To Our Loyal Customers:

In Latin, VéRUS means true, real, proper, suitable, right. That is exactly the foundation of VéRUS. You can trust that when you feed your dog or cat VéRUS, you truly are feeding the best quality that is honest and genuine. Further questions about our products are answered on our "FAQ" page.

Our owner, Russell Armstrong, is  the “Caretaker of Quality”.  He meticulously sources and directs each ingredient decision, choosing local, reliable, and consistent suppliers.

Some examples of our sourcing:

• Chicken from cage free barns in West Virginia
• Menhaden fish from North Eastern cold waters processed on the ship before the fish leaves the ship, using Vitamin C and Vitamin E as natural antioxidants
• GMO free potatoes are sourced locally in Pennsylvania
• High quality chelated vitamins and minerals are human grade, while most competitors use low quality, feed grade vitamins sourced outside the US
• Grass-fed lamb meal from New Zealand, the source of healthy flocks
• Kelp sourced from cold waters with no petroleum contamination
• GMO free whole grains are used instead of fractionated sources, and are North American grown
• Chicken fat is 99.95% clear fat coming from Cage free Chickens
• The flax seed is ground just before blending to eliminate the potential for oxidation and assure freshness and efficacy

The right ingredients and the right formulations do make the difference.

• We use chicory pulp which acts as a natural prebiotic – improving digestibility
• Our canned products are a palatable, delicious pate consistency
• Our dry foods and domestically produced cans are made to highest standards in AIB (American Institute of Baking) and EU certified facilities

Just like you, we don’t skimp on our pets!

So How About Quality Control?!

No other pet food can match the quality, freshness, and value of VéRUS. Our company has NEVER had a recall.  We will continue our careful practices to prevent one.

All of our ingredients are either USA sourced, grown, and made OR New Zealand sourced, grown, and made. There was an article in Whole Dog Journal in 2011 that had warned consumers that some brands may be hiding the truth about the sourcing of ingredients, specifically the vitamins and minerals added to the mixture. Approximately 80% of Vitamin A comes from China. Although we trust our manufacturing facility to follow our regulations and guidelines or where to purchase our ingredients from, we did a surprise exam of the facility and ensured that our ingredients were 100% from the U.S. To no surprise, every ingredient was sourced from the U.S., even the Vitamin A, which is human grade.

The cooking process is extrusion. All the ingredients are mixed together then steam and water is added to make a paste or slurry of the food. Then it is pushed through small tubes in the extruder that have steam heat lightly cooking the food. This part only takes about 14-20 seconds. It leaves the food kibble gooey on the inside and a crust on the outside. From there it is cooked or dehydrated the rest of the way in low temperature ovens or dryers at about 140 degrees. Then the fat and natural flavors are sprayed back on the kibble.

Our foods have a 12 month shelf life. To maintain freshness in the food, the bag doesn’t have to have an airtight seal. Once the bag is opened, without any sort of seal- the kibble will remain fresh for months easily. The food will not spoil any quicker by leaving the bag open, it will just start to dry out the top pieces of kibble. Similar to crackers in a bag, if you roll the bag over a few times, it will still last a few days but if you roll it and put a clip on it, you may  have an additional week or two.

The only reason it is on the 6.6 lb bags is because it was available for those bags with no additional costs. For the larger bags, it was proven ineffective because the design of the bag is not the same. A zip loc seal isn’t feasible on a bag with such a heavy weight internally, and the fact that the outside edges of the bag have a different design. If you flipped the 6.6 lb bag over, the food would not be dispersed from it. If you put a 20 lb bag upside down, the seal isn’t strong enough to hold it. Clearly, it is not effective for a 20 or 40 lb bag. It is also too easy for a customer to accidently grab the wrong side of the bag if placed on its side and then all the kibble is all over the floor.

There is a zipper type seal available for a larger bag but due to our bags being thicker, to ensure the kibble’s naturally preserved oils do not spoil easily, that type of seal is also not feasible for our food.

Any Testing on Animals?!

Our facilities are EU Certified. They purchase ingredients that follow good manufacturing and processing practices. The meats are all from USDA inspected facilities so we are not dealing with "backyard" processors that just raise meat for the pet industry. This is what you get when you purchase grocery or low priced products. Purchasing a higher quality meat, raised for human consumption, means that the processors handle the animals with much greater care so as not to damage or bruise the meat. We use 100% antibiotic and hormone free chicken, even the feed the chickens/lambs consume has no GMO’s (Genetically modified organisms). In addition, our foods are naturally preserved.

The ingredients added to our formulas are simple and provide all nutrition necessary for a dog/cat. There are no artificial preservatives, hormones, GMO’S, or by products. For this reason, we trust the product and the ingredients in it that when we do complete a routine palatability test, we simply take the product home and feed to our own pets.

Thank you for caring about your pet and trusting us to formulate the best nutrition possible for them.