incidence of lyme here in NJ and we eat venison although we are cooking it.

      The cdc says
      "You will not get Lyme disease from eating venison or squirrel meat, but in keeping with general food safety principles, always cook meat thoroughly."

      and

      "scientists have found that the Lyme disease bacteria can live in blood that is stored for donation".

      That last statement would concern me a bit.
      sigpic

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by karenNJ View Post
        Hmmm, That is an interesting thought. We have a very high incidence of lyme here in NJ and we eat venison although we are cooking it.

        The cdc says
        "You will not get Lyme disease from eating venison or squirrel meat, but in keeping with general food safety principles, always cook meat thoroughly."

        and

        "scientists have found that the Lyme disease bacteria can live in blood that is stored for donation".

        That last statement would concern me a bit.
        Did it say anything about it being killed by freezing? They don't freeze blood stored for donation, do they?

        And do they screen for Lyme disease in the blood supply? My grandfather died of hepatitis that he got from donated blood, shortly before they started screening donated blood.
        sigpic
        Chaucey
        Asaah ~ xxx Asaah LaLa, CGC, registered therapy dog

        Comment


        • #5
          Not sure but I am looking. This is pretty interesting though.

          http://www.livescience.com/46007-lym...mber-tick.html
          The oldest documented case of Lyme disease in humans comes from the famous 5,300-year-old ice mummy dubbed Ötzi, discovered in the Eastern Alps about 20 years ago. In a 2012 study detailed in the journal Nature Communications, scientists said they found genetic material for the Borrelia bacteria in the iceman.

          "Before he was frozen in the glacier, the iceman was probably already in misery from Lyme disease," Poinar said. "He had a lot of health problems and was really a mess."
          sigpic

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by oshagcj914 View Post
            They don't freeze blood stored for donation, do they?
            Sure they do. Plasma is stored up to 1 year frozen. All testing for diseases and whatnot are done prior to frozen storage.
            Last edited by Angel7292; 08-29-2015, 05:38 PM.
            sigpic

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Angel7292 View Post
              Sure they do. Plasma is stored up to 1 year frozen. All testing for diseases and whatnot are done prior to frozen storage.
              Huh, I never really gave much thought to how it was stored.

              I've been asking around some raw feeding groups to see if anyone knows anything about Lyme and raw feeding. The only wild game I've fed so far is wild turkey that's been in my dad's freezer for a year. And neither dog liked it, so the second bag is for the cats.
              sigpic
              Chaucey
              Asaah ~ xxx Asaah LaLa, CGC, registered therapy dog

              Comment


              • #8
                Well I found lots of studies about the effects on Lyme bacteria when exposed to different antibiotics but could not find anything about freezing. I think I cannot find anything because freezing bacteria will inactivate the bacteria but it becomes active again once thawed based on the info below. This makes sense as I remember there being a ecoli outbreak on frozen foods. If freezing killed bacteria that should never have occurred.

                http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/...afety/CT_Index
                "Does Freezing Destroy Bacteria & Parasites?
                Freezing to 0 °F inactivates any microbes — bacteria, yeasts and molds — present in food. Once thawed, however, these microbes can again become active, multiplying under the right conditions to levels that can lead to foodborne illness. Since they will then grow at about the same rate as microorganisms on fresh food, you must handle thawed items as you would any perishable food.

                Trichina and other parasites can be destroyed by sub-zero freezing temperatures. However, very strict government-supervised conditions must be met. Home freezing cannot be relied upon to destroy trichina. Thorough cooking, however, will destroy all parasites."



                This is also of interest:


                Borrelia burgdorferi: another cause of foodborne illness?

                Farrell GM, Marth EH.

                Int J Food Microbiol 1991 Dec; 14(3-4): 247-60 PMID: 1790102

                Dairy cattle and other food animals can be infected with B. burgdorferi and hence some raw foods of animal origin might be contaminated with the pathogen. Recent findings indicate that the pathogen may be transmitted orally to laboratory animals, without an arthropod vector.

                http://lymerick.net/ Transmission-Bb-contact.htm
                sigpic

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by oshagcj914 View Post
                  Huh, I never really gave much thought to how it was stored.
                  Blood donations are usually broken down into three different components... plasma, red blood cells and platelets. Plasma is refrigerated for immediate use, but can be stored frozen for up to 1 year. Red blood cells have like a 40 day refrigerate life and platelets are kept at room temperature for up to 5 days.

                  ...useless things I know. LOL
                  Last edited by Angel7292; 08-29-2015, 09:35 PM.
                  sigpic

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    From what I learned in my food science days, most bacteria and viruses that are pertinent to humans aren't destroyed by normal freezing. They're not even completely halted, actually, their growth is just significantly slowed. But meat stored for more than 3 months is the freezer technically shouldn't be consumed by people (though I know people totally do) because by that point, growing slowly, hazardous bacteria can reach unacceptable quantities. It's an interesting issue.

                    That being said, I know that raw sushi grade fish have to be frozen to -40 for a length of time to kill off specific pathogens, but I believe those pathogens are specific to fish. Plus, more of our home freezers don't go to -40

                    Not totally sure how all of that would relate to dogs though. They're a bit hardier than us delicate little humans LOL.
                    sigpic

                    Peach, merle Great Dane
                    Born July 7 2014
                    Peach & Emily!

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Ok, so I found something really interesting. There was a study of the lyme bacteria viability in frozen semen. They basically refrigerated (41F) one group for 48hrs and deep froze (-321F) the other for 3 months and many of the spirochetes survived and there was not a significant difference in the samples after being brought to 98F. The reference can be found here (near the bottom) along with some other interesting observations/studies regarding lab animals being infected with the bacteria without an arthropod vector.

                      Honestly I don't think freezing meat is a fool proof way to keep your dog from being exposed to harmful bacteria.
                      sigpic

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by karenNJ View Post
                        Ok, so I found something really interesting. There was a study of the lyme bacteria viability in frozen semen. They basically refrigerated (41F) one group for 48hrs and deep froze (-321F) the other for 3 months and many of the spirochetes survived and there was not a significant difference in the samples after being brought to 98F. The reference can be found here (near the bottom) along with some other interesting observations/studies regarding lab animals being infected with the bacteria without an arthropod vector.

                        Honestly I don't think freezing meat is a fool proof way to keep your dog from being exposed to harmful bacteria.
                        Yeah, in general freezing doesn't *kill* very many types of bacteria. The main point of freezing is to slow (but not stop) bacterial growth.
                        sigpic

                        Peach, merle Great Dane
                        Born July 7 2014
                        Peach & Emily!

                        Comment

                        Working...
                        X