There is growing demand for dog food made from possums in New Zealand.
One major company purchases about 100 tonnes of possum meat each year.
The biggest supplier in the country is Pest Pro NZ in Katikati which is facing growing demand for wild meat for pet food.
PestPro manager Zach Howarth Photo: Supplied
“I started doing possums myself and then thought it was a waste chucking them away, so I looked into the avenues of making pet food out of them," Pest Pro's manager Zach Howarth told Jesse Mulligan.
He’s now been doing it for five years, with things really stepping up in the past two years.
“I think that people are eating healthier themselves and so are looking into passing that on to their pets.”
Howarth buys a range of wild game, not just possums, from registered hunters throughout New Zealand.
The hunters first have to sit an exam, then supply a landowner form and a wild mammal form, stating where they harvested the animal from.
They get paid about $2.20 to $2.50 per kilogram, with an average possum weighing around 2kg.
Once it's sent to Pest Pro, the animal undergoes an autopsy, with its organs checked for any disease before it’s processed at the factory.
From there, Howarth says the whole carcass, other than claws and the head, is made into pet food.
“We’re doing on average 5-8 tonne a week of possum, which is about 6000 possums a week," he says.
Howarth has tried possum meat himself and thinks we should all try it.
“I think all of us should be eating possum, it’s super super good for us, it’s got six times the omega 3 than beef.”
Initially Pest Pro was only supplying possums to other pet food companies but after sitting down and having a think, Howarth says the thought they could do things better.
From there, Out of the Wild was born.
“I definitely don’t see it slowing down any time soon.”
