Water buffalo by-products, such as horns, lungs and udders, can serve asnovel ingredients for dog treats and chews with social benefits and lowerenvironmental impact than other protein sources.
More than 200 million domesticated water buffalo live around the world. Mostof them live in Asia, where the animals were domesticated (twice actually,into swamp and river varieties). The animals provide milk, meat, leather andlabor. Just as with cattle and other livestock familiar to U.S. farmers,butchering the animals results in co-products that humans can’t or prefer notto eat. Those buffalo by-products, such as horns, lungs and udders, can serveas novel ingredients for dog treats and chews with social benefits and lowerenvironmental impact than other protein sources.
“We’ve tried to use all the high value organs and meat parts of the body thathave a lot of high value, high protein, a lot of minerals and healthysolutions,” Andrew Horne, director of sales for Honey I’m Home, a dog chew andtreat company specializing in honey-coated water buffalo products. “Ourmanufacturing partners in India is a global leader in water buffalo meatdistribution. They supply the human supply chain with humane animal products,and we are partnered with them to create an innovative treat line off of thatsupply chain.”
Water buffalo by-product sustainability
By creating a market for otherwise discarded parts of the buffalo, the petfood market increases the value of the livestock to farmers. Most waterbuffalo live on small-scale farms that may use fewer resources and produceless pollution than intensive livestock production. By increasing incomes forthese low-impact farmers, water buffalo by-products have social andenvironmental sustainability benefits. A literature review published byFrontiers in Environmental Science explored the sustainability of domesticatedwater buffalo. The researchers found that water buffalo are efficientconverters of low quality forage and crop residues into high quality milk andmeat.
Along with this, the water buffalo used by Honey I’m Home are raised free-range on grass and wild forage by independent farmers. The animals are thenslaughtered according to halal standards, a method defined in Islamicscripture.
Novel pet food protein sources
Novel proteins in dog and cat food, like water buffalo, can help pet ownersfind food and treats for animals with allergies. Along with this some novelprotein sources require fewer resources to produce than conventional meats,which allows pet food brands to make sustainability claims. As their nameimplies, another benefit of novel proteins is their unusualness. However,especially during the pandemic, securing stable supplies of nontraditionalmeats and by-products may require more effort than buying beef, chicken orpork.
Image: Water buffalo co-product dog chews, including trachea, lung, hoof andear, at Honey I’m Home’s booth at SuperZoo 2021 | Tim Wall
Source: Petfood Industry
Previous Healthy sugar origin in stingless bee honey revealed
Next Farm dogs Jack and Jill lead the Cobber Challenge