17/12/2025
Please remember the dangers of rawhide, there are some great alternatives listed here by The Balanced Canine 🦴🐾
🎄 It’s that time of year again…
Shops are packed with brightly coloured, “fun” Christmas rawhide stockings. Candy-cane twists, reindeer shapes, glittery stars, and everything in between.
They look harmless, but behind the cute festive packaging is a product that is not actually food, is not held to food safety standards, and comes with well documented risks for our dogs.
⸻
TLDR: Why Rawhide Should Be Avoided This Christmas
• Rawhide isn’t food. It is a leather by-product, so it does not have to meet food-grade safety rules
• Often processed with chemicals like lime, bleach, formaldehyde and chromium salts
• Frequently contaminated with harmful bacteria like Salmonella and E. coli
• Swells significantly when wet which creates a serious choking and blockage risk
• Festive dyes and residues can trigger vomiting, diarrhoea and gut irritation
• Cheap at the checkout but can become very expensive at the vets and in some cases life-threatening
🌿 Safer alternatives include camel rolls, pizzles, trachea, goat or buffalo skins, deer rolls, natural treat boxes and other species-appropriate chews.
📌 Full article is linked in the comments.
❌ Why Rawhide Is One of the Riskiest Treats You Can Give Your Dog
1️⃣ Rawhide is not classed as food
Rawhide is a leather by-product rather than an edible ingredient. This means it does not fall under pet food manufacturing laws. It can legally bypass the safety, hygiene and testing standards that apply to edible products.
2️⃣ Heavy chemical processing
Turning hides into a chew requires several industrial treatments. Documented rawhide processes include:
• lime solutions
• sodium sulphide
• hydrogen peroxide or bleach
• chromium salts, arsenic and formaldehyde
Studies have found chemical residues that may irritate the gut and contribute to oxidative stress.¹
3️⃣ High bacterial contamination risk
Rawhide has repeatedly tested positive for Salmonella, E. coli and Clostridium species in peer-reviewed studies.²
Because it is not regulated as food, bacterial levels can be significantly higher which increases risks for both dogs and the humans handling the chews.
4️⃣ Serious choking and blockage hazard
Veterinary emergency data regularly lists rawhide as one of the most common foreign bodies removed from dogs.⁴
Rawhide can swell up to four times its original size when wet. This can lead to life-threatening obstructions in the throat, oesophagus or intestines.
5️⃣ Digestive upset from dyes and colouring
Festive rawhide is often coated in synthetic dyes. These can irritate the gastrointestinal tract and, combined with chemical residues, increase the chances of vomiting, diarrhoea or sensitivity reactions.⁵
🌿 This Christmas, choose natural, species-appropriate alternatives
• camel rolls
• goat or buffalo skin chews
• bull pizzles
• trachea
• deer rolls
• natural treat boxes
• responsibly sourced raw meaty chews
These options are more appropriate for canine biology and are held to food safety standards.
If this helped you or raised awareness, please share it. It could genuinely save a dog this Christmas. 💚🐾
👩🏽💻✍️Selected References
¹ Covington AD, JALCA, leather processing chemical residues
² Santaniello A et al., Foods (2020), microbial contamination in pet chews
³ Nemser SM et al., Journal of Food Protection (2014), Salmonella in pet treats
⁴ Evans D et al., Veterinary Record, common foreign bodies
⁵ EFSA evaluations on synthetic colourants
