Restrictions for human and animal food vary a lot, and theoretically brain and spinal cord from an asymptomatic cow with BSE could end up in pet food.
I know some people eat eg. dog food for various reasons, and I guess this would in it self pose a risk of getting this awful prion. Oddly, this doesn't pop up most places on the internet when you search for health risks connected with eating dog food?
My issue is that my boyfriend really doesn't think that much of it, because it's so rare. And he's fine with his dog licking him in the face and around the mouth daily, and sometimes by accident in the mouth. And he doesn't intent to make it stop.
I know there's a whole lot of other reasons someone could get sick from dog saliva, but is BSE one of them? In that case, he's putting us both in risk.
Then again, wouldn't we have seen more cases if this was a real risk?