From Kona Raw’s late founder, Sandra Scarr:

I want to help owners to feed their cats and dogs the best possible diets for long-life and well-being.  After years of frustration with my dogs’ allergies, skin problems, and joint disorders, I switched 14 years ago from commercial  foods to a fresh food diet.  A fresh food diet made a huge difference in my dogs’ health and happiness.

Fresh food for dogs mirrors their ancestral diet, the one with which they evolved to be our beloved pets today and that is still essential to their health. The best diet for dogs consists of raw muscle and organ meats and meaty bones. Dogs are a sub-species of gray wolves, and they need the same whole prey diet.  Fresh food for cats consists entirely of meat, because cats are true carnivores, in the wild and in your home.

By starting Kona Raw Pet Food Co-op, I hoped to make rmb available to other pet owners in West Hawaii at wholesale prices (check it out in the Shop!).  In June 2010, Kona Raw began with 3 members.  By February 2011, the co-op had 21 members.  By February 2012, 111 members had joined the co-op.  In February 2014, the co-op had 225 members — all recruited by other members by word-of-mouth.

Pet owners see the huge improvements in their pets health and well-being that comes quickly from removing starchy commercial pet foods from the diet and feeding raw meats and meaty bones. They share their stories, and more pet owners give raw-meaty-bones a try.

I don’t advertise the Kona Raw Pet Food Co-op because of strong veterinary opposition to raw feeding.  I need veterinary services for my kennel.  Why are vets so opposed to feeding raw meats and meaty bones?

Decades ago, global food companies that dominate the pet food market (top 4 are Mars, Nestle-Purina, Colgate-Palmolive, and Proctor & Gamble,) co-opted veterinary schools and veterinary practices with millions of dollars in funding. Vets don’t learn the evolution of carnivorous pets and the diet they need to lead healthy lives.  Starchy pet foods contribute about 40% of vets’ practice revenue, not including treatment of pets made sick by feeding junk food.  It’s a tragic story for tens of millions of pets and highway robbery of pet owners.