Caribbean families have been feeding cooked bones to dogs and cats for years. But just as science has been showing how harmful sugar is to humans, it’s the same for our pets and cooked bones. It looks like they are handing bones with no problem, but the truth is different.

Cooked bones have very little nutritional value, can fracture your pet’s teeth, cause constipation and can splinter, causing internal bleeding and other life threatening conditions. Plus, larger bones, like oxtail bones, are a major choking hazard, leading to thousands of emergency surgeries throughout the Caribbean.