Organic Food for Dogs!

In developing countries like India and Nepal pet food was once considered a luxury and item for the rich who own them. But now like neighbouring China, the number of pets, mostly dogs have increased and so also their food. Accordingly, a number of pet food companies have sprung up too.

But, for Bhupender Khanal and his wife Sneh Sharma “parents” of “Mowgli” owner of a Golden Retriever most of such pet foods available in the market are made from rawhide, a byproduct of the leather industry. Such food uses bones and other non vegetarian items. The rawhide is usually treated with strong chemicals and preservatives, which are very harmful to dogs in the long run. Their quest to solve this challenge took them to the remote corners of the upper Himalayas, where they found “Chhurpi” , a very hard yak cheese which humans typically consume as a rich source of protein. The couple saw that dogs would steal these treats and gnaw on them. On realising that this cheese, with its bone-like hardness, could become a very healthy alternative to rawhide treats, they decided to introduce a healthy treat called ‘Dogsee’ to pets across the globe. It is claimed to be hundred percent natural, delicious, gluten-free and grain-free too. The product has three major advantages- this is the only all-organic 100 percent vegetarian treats/chews for dogs that work as an alternative to bones/rawhide. It’s high in protein and low on carbs, making them ideal for dogs, and lastly, the Himalayan connection brings rare minerals along with all organic alternatives to the processed treats. Apart from Dogsee Chew Hard Bars, the product line includes Dogsee Chew’s Puffed Treats made from cheese and Dogsee Crunch – single-ingredient training treats made from natural fruits or vegetables.

This finally gave birth to “Tashafi Nazir Dogsee” the dog food start-up by the couple using hard cheese from yak milk available in plenty in this part of Himalayas. There are not many takers for yak milk while cow or buffalo milk is in huge demand. Since it is natural without any chemicals it sucked the market very soon. Now this company not only provides natural food to the dogs but also provides direct and indirect employment to over 20,000 villagers from 150 villages in Nepal, Sikkim, and Darjeeling. On average, a villager earns a monthly income of twenty five thousand rupees from Dogsee. Around 20-25 litres of yak milk are required to make a kilogram of cheese. The supply chain and building a substantial market for this product was a challenge but was soon developed.

Over years, Dogsee has helped by setting up a co-operative model for Yak milk farmers, arranged for logistics, and the processing and packaging, according to Mr Khanal, Founder & CEO and his wife. They are also given training and provided ways to scale by helping them with semi-automation of the making processes. We have a very happy community of over 25,000 villagers who are working hard to make millions of dogs happy and healthy in 30 countries, they said.

But the couple is not sitting idle with this success story. More products will be included In future as Dogsee aspires to become a 500 crore brand in three years.The goal is to provide natural food and treats to all animals and expand to the cat and small animals segment this year. The brand is also expanding investments in factories to produce and process Himalayan Chews and other products and plans to hire over 400 blue-collar workers this year. We are here to make this world a better place .We are already a carbon neutral brand now with going 100% solar, and working on reducing plastic usage by 50% by this year- end, Khanal said.

Source: Himalayan News Chronicle