COLUMBUS, Ohio — While living in Texas in 2019, one of Jerrica Fletcher’s beloved dogs fell ill. She needed to change the pup’s diet, but she discovered healthy and nutritious treats were hard to come by.
"I remember going through the line and I had a particular treat and the cashier at the time said, 'why are you feeding your dog this?'"
Fletcher said for her own foods she chooses natural ingredients with organic vegetables and when it came to her dogs' diet, she had no idea what to feed them. That's when she began researching and making treats.
What started as a labor of love four years ago, has now grown into one of the first African American, female-led manufacturers and retailers for dog treats.
Now living in central Ohio, Fletcher has developed a line of dog treats using all-natural, all-organic ingredients sourced, when possible, from local farmers.
She said one of the factors that led to her starting a business was the reaction from her neighbors when she would pet sit and give their dogs her homemade treats.
One client asked her if she would be able to buy some.
"Slowly but surely it just kind of picked up, and before I knew it, I started a company."
One thing that Fletcher focuses on in her treats is making sure the dog's diet is closely mirroring something she would eat.
"The biggest thing you want to make sure you have with your dog is that, if you look at a nutritional label and you cannot identify the ingredients, don't feed it to your dog," explained Fletcher.
Some of the treats Fletcher makes are vegan peanut butter banana, organic chicken and veggie and beef and veggie treats.
More information on the company and their products can be found at https://pawgonegood.com/
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