Paralysis and inertia, cruelty and fraud—the system is broken. Blow the whistle, report a crime to the police and it becomes their responsibility to investigate, apprehend the criminals and prosecute them to the full extent of the law.
In 1991 Dr Breck Muir and I blew the whistle on the massive cruelty and fraud (both criminal offences punishable by jail time) perpetrated by the junk pet food/vet alliance.
Australian politicians from the left, centre and right have all been repeatedly informed this 34 years past. See the latest outrage of incompetence and neglect as politicians of all stripes fail in their fundamental duty to pets, people and the planet.
Thank you for your email that does not address our concerns but does appear to confirm bipartisan regulatory capture by the industrial pet food/veterinary alliance and their departmental allies.
You mention ‘several pet food safety incidents’ leading to government intervention. However, such ‘incidents’ relate to random isolated toxicity events that created public relations problems for the pet food makers, vets and their departmental allies.
We agree that isolated problems deserve proportionate responses. However, it’s patently obvious that the constant poisoning of pets by the pet food/vet alliance should be our main concern.
Poisons, by definition, impair health and bring about premature death.
Industrial, ultra-processed products devastate the health of pets in three, often five, inescapable ways:
Flood of toxins from diseased gums (see illustrations).
Flood of toxins from unsuitable grain-based junk absorbed from the small intestine.
Flood of toxins from bacterial decomposition of unsuitable grain-based products in large intestine.
Flood of toxins from inflamed/diseased kidneys, liver, diabetes and cancer arising from the first three sources of poison.
Unthinking vet prescriptions for toxic pharmaceuticals.
But alas, fact is stranger than fiction.
Prime Minister Jim Hacker MP would never suggest a photo op trussed up in a transnational private company’s gaudy uniform. Sir Humphrey Appleby would surely warn against the Prime Minister touting $multi-million subsidies and loud public endorsement of tooth-rotting confectionary and cruel death-delivering junk pet food.
Please read the attached Multi-Billion-Dollar Pet Food Fraud, awarded the Best of the Best Book 2023 by the Dog Writers Association of America and with splendid 5-star reviews that describe the unconscionable animal cruelty and consumer fraud.
Please read the pictures below showing the abominable junk pet food torture of helpless cats and dogs.
Thank you for your correspondence of 16 October 2025 to the Hon. David Littleproud MP in relation to the safety of pet food in Australia.
Following several pet food safety incidents, in May 2018, when the Hon. David Littleproud MP was the Minister for Agriculture, he sought the support of the state and territory ministers for a review of the regulation of pet food in Australia. This proposal was supported by all ministers and the pet food working group was established.
The group reviewed the recommendations of the 2018 senate inquiry and considered policy options to manage the safety of pet food. The working group handed its report to the minister and was stood down in 2021. In 2022 a new working group known as the Agriculture Senior Officials Committee (AGSOC) Pet Food Working Group was formed to conduct a cost benefit analysis of the policy options proposed by the 2018 Pet Food Review Working Group
On 22 August 2024, the Hon. David Littleproud MP wrote to the Minister for Agriculture the Hon. Julie Collins MP to receive an update on the progress of regulation. The Minister explained that the AGSOC Pet Food Working Group was yet to finalise its report, the previous report and the recent cost benefit analysis had not been made public.
The November 2024 Agriculture Ministers Meeting (AMM) communique noted that a report on the cost benefit analysis would be provided for the consideration of agriculture ministers in early 2025. The report was not mentioned in the AMM August 2025 communique. The Hon. David Littleproud MP has written to the Minister since to receive another update.
Thank you again for your email about the effects of pet food on Australian pets, consumers and the environment. The Office will continue to monitor the matter.
We respectfully request that you help investigate and resolve the devastating effects of the junk pet food industry on Australian pets, consumers and the wider environment. Thirty-four years ago, in 1991, we first blew the whistle on the unconscionable animal cruelty and consumer fraud. Massive regulatory capture has been underway ever since culminating in the Prime Minister of Australia sporting the Mars uniform.
Please let us know your views and whether you will help establish a judicial inquiry.
Thank you for your consideration. Yours sincerely,
Please see attached documents and letter (below) regarding the Senate Pet ‘Food’ Inquiry circulated to all Members of Parliament in June 2018.
· It is with grave concern that we write to you regarding your photo-op at the Mars factory in Wodonga, where it was reported that the Federal and Victorian governments have given many millions of dollars of Australian taxpayer funds to companies operated or ultimately controlled by the secretive Mars family, known to be one of the wealthiest families in the world.
· On the evidence presented to you on multiple occasions and extensive further evidence available at www.thepetfoodcon.com it seems to us that the Mars organisation should be investigated for animal cruelty and consumer fraud.
· Do government handouts to companies operated or ultimately controlled by the Mars family—labelled ‘commercial in confidence’ for vast undisclosed sums—cast you and the Australian and Victorian governments as co-conspirators?
· We reject the notion that vast sums can be donated to companies operated or controlled by billionaires and the details kept from the Australian public due claimed ‘commercial in confidence’. In the interests of transparency please make a full disclosure.
· We believe that this unfortunate episode and the junk pet food fraud more generally should be the subject of a judicial inquiry. Please advise.
Thank you for your attention to these matters.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Tom Lonsdale BVetMed, MRCVS and Dr Breck Muir BVSc (Sydney 1964) CC: Interested parties
Date: 09:22 PM 27/06/2018 From: Tom Lonsdale tom@rawmeatybones.com To: A.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.auA.Albanese.MP@aph.gov.au; Subject: Senate Pet ‘Food’ Inquiry Attached: C:\common\working\My eBooks\Raw Meaty Bones-Rivetco.pdf; C:\common\working\Correspondence\2018\06\AttorneyGen.pdf;
Dear Mr Albanese,
See image of Kitty, twelve-year-old Pomeranian victim of Mars Inc., tortured every day of her miserable life.
Senator Griff, in his press release says: ‘It’s the old Dracula in charge of the blood bank problem.’ He’s referring to the multinational pet-food makers—Mars Inc., Nestlé and Colgate-Palmolive. Of course, the Australian Government needs to be concerned about the activities of multinational corporations.
But it’s Dracula’s collaborators that should concern us most—the organised vet profession, RSPCA and various front organisations that hide in plain sight, doing the bidding of the multinationals.
Back in 1966, the Mars Corporation established their propaganda outfit, Petcare Information and Advisory Service, with the specific aim of encouraging Australians to keep pets (furry toys) and to feed them furry toy formula packaged conveniently in cans and packets. Progressively Mars, Nestlé and Colgate suborned elements of the vet profession, animal welfare groups, media and government departments.
Mass ill-health, mass suffering is now the norm. An army of vets pursue self-interest treating, but never preventing, the epidemics of processed food induced disease. Australian consumers and taxpayers pay the bills. Pets pay with their lives.
The Senate Inquiry is entitled: Regulatory approaches to ensure the safety of pet food. These days the term ‘pet food’ means the industrial stuff on the supermarket shelves—stuff bearing no resemblance to the food of free living dogs and cats.
How did we get to the point where we dignify grain-based junk in a bag or can as ‘food’ fit for carnivores?
Please ask yourself how something that devastates pet health can be regulated to be made ‘safe’?
Please help shine a light on the multinational pet-food makers and their collaborators. Please ensure that the Australian Government takes responsibility and addresses the $multi-billion scandal for the benefit of pets, pet owners and the wider society.
We shall be pleased to provide further information and answer questions as you may require.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Tom Lonsdale BVet Med, MRCVS
Bligh Park Pet Health Centre 48 Rifle Range Road Bligh Park NSW 2756
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
![[]](blob:https://www.thepetfoodcon.com/8b2615ff-dea7-48bf-85d8-93d0cb4b1bb2)
