I am now able to buy pure pasture raised meat from the same store where I buy my dog's raw meats.  It is sort of a "health food" store for dogs and cats. 

The owner buys an entire cow that has been raised running free on the range and has never been barned, fed any grains, given hormones or antibiotics.  The cows that are trucked to slaughter are cows that didn't calve that year and the rancher doesn't want to take a chance on whether or not they will calve the next year, so he rounds them up and takes them to the slaughter house.

No "downed" or sick animals are used because they live way out on ranches and any downed or sick animal is killed off by preditors - coyotes, wolves, mountain lions - before the humans get there anyway.  Buzzards finish them off.   

The slaughter house is a small, family owned business.  The owner of the pet food store has visited it numerous times and says it is kept very clean.  The man who kills the cow saves out the finest portions for human consumption.  Because the woman I know buys the entire cow, she gets all cuts at $2.99 per pound.  Some of the cow is sold as ground beef for dogs, but the outcome of this method is that she gets filet mignon for $2.99 per pound also.   I believe she will tack on some $$ and sell it to me at a profit, but it is totally pasture raised - no grain at the end of life - and the price will be very reasonable. 

Now, I cannot say for sure that owners of pet food stores are legally allowed to sell meat for human consumption, but who is to know who the final stomach belongs to?  You or your dog.....    

It just seems like another source of meat for us to explore.  

Kath