A dog eating ragondin meat is an exhibition by Marsh Dog on the Mardi Paws occasion in Covington in March 2020.
Marsh Dog is the occasion of Mardi Paws in Covington in March 2020.
A dog looks at a full ragondin at a Marsh Dog exhibit at Mardi Paws in Covington in March 2020.
Marsh Dog is the occasion of Mardi Paws in Covington in March 2020.
Marsh dog treats are made of ragondin, an invading rodent that reaches the Louisiana coast.
Jamison Trouth unloads invading ragondines from his team’s grip to be counted and weighed at the Otter Rodeo in Venice on February 27, 2021.
A ragondin, photographed on January 24, 1990.
From a helicopter in 2017, Jennifer Manuel, a biologist at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, saw crisscross paths and other swamps wounded through the otter. The imported rodent is causing widespread damage to the state’s fragile wetlands.
Marsh Dog expanding. Then came the coronavirus pandemic.
A dog eating ragondin meat is an exhibition by Marsh Dog on the Mardi Paws occasion in Covington in March 2020.
After nearly a decade of turning destructive wetland rodents into high-end dog biscuits, Baton Rouge-based Marsh Dog announced this week that it would close.
The company did what many had tried and failed to do: locate a market for ragondin, the imported orange tooth infestation that, according to state administrators, has eaten more than 40 square miles off the Louisiana coast for more than 20 years.
A ragondin, photographed on January 24, 1990.
Marsh Dog’s clientele, dog owners willing to pay a premium for treats that helped the environment, is on the rise. The company has experienced a number of expansions and recently won a compensation contract with a national puppy food manufacturer. But Marsh Dog’s ambitious plan to expand his success came here just as the coronavirus pandemic struck last year.
“We were looking for a big leap with the national producer, but with a higher volume, we have to make sure we had distribution,” said Hansel Harlan, who introduced the business into the kitchen of a house with his sister, Veni Harlan, in 2012. “We invested a lot of cash and had planned to move all the salons to more distributors and retailers. “
The pandemic ended industry programs, leaving the company with many more products and enough buyers.
Marsh Dog is the occasion of Mardi Paws in Covington in March 2020.
Each 12-ounce bag of ragondin is retailed for around $12. They came here in 3 flavored blueberries, blueberries, rice and sweet potatoes.
Hansel estimates that the company has disposed of “tens of thousands” of ragondines from Louisiana marshes over the past 3 years.
The closure of the company is a significant loss to coastal recovery efforts, said Simone Maloz, executive director of Restore or Retreat, an environmental advocacy organization in Thibodaux.
“Marsh Dog met other people about the ragondin challenge and gave him a vintage edition of Louisiana,” he said. “They took anything ugly and destructive and made it useful for man’s most productive friend. That depends on the Louisiana logo. “
Ragondines were imported from South America to Louisiana for the fur industry in the 1930s. When the fur market collapsed, many semi-aquatic animals were released into the wild, where they thrived at the expense of the state’s fragile coastal wetlands. Musk rats, who eat the cups of plants, ragondynos gnaw at the roots, leaving little to keep the landscape in place.
From a helicopter in 2017, Jennifer Manuel, a biologist at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, detects intersecting trails and other damage to swamps through ragondin.
More than 13,700 acres of coastal marshes crossed ragondin last year, according to estimates by the state’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.
Ragondin is one of many points contributing to the immediate loss of land along the Louisiana coast. The main reasons are oil and fuel exploration, sea point rise, soil sinking and the loss of replenishment sediments since the Mississippi River was controlled through dams.
The state offers a $6 reward for each ragondin tail, however, last year’s total of 246,000 represents only about 1% of Louisiana’s dragonn population and is not close to the number of victims needed to curb the animal’s explosive growth.
Jamison Trouth unloads invading ragondines from his team’s grip to be counted and weighed at the Otter Rodeo in Venice on February 27, 2021.
Ragondines have spread far beyond the Gulf of Mexico and the East Coast and are now destroying the oregon and California wetlands. Last year, the federal government tripled the amount of cash available to combat the spread of ragondin, resulting in $12 million. had all affected states annually until 2025.
But there is a growing sense that government eradication efforts take on the challenge on their own.
The state of Louisiana and non-profit teams have invested millions of dollars in ragondin’s product construction advertising markets. During the 1990s, they partnered with popular New Orleans restaurants to serve ragondin meat dishes. it’s wonderful, ” said New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme about meat. Then, ten years ago, there was a high-profile crusade to promote ragondin as a source of “guilt-free skin. “
Although Prudhomme has added ragondin to its menu and New York fashion shows are jogging models dressed in dragons, only Marsh Dog has controlled to offer a product that consumers were willing to offer in the long run.
A dog looks at a full ragondin at a Marsh Dog exhibit at Mardi Paws in Covington in March 2020.
Harlan needs a portion of the millions of dollars Louisiana spends each year to eliminate ragondin and advertise its products, a solution that he says would charge less and rid the state of more ragondins. uns sealing control until demand for skin products evaporated in the 1980s. What is needed is new markets for ragondin, he says.
“We built the mouse trap and proved it can work,” Harlan said. “I need the government to be more proactive in selling efforts like ours.
Harlan, who grew up in Louisiana, came up with the concept of dog treats with ragondin when his dog developed chronic food allergies.
Marsh dog treats are made of ragondin, an invading rodent that reaches the Louisiana coast.
“Most dog food consists of corn, soybeans and wheat that they use as cargo,” he said. “So I prepared my own dog food with turkey. And then I heard other people say ragondin tastes like turkey. I thought, ‘Why don’t you look at this?'”
Making a dog treat with ragondin required some experimentation, however, the advertising aspect (marketing, distribution, fabric source) naturally reached Harlan and her sister. The brothers are descendants of Edward Charles Edmond Barq Sr. , founder of Barq’s, the iconic New Orleans Root Beer Company grew up in the burgeoning family business circle, which he sold to Coca-Cola in 1995.
Harlan said his dog biscuits had a “loyal customer,” but that the base needed to grow exponentially as production increased. “It is a great replacement to move from buyers looking for the price of a few bags to consumers who need a price of 18 wheels. “He said.
Marsh Dog is the occasion of Mardi Paws in Covington in March 2020.
Marsh Dog sells its remaining inventory to a reduction on its website. Harlan said it is open to prospective buyers who might need to follow marsh Dog’s logo and project to rid the ragondin coast.
The company was never going to make money, he said. His circle of relatives has other income source resources and Harlan, a lawyer, and his sister, graphic designer, have other careers.
“It’s a labor of love,” Harlan said, We love Louisiana, the surrounding area and love dogs, that gave us a lot of satisfaction and fullness.
One is a baseball-sized gasterpod that can wipe out rice paddies and crayfish ponds.
Purchases made with links on our site may result in an associate’s commission
Tristan Baurick: tbaurick@theadvocate. com; on Twitter: @tristanbaurick.
Email notifications are sent once a day and if there are new items.
News tips: newstips@theadvocate. com
Other questions: abonnéservices@theadvocate. com
Need Help?