Tommy R. Willard's Page

This is rather a basic question, but how many of us have stopped to consider the real answer? Are we feeding our pets to meet their basic nutritional needs, our needs, their perceived needs, or some other perceived reason?

Because of all of the advertisements and marketing distractions and often misleading misinformation, we may have forgotten our original purpose of why we are feeding our pets. The specific purpose of any food should be to supply all of the known required nutrients at balanced… Continue

It always amazes me when I encounter questions or comments from either the pet food feeding public or fellow members of the pet food industry regarding unique or exotic ingredients. Ms. Danielle Park, whom I presume is not a member of the pet food community, based on her question, posted a question on the PF-Connection one Sept. 22 regarding the use of kangaroo, beaver, emu and ostrich in pet foods. Mr. Jeffrey Bond responded to Ms. Park that he thought that the idea of one of these sources migh… Continue

To respond to Debbie Phillips comments on consumer activism: I too think there are various reasons people become activist, and that is reason for my title.

The Good, entails consumers that want to find out the truth about what is going on when some issue comes up. Most of us have unfortunately, become accustom to not believing what we hear, read, are told, nor most of what we see. We assume that we are being lied to or at best, not being told the whole truth. Part of this comes from the way our… Continue

Debbie Phillips, in her posting of June 1, asked a very serious and pertinent question regarding our industry and its future health and direction. In parenthesis she stated,"humanization opens new product opportunities", and asked the question, "will this bring any health benefits" . I would add the word value to this.

As we all know, new products are the sustaining lifeblood of our industry, but prior to developing any new entry, the question should always be asked, "Will this new produ… Continue

Grain Free, unfortunately is a side step at best or misdirection at worst when persuing "ultimate nutrition".

Like so many topics on the internet there is much flurry , a lot of emotion and little data or facts presented. I will be presenting a paper at the Forum next week on Thursday the 23 in the breakout sections regarding the pet food industry and some of these issues. I would welcome the opportunity either before or after to discuss this issue or others.

In short, however, I do believe th… Continue