Answers Raw Pet Food Company: Sourcing

Only the highest-quality sources provide the ingredients for our pet food.

Answers Pet Food sourcing are all rated by the Global Animal Partnership (GAP). GAP is a non-profit organization dedicated to continually improving the lives of farm animals raised for meat. They have developed the 5-Step Animal
Welfare Rating™ that rates how pigs, chickens, cattle, turkeys, lamb, and others are raised.

The Step-rated farms and ranchers aren't the same folks who provide meat to most conventional markets. The Step ratings are assigned by third-party certifiers using auditors trained by the Global Animal Partnership.

Independent, third-party certifiers audit farms and rate animal welfare practices and conditions using a tiered system that ranges from Step 1 (no crates, cages or crowding) to Step 5+ (animals spend their entire lives on one farm).

The system provides a way to engage and reward producers by promoting continuous improvement in farm animal welfare, and it gives pet owner a way to make more informed choices.

Producers need to meet approximately 100 requirements to get a Step 1 certification, so achieving the first level is a remarkable accomplishment.

All meat used by Answers Pet Food must meet the company’s quality standards, which require that animals be raised without being administered antibiotics or added growth hormones, though federal regulations prohibit the use of hormones in raising pork and poultry anyway.

With an overarching goal to continuously improve the lives of farm animals, Global Animal Partnership’s 5-Step Animal Welfare Rating system is an impactful program.

Step 1 No crates, no cages, no crowding		Step 2 Enriched environment		Step 3 Enhanced outdoor access		Step 4 Pasture centered		Step 5 Animal centered; all physical alterations prohibited		Step 5+ Animal centered; entire life on same farm
Like people, animals need a little "personal space" to be comfortable.		It's the simple things that keep animals active and engaged — like a bale of straw for chickens to hide behind and climb on, a bowling ball for pigs to manipulate and shove around, or a few sturdy objects for cattle to rub against when they need a good scratch.		Pigs and chickens still live in buildings but they all — yes, each and every one of them — have access to outdoor areas where they can catch a few rays.		Chickens need to forage, pigs need to wallow and cattle need to roam. They can do all of these things when they live outdoors and have shelter - and of course, a view!		Animals get to live their lives with all the parts they were born with, and nothing else! No nose rings, no clipping, no snipping and no branding.		Animals are born and live their entire lives on one farm. Pigs and cattle are slaughtered on the farm, and chickens are transported only short distances (because you can't herd chickens!).

Beef – GAP Rating 4
	Antibiotic Free, Hormone Free
	Pastured raised Grass Fed AND Grass Finished
	Born, Raised and Processed on Same Farm
	Facilities use Dr.Temple Grandin Methods

Chicken – GAP Rating 2
	Antibiotic Free, Hormone Free
	Non GMO Feed
	Cage Free

Pork – GAP Rating 2 to 4
	Antibiotic Free, Hormone Free
	Sustainably raised on Midwestern family farms in low-stress environment
	Non GMO Feed

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