This question comes up often and I want to give a fair answer rather than a reflexive “no.”

What WSAVA, AAHA, AVMA, and CDC say about raw: Each of these organisations recommends against feeding raw or undercooked animal-source protein to companion animals. The primary concerns are zoonotic pathogens (Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli) and the public health risk to immunocompromised members of the household. This is the consensus, and it's not a marketing position — it’s evidence-based.

What the available evidence actually shows:

• Several studies (Schlesinger & Joffe, 2011; Freeman et al., 2013) have found both commercial and DIY raw diets to be more frequently contaminated with bacteria of public health concern than cooked/extruded diets.
• Nutritional adequacy of DIY raw diets in published surveys is poor — the majority don’t meet AAFCO maintenance requirements for at least one nutrient (most commonly calcium, vitamin D, vitamin E, zinc, copper).
• Claimed health benefits of raw (shinier coat, smaller stools, “cleaner teeth”) are largely attributable to higher digestibility, higher fat content, and bone consumption — not the absence of cooking. Equivalent home-cooked or fresh-cooked diets give the same outward results without the pathogen load.

If you’re going to do it anyway: work with a board-certified veterinary nutritionist (DACVN) to formulate or audit your recipe. balanceit.com offers a paid recipe service from credentialed nutritionists. Don’t use random online recipes — the nutritional gaps are real.

Household safety: handle raw meat with the same precautions you'd use cooking for yourself, plus don’t let your dog lick faces of immunocompromised household members (young children, pregnant women, elderly, anyone on chemo) for 24-48 hours after feeding. Salmonella shedding in raw-fed dogs is documented even in dogs who appear clinically well.

A middle ground: if the appeal of raw is “fresh ingredients, no fillers” rather than the raw aspect per se, gently cooked fresh diets (Farmer’s Dog, Just Food For Dogs, Ollie) deliver most of the appeal without the pathogen and balance concerns. The decision tree is genuinely your call — I just want owners going in with the actual evidence on both sides.

3 years DIY PMR with my GSD. Sourcing: bulk from a local raw co-op (chicken thighs, beef heart, ground tripe, organ blocks). Costs me about $140/mo for 32kg dog. Wouldn’t do this without a nutritionist-balanced recipe — got mine through balanceit.com ($120 one-time fee). His bloodwork is normal every year. That said, I won't tell anyone “you should do raw” — it's a real commitment and the food-safety stuff in the vet’s reply isn't theoretical.