Green Acres Kennel

Only you can decide what to feed your pet. Listed below are our criteria for selecting a pet food.

• A superior source of animal protein such as whole fresh meats (chicken, lamb, etc.) or single-source meat meals (chicken meal, pork meal, lamb meal, etc.). An ingredient listed as Meat and le-meat source such as chicken or chicken meal as the first ingredient. Two or three meat sources are even better, as they provide a broader amino acid profile.
• Meat sources that are free of antibiotics and added hormones.
• Single source fats such as chicken fat. Animal fat or animal digest is unacceptable.
• Whole, unprocessed grains and vegetables such as ground whole corn or ground whole brown rice. The more a food is processed, the less nutrition it contains.
• Grain sources that are free of pesticides and herbicides.
• Supplementation with digestive enzymes and pre and probiotics to aid in digestion and optimal utilization of nutrients.
• Use of natural preservatives and packaging that helps preserve the food. We do not recommend foods that use artificial preservatives such as Ethoxyquin, BHA or BHT.
• A method of food processing that will maximize the nutrition in the food.
• No use of food fragments. Food fragments are when a manufacture will break a single ingredient down into several descriptions on the food label. For example, rice may appear three times on the label as brewer's rice, rice flour, and rice bran. Manufacturers that do this are trying to make rice appear lower on the ingredient list. If rice were just listed once it would probably be the predominant ingredient in the food and would have to appear at the top of the label.
• No use of meat by-products. Meat by-products are in inferior source of protein.
• No unnecessary content from artificial colors, propylene glycol and sweeteners such as corn syrup, and sucrose. These ingredients add nothing to a foods nutritional value and may even be harmful.
• Full disclosure by the manufacturer so a person can calculate the true feeding cost of a food. If a manufacturer will not reveal food density and kCal/cup, what else are they hiding?
• Compliance with AAFCO Nutritional Adequacy Statement. While this only insures minimal nutrition, a food without this statement may not even meet minimal requirements.