Where do you get your RAW?

We are currently getting what we can from grocery stores. It was kind of vital for us to start feeding raw ASAP, so we went with what we had.

We have since contacted two different custom meat processors. One was too expensive, and from the other we got some beef hearts and livers, but that's all he had available for us (besides "trimmings" which he said was pretty much just fat).

What kind of places do we need to contact? We looked up "butcher" in the phone book and there were none. We don't really know where to turn from here. Right now we've having to mostly feed chicken quarters with some pork, beef and liver here and there. I know she's not currently getting what she should, and we NEED to find a place to get meat from, because there's no way we can afford to get what we need for her from the grocery store (right now we're grabbing things on sale, but it's not consistant enough).

Thanks in advance!

And just because it never ceases to amaze me...

Before RAW:



After RAW:

I buy from a local wholesale dealer at pretty low prices. For example 40lbs of chicken necks for $13

Wow, that's awesome! How did you find them? (How would you suggest we find something like that?)

You can do a Google search for "restaurant wholesale supply" for your area and contact the businesses that come up. I just fell in with our training group, one of us swings by the place monthly and buys for everyone.

We were fortunate when we started that our trainer sells it - he lives out in the country and made deals with some of the neighboring farms and processors I think. He only provides ground chicken/bone/organ and ground beef/tripe/organ though. I did a lot of googling with various key words to finally find a few local raw food suppliers. So I buy from them sometimes as well. I also posted an ad on kijiji this past fall during hunting season, and I was contacted by a butcher who supplied deer trim (leftovers) from all of his deer that he processed and it was free! I also buy from grocery stores when there are good sales on.

So, my advice is more googling and posting ads on kijiji/craigslist etc (I can give you some wording if you want). You could also join the yahoo raw groups and the dog food forum ( http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/ ) and post there for other suggestions.

I get mine from markets in Mexico. In the states I would look for a raw distributor or if you have the freezer space just buy in bulk

Craigslist is great and my friends who feed raw have gotten a lot of responses from hunters who can sometimes give them deer/elk/moose etc carcasses that they are not going to use for their own food.

I really like: https://www.hare-today.com

They have basically everything.. nice quality and humane treatment of the animals.

*not for the faint of heart* they also have a whole prey section where you can get mice, ginea pigs, rabbits etc..

Thanks guys I did a google for reastraunt wholesale meat and found tons of stuff within 20-40 miles of us, so we're going to make some calls.

I just did grocery stores since buying in bulk is really what you need to do to cut down costs....and I definitely didn't have space for that. Though it helps if you know someone else who feeds raw so you can split the meat.

We could buy some stuff cheaply at Costco and sometimes you get lucky at Walmart (sometimes... most of their stuff is enhanced with sodium...). I liked hitting up ethnic markets mostly for the variety but I can't remember if it was actually any cheaper.

I've been looking into it lately and I've just looking into whatever Google can come up with; searches along the line of "chicken(what ever I'm looking into) suppliers in Ontario", watching kijiji/craigslist (I actually found a supplier with some good prices on organs, tripe, etc. on kijiji) and reading around on various forums to see what they've found since the local yahoo groups don't seem to be active (though I haven't given them much time yet).
I found a great list of suppliers on a ferret forum actually so don't limit yourself to looking on dog websites.
A lot of people seem to have luck with putting ads up on Kijiji/Craigslist for freezer burned meats or people looking to sell cheap, etc.
Oh and any friends that hunt perhaps?

I get most of mine at the grocery store. But your best friend for raw is hunters. Ask friends/ family/co-workers and tell them you want the hunting scraps. Most hunters will willingly give it away. It means less they have to dispose of. I get all sorts of venison trimmings, most of it decent as far as meat vs. fat ratio. I also get all the liver I want, along with ribs. I "could" get the leg bones but that would be a fight waiting to happen. I also get goose and duck minus the breast. Right around fall, just before hunting season starts put an ad up on craigslist for old, freezer burned meat. Actually stalk the free part on craigslist at anytime.
Ohh and not sure if you have any free cycles in your area but you can put an ad up there too.