Not current news, but still noteworthy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuoSxSJ94RY

Cats and dogs from shelters and veterinary clinics are still being rendered to make a protein source in pet food, because rendering is a cheap viable means of disposal for euthanized pets. The fur is not removed, and often the flea collars serve as “food”.

The rendering process is the end of the line for anything rejected for human consumption. A rendering plant takes unused animal by-products, dead, diseased, dying or disabled farm animals, road kills, zoo animals, euthanized pets as well as recalled meat.

Then these unsavoury leftovers are cut into chunks before being thrown into large vats for rendering. The material is run through a grinder, which

“reduces the raw material to a uniform particle size for material handling and improved heat transfer in the cooking is generally accomplished with steam at temperatures of approx. 115° to 145° C for 40 to 90 minutes … The dehydrated slurry of fat and solids is discharged from the continuous cooker at a controlled rated. The next step separates liquid fat from solids. The solids got to a screw press that forms them into cakes, which are further processed into meal.”