A farm and abattoir has launched a new company, Venison For Pets, after a web search found that pet food was the most expensive venison product sold at Tesco Direct.
Owner of Round Greenfarm Venison Company said that he was paying around £600 a week get rid of waste and by-products, which is now being used to make treats for dogs.
The venison is air dried at another farm down the road, according to owner Richard Elmhirst. “Air drying the venison is an expensive process, this is why we contract it out,” he added.
Round Greenfarm has now also started to sell biltong, a dried meat for humans, by using the same process.
“We decided to set up Venison For Pets after I found out that the most expensive venison product on the Tesco Direct website was pet food, so we decided to make some money out of our waste and by-products.”
Elmhirst said that the venison sausages for dogs were selling at over £20/kg. This price was higher than venison cuts for human consumption on the website and “it’s twice as expensive as Tesco’s Finest venison sausages. It’s even more expensive than some of Tesco’s Finest beef steaks”
Venison For Pets makes a variety of bones, sausages, and other venison treats. The treats are healthy for pets, according to the company, as venison contains higher levels of protein than beef, lamb, pork and chicken, with lower levels of fat and cholesterol.