Dog Food Recall 🚨 Viva Raw #dogfood

This recall is personal… MY dogs eat this brand on rotation, so clearly don’t take this lightly But as I’ve said from day 1: (1) My allegiance is to our animals, period. No brand is more important than our pets. And this is a hard pill to swallow, because I have met the Viva founders and they’re awesome humans. I respect their mission and their pure line saved Fin’s gut. I wholeheartedly believe they have pure intentions, but again, my allegiance is to the animals so I’ll be following for updates (2) This is why I constantly preach: don’t be married to any one brand! Rotate, rotate, rotate (if you can safely of course). This way, if a recipe changes or a recall happens, you can easily switch (3) Assume your brand (kibble, raw, or cooked) will be recalled at some point. It’s the reality of pet food. It doesn’t EXCUSE anything, but we had pet parents have to stay vigilant. And again, this is why we should be practicing safe handling practices with ALL pet food and treats (yes, you should be washing your hands after handling kibble AND raw AND treats). I am very aware of how a recall in our fresh community feels intimate, I feel it too. It’s why I haven’t posted anything else during this time as I dug into this - it didn’t feel right to post another “fun” or “tip” video with such a heavy topic. We work so hard to give our pets the best, and when this happens it’s a gut punch. But, I’ll say it over and over, no brand is more important than our pets, even if friendships are lost 😔 I want to take a moment to acknowledge the 1 consumer complaint from this recall, Hera. I do not have confirmed details of what happened, but what I DO know for sure is that a pet parent in our community is hurting after losing her best friend - and my heart goes out to @hera_her_story and her family 🙏 If you have questions you want me to investigate, I will do my best or I imagine @vivarawpets is open to answering questions as well. Recall details: www.vivarawpets.com/. If you have Lot #22853 (duck recipe for cats, dogs) please discard - there is a voluntary recall on this l

Mistakes and accidents happen. They also have to deal with whoever they're sourcing from, and probably just didn't know. And I applaud them for recalling immediately. That shows some real accountability. I wouldn't avoid them for this. If they tried to cover it up, or sat on it a while, THEN I would have an issue.

This is a good case for MAKING your own.

Thank you for keeping us informed.

Dog food labels do not have to change when their ingredients change, for TWO years as far as I knew. Ugh. Even if ingredients are the same, the source of that ingredient can change & we won't ever know. ❤ Thank you @RachelFusaro for being so vigilant & on our side, the pet parents. ❤

I will always support Viva 💜

There isn’t a brand that is going to have a perfect record. Even if you went to a butcher yourself you’d eventually have an issue. The important factor is how they respond to the issue. How quickly they respond and how frequently problems occur. Even in this case who knows how the owner handled the product after it arrived.

Please please post more videos on your channel, I love your videos so so much

Thank you for this very important information.❤️

I was feeding Stella & Chewy's with some Primal sometimes but now with all the worries about the vitamin packs I switched them over to 100% Primal since they don't use synthetic vitamins. It's a little more expensive but I can worry a bit less now. Hopefully Primal won't get any pets sicks 🤞🏻

All Purina foods, and more, source from the same place. A great vet on YT has a list of them. My tiny dog died from seizures and she was fed Stella and Chewies which is one on the list.

I make my own (not everyone can for various reasons) but even the food I make is gently cooked for this reason

I have never used this brand but thank u for the update.

I ordered duck around this time -my dog does not like duck so I did not reorder that protein again Their frozen bags can leak and the peeling corner does not peel away clean (I found little bits of plastic in her food from that corner not peeling easy and clean)… I wrote them about the leaks and the plastic issue … Also they had used Judy Morgan as a name drop/referral on their website but I do not see her use their brand anywhere on her website ??

Try Small Batch raw. Besides sliders they make patties for the bigger dogs.

This is why I make my own dog food.... I'm so sorry to all of you who bought these brands.

You’ve taught me so much and so I’ve been making my own. I have so many dogs that I do use kibble when I’m busy with life but otherwise I’ve been trying to keep up

Also worth noting, after something like this happens, the company that went through it knows it has something to prove to stay in business. It’s unlikely that it happens again to them - (if they survive). Whereas, the companies that have not experienced this (no matter how well-funded they are), are not going to invest money to prevent something that is not yet an impediment to growth. I’m a business lawyer and see this all the time. If the company survives, it’s going to be far better than the competition going forward. They just need to either prove that it wasn’t a “thing” or that they have put processes in place to prevent it in the future.

AGREED.

The standard you're setting is too high. Businesses are made up of people, who sometimes make mistakes. Just like you and me. Feeding a raw diet carries risks and rewards, just like everything else in life. Pay attention to how the leadership handles the situation. That and their track record should tell you what you need to know about any brand.