Akron woman no stranger to tragedy or the love of pets
By Connie Bloom
The love of animals has helped a Kenmore woman overcome terrible physical and emotional losses.
Car crashes have cast long shadows across the life of Pat Straw, who is grateful to be alive and have a mission, helping cats and dogs live healthier.
These mind-boggling events were spread out over 59 years. They began when her parents were killed in a wreck just after she was born, when her mom and dad were bringing her home from the hospital. She was eventually adopted but lost her new mom to another accident in 1968, just before her graduation from high school.
Then, in 2002, she was in a truck that took a blow from a teen driver. It took her five years of recovery to get as good as she's going to get. She can walk now — and work up to four hours a day.
Then in January, her adoptive father and stepmother were killed in yet another car crash. She broke the news to me while I was standing in the snow on her doorstep, ready to do an interview. We didn't talk again until we rescheduled the meeting for last week.
Her story is a testament to the buoyancy of the human spirit.
''Everything came flooding out and I ended up with post-traumatic stress disorder from all of those traumas,'' said Straw, in front of a neat row of homemade dog food treats.
''I wouldn't let my granddaughter learn to drive until she was 19. It gave me so much time to think and that's how the business came about.
''I've always loved animals,'' she said. ''I took classes in nutrition at Akron U and had a hankering to help animals.''
Then she picked up a copy of the book, Food Pets Die For: Shocking Facts About Pet Food, she said. It played a pivotal role in her personal metamorphosis from doting pet mom to local entrepreneur.
The expose, published in 1997 by author Ann N. Martin, explores alarming practices within the pet food industry and calls attention to dubious ingredients and methods used in manufacturing. It's the book that fell into her hands, but not the only book of its kind. The wisdom is simple: Fresh food is better.
''In the '40s, when people didn't have dog food, dogs ate the food they had,'' said Straw. ''It had no preservatives and pets were healthier and so were we.'' How can a product labeled ''Best used by 2010'' be safe and nutritious, she asked.
She ultimately founded Naturally Better Pet Food Co., a company that focuses on human-grade, preservative-free dog meals and treats that are made fresh and delivered to about 30 customers weekly.
She eventually teamed up with Deb Ward, human mom to the CEO, Blaze, a firecracker Maltese mix with bows on her ears. The women live next door to each other, which made the commute pretty convenient, but the cooking will soon move off-premises to a plant in Montrose.
Nicki Zamarelli, a nutritionist, is their head cook. For the meantime, she is wielding her magic out of their dedicated, kosher kitchen, which is lined with immaculate bins of organic this and that.
The company (330-475-6190; naturallybetter@yahoo.com) makes an array of dog biscuits plus six formulations of dog food: puppy food, weight-loss recipe, arthritis diet, low-fat diet, diabetic diet and regular adult diet. A month's supply runs $55 for puppy food to $59 for the other diets, delivered to your door.
They are all made with fresh vegetables, grains, fruits and meats, no preservatives, artificial dyes or byproducts, she said.
Perfecting recipes
While pretty much anybody can whip up a batch of cookies to share with the gang, making dog food for commercial sale is no party.
Before Straw could even begin to consider selling anything, she underwent five years of nutrition trials under the
scrutiny of the Association of American Feed Control Officials, which sets up standards and makes recommendations for the industry. AAFCO requires dog food makers, no matter how small, to meet nutrient profiles or pass feeding trials in order to receive a stamp of approval.
It's a hair-tearing process invented to teach patience.
She included all of her rescues, except Oreo, her bunny: Scruffy, a schnoodle; Dobber, the affable Lab; and Mikey, the Airedale; plus Blaze and a few of her relatives' dogs.
It was Blaze who got all the attention after suffering years of poor health from a genetic problem that turned around when she started eating better, the women said.
''A small business can cater to the animal's needs and help them,'' said Straw. ''Medicine doesn't always work. Sometimes you have to go back to the basics and square one. That's what we did with Blazey.''
The dogs were monitored carefully, weighed monthly and vet checked. Every change was logged. Did they gain weight? Get fleas or mites? Develop cavities? Develop cancer?
At one point, the dogs started to gain weight, a signal that she should reformulate the amount of bone meal she was using.
Like life itself, the business is a work in progress.
''This dream to help the animals has kept me going,'' she said. ''To this day, it still does. I can get down if I hear a siren or see an accident and this is what I hold onto. This is the happy side of life. It's this way for a reason.''
No comments:
Post a Comment