This topic is the most controversial in dog treats circles. One the one hand you have dogs suffering from many bone and joint related diseases like arthritis and owners looking for a powerful effective NATURAL treatment for their dogs. On the other side you have legislators making powerful blanket bans to stay in office.
The most bizarre point about it being controversial is that shark cartilage for dogs is so effective for relieving pain, and in fact reversing many joint issues, that if it was a pharmaceutical drug for humans that was banned, for treating the exact same issue, there would be protests in the streets.
The ingredients of shark cartilage, the two most famed ones in shark cartilage sticks (glucosamine and chondroitin) are in fact available in capsule form, and free powder form for humans at most pharmacies as an over the counter medication. Yes, it is that good. IT IS NOT a naturopath remedy that is unfounded. It is in fact a well understood and respected human medicine, that people are happy to allow governments to ban for dog use. UNLESS you buy it at many times the price, in a jar at the pharmacy or vet.
It almost seems like a capitalist problem and not an ethics one.
The main issue seems to be at the catching stage. Unfortunately, there are some fishing companies that don’t care what variety of shark they catch to gain the meat, and shark fin (and its skeleton the shark cartilage) – which can cause obvious damage to threatened shark species numbers.
In that case it seems to be more of an issue in law making for specific species, and better policing by law enforcement agencies that should be used, rather than the blunt tool of all out bans.
This second Problem caused by indiscriminate shark fishing, has caught the eye of powerful conservationist allies and lobbyists, that the politicians have stepped in to save their own seats.
The lobbyists have even convinced Google/ Alphabet plc to ban shark cartilage in Google adword campaigns for this natural medicine, while still allowing ads for vet refined powders that contain shark cartilages active ingredients to help joint issues.
It seems as long as they don’t specifically say what the ingredient source is from, it’s all ok to sell it.
Assuming that the active ingredients of shark cartilage are used in the best joint support medicines from vets, at much higher prices, the real question for those who want a more natural formulation, and a much more reasonable price, is how do we go about it – SUSTAINABLY?
We should understand that to some extent conservation measures in the USA are already working. A 2023 news report said: “Experts say that, .. there are signs that some shark populations off U.S. coasts are slowly rebounding after decades of dramatic declines.”
“Sharks are coming back. Their numbers are growing,” said Dr. Bob Hueter, chief scientist for OCEARCH, a nonprofit ocean research and education organization. “They’re not overpopulated, they’re not even probably close to what they were back in the 1940s and 1950s. But they are making a comeback.”
And as the Apex predator in the sea, that is welcomed and valuable news.
Vulnerable shark species need to be protected against:
- overfishing,
- habitat destruction, and
- bycatch
But this is endangered shark species, NOT all sharks.
CONCLUSION
The major shame about the bans is that dog owners and dogs both suffer from this ban.
The ban of All shark catches in the USA would mean that one of the major cost effective, and medicinally effective tools to relieve pain and increase mobility of their dogs has been caught up in the ‘shark fin’ controversy. The shark cartilage is housed in the shark fin and shark fin fetches large money in many Asian countries, as well as parts of America.
If shark fins where just removed from sharks that had specific quotas, from sharks that were not endangered, then the resulting shark cartilage from within these fins, would not be tarnished by such knee jerk reactions to ban them along with the fins. Quotas would ensure sustainable fishing practices and healthy shark populations for each sub species of shark.
It invokes the old phrase ‘not throwing the baby out with the bath water’. In this case the ‘baby’ is the extremely useful shark cartilage, while the bath water is the banning of shark catches because of over fishing.
Most people would agree that shark finning should be banned. Where any shark is caught just for their fin, and the rest of the shark wasted. It seems that lack of policing of disreputable fishing companies are still practicing shark finning – that is a big part of ‘shark cartilage’ getting such a bad name. And that is a shame for all the suffering dogs out there.
Please Don’t deprive your dog of this brilliant medicinal treat (shark cartilage), when it is not specifically the cause of declining endangered shark numbers.
The Pet News Blog 