I emailed "The Farmer's Dog" company because I had heard from a volunteer at my local humane society that they produce better, safer dog food.  I sent them a link to this petition and asked if they monitor toxins/carcinogens in their food.  Their response is heartening and positive:

Thanks so much for bringing this to my attention — I'm so sorry to hear about what happened with Chase and would be more than happy to provide some additional information about how we formulate our fresh recipes and our lab testing:

Our recipes are formulated by multiple board-certified veterinary nutritionists to ensure they are 100% nutritionally complete and balanced, and we regularly send batch samples to labs to confirm they show adequate levels of the appropriate nutrients for a healthy diet. We also recently conducted a feeding trial with dogs who were fed The Farmer's Dog recipes exclusively for a minimum of a year. We're proud to share that all dogs had healthy blood levels and are in excellent overall health. If you're interested in learning more, feel free to check out the study published on our blog: www.thefarmersdog.com/digest/how-the-farmers-dog-redesigned-the-feeding-trial

Since the ‘kibble-ification’ of dog food in the early 20th century, there has been a growing body of evidence (both peer-reviewed and published findings) on the dangers posed by the commercial manufacturing processes that turn food into kibble, and on the benefits of a fresh food diet for dogs. A 2003 study (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12948828/ showed that pet foods cooked at extremely high temperatures were mutagenic and contained heterocyclic amine compounds (known carcinogens in several species), and are therefore thought to increase the risk of cancer in dogs. Whereas on the fresh food front, researchers at the University of Illinois conducted a wide range of biological and behavioral tests on dogs and found that fresh diets, compared to kibble and wet, were associated with the strongest performance on palatability, digestibility, fecal quality, and blood triglyceride tests.

I wanted to additionally mention that in specific to our fresh recipes, each and every batch is tested before leaving the kitchen and is not released unless it has cleared all the necessary microbiological testing.

And while this is certainly anecdotal, we're also always reminded of the fact that the longest-living dog on record, (www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-36080853 Maggie, lived on a farm eating a diet of fresh, natural food. And she's far from the only farm dog to have lived a notably long life — which is part of what inspired our name!

We’re confident that feeding a fresh, healthy diet is the way of the future and will help all animals live longer, healthier lives and it means a lot to know you're taking such an interest in the standards in the pet food industry as well as an active role in providing a better future for all dogs. If you have any questions or are interested in further research please do let us know!

All the best,
Bobby
The Farmer's Dog | Support

Reading Bobby's response strengthened by commitment to find healthy, safe food for my next dog and to work towards changing mass-manufacturing practices in the pet food industry.