Why Sia Is Concerned About Meat in Pet Food

Sia, a nine-time Grammy nominee, is the newest investor in Bond Pet Foods, a Colorado company that is striving to transform the pet food sector by reducing animal agriculture’s dependency. Sia has long been a vegetarian and has used her celebrity to promote animal rights in a variety of ways, including co-narrating the animal-rights documentary Dominion with Joaquin Phoenix.

“We’re honored to welcome Sia and her deep passion for animals into the Bond family… We believe her voice and creativity will help us further educate and excite the world about a new, better, more sustainable way to feed our pets,” stated Rich Kelleman, co-founder and CEO of Bond Pet Foods.

Bond Pet Foods, founded in 2017, brews cultured proteins for companion animal foods using precision fermentation. In 2020, the biotechnology business utilized its approach to generate a chicken protein prototype using a one-time blood sample from Inga, a heritage hen living in Lindsborg, Kansas, which was inspired by the rise of cultured meat companies focused at humans. The business mixed Inga’s genetic code with food-grade yeast and enabled it to ferment, resulting in meat proteins free of the negative effects of industrial animal husbandry.

Sia will join Bond Pet Foods as an adviser and will take part in numerous projects to convey the company’s vision to a wider audience, in addition to investing in the company. 

“As a devout animal and environmental advocate, I’m inspired by Bond Pet Foods’ mission and believe their company is the future for sustainably-led protein in pet food…If America’s dogs and cats were their own country, their consumption of meat products alone would rank fifth in the world. I am eager to lend my voice and support to a brand that’s re-imagining a cruelty-free future for all animals,” Sia stated.

Bond Pet Foods’ other investors include Saudi Arabian Prince Khaled Alwaleed bin Talal—Chief Executive Officer of asset management firm KBW Ventures—who joined in the company’s $1.2 million Seed investment round in 2019.

Removing Animals From Animal Foods

Dogs (omnivores) and cats (obligate carnivores) both consume a lot of animal products, usually in the form of low-cost pet food manufactured with lower-quality meat, which offers health risks owing to bacterial contamination, antibiotics, and the possibility of zoonotic disease dissemination. Dogs and cats in the United States eat as much nutritional energy as 62 million Americans, or one-fifth of the population, according to one peer-reviewed research. Their consumption, on the other hand, is frequently left out of environmental effect estimates.

Bond Pet Foods is one of a number of businesses attempting to decouple the companion animal food sector from animal agriculture in order to develop it. A comparable method has been developed by Wild Earth, based in California. The company released a dog treat made with cultured koji, a type of fungus that it produces in a lab using an unique technology that provides more protein than steak, in 2019. Wild Earth is also working on cultured beef for pet food. Last year, an all-star team led by Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban, vegan actor Paul Wesley, and a few investment companies invested $23 million in the venture.

At the SuperZoo trade event in Las Vegas last year, another company, Because, Animals, debuted its first cell-based product: a mouse meat biscuit treat for cats. Since 2016, the company has been striving to refine the cell-based product, and it has been able to eliminate the need of fetal bovine serum (derived from pregnant cows) as a growing medium for its mouse meat, resulting in a cat-friendly source of protein. Because, Animals offers plant-based items such as dog treats made with nutritious yeast while waiting for regulatory permission for its cultured meat products.

Singapore is now the only country in the world to allow the sale of cultured beef. Other nations, including the United States, are anticipated to follow suit shortly, ushering in a new age in which farmed animals are no longer needed to feed companion animals in large numbers.

Source: “WHY MUSICAL ARTIST SIA IS SPEAKING OUT ABOUT MEAT IN PET FOOD” by VegNews