Steve Realbuto comes from a long line of butchers - three generations going all the way back to Sicily in the late 1800s. In the 1950s, his grandfather opened a butcher shop on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Today, Steve owns Wonder Meats, a leading, New Jersey-based manufacturer of quality meat products.

Steve also comes from a similarly long line of dog owners. From his Sicilian grandfather to his dad and now Steve, the Realbutos are passionate about meat, but are also in love with their dogs. All dogs.

When Steve’s father, Santo, was working as a butcher, he would often bring home pieces of unsold meat, the leftovers, and feed them to the dogs.

Later, when Steve was a young 9 years old, he started helping out at the butcher shop, finishing each day picking up meat from the shop floor to give to his dog, Smokey, a German Shepherd mix. First the meat was fed to Smokey raw, then his mother started cooking it.

Fast forward to 2018. Steve and his wife, Kathy, had two dogs, Massimo and Mia. Massimo had bad allergies and both dogs had serious digestive issues. Mia also had dry skin. Kathy had so many shampoos and supplements to help with Mia’s dry skin, dog health was a constant battle. 

First the Realbutos tried switching to Canadian dog food because it had fewer preservatives. They noticed a few improvements, but not enough to meet their satisfaction…or their dogs’.

Their breeder then suggested raw meat. Kathy fought that idea, afraid of bacteria. When their veterinarian teased her, she switched vets. It was no laughing matter.

Eventually, Kathy started feeding real, raw meat to Massimo and Mia. The impact was immediate.

”Their irises got bright within days!” she says. “If I didn’t see it, I wouldn’t have believed it!” 

Their skin got better, their coats softer. Their energy levels went up…

All thanks to meat straight from the butcher.

Now the Realbutos, including sons Sean, Brian, Dillon and Collin, are sharing the reason for their pups’ success with dog owners everywhere.