1. Purpose
This policy sets out Murzo Group's approach to animal feed, pet food, animal product trials, palatability trials, feeding trials, product samples, animal welfare, feed safety, and third-party animal use.
It is intended to prevent casual or unauthorised testing on animals, protect animal welfare, reduce feed and product liability risk, and make clear that no person may test, trial, feed, supply, promote, or imply approval of any Murzo Group product for animal use unless the activity has been directly approved in writing by Murzo Group.
2. Scope
This policy applies to Murzo Group, its subsidiaries, workers, contractors, suppliers, farms, laboratories, pet food manufacturers, feed businesses, distributors, brokers, agents, affiliates, influencers, customers, partners, and third parties involved in developing, sourcing, manufacturing, marketing, supplying, trialling, testing, feeding, recommending, or selling products intended for animals or capable of being used with animals.
It covers pet food, animal feed, treats, supplements, feed materials, feed additives, premixtures, insect feed, substrates, food by-products supplied into the feed chain, samples, prototypes, trial batches, animal-care products, animal-contact materials, products used around animals, and any product claim that suggests suitability for pets, livestock, insects, fish, birds, horses, reptiles, companion animals, farmed animals, or food-producing animals.
3. Core Position
Murzo Group does not allow informal animal testing, customer-led animal trials, unapproved feeding trials, unapproved palatability trials, unapproved animal product testing, or the use of animals to support marketing claims unless the activity is lawful, proportionate, ethically justified, species-appropriate, and approved in writing before it begins.
- No product should be fed to, applied to, tested on, or used around an animal merely because it appears harmless, natural, food-grade, plant-based, insect-based, cosmetic, organic, recycled, or previously used by humans
- No sample, prototype, rejected material, expired stock, surplus food, waste stream, substrate, chemical, cleaning product, botanical material, design material, textile, packaging, or by-product may be used with animals unless approved for that purpose
- No person may claim that Murzo Group has tested, approved, endorsed, recommended, certified, or verified animal use unless that claim has been approved in writing
4. Legal and Regulatory Awareness
Animal feed, pet food, animal welfare, product safety, animal by-products, additives, labelling, marketing, import/export, veterinary medicines, and animal testing rules vary by country, species, product type, end use, and whether animals or animal-derived products may enter the food chain.
Where a trial may amount to scientific testing, regulated animal research, a veterinary intervention, a feed business activity, a product safety assessment, or use of feed in food-producing animals, Murzo Group must not proceed unless the relevant legal position has been considered and the activity is approved by competent persons.
5. Written Approval Requirement
No animal feed activity, pet food activity, animal product trial, feeding trial, palatability test, customer trial, farm trial, laboratory trial, welfare assessment, veterinary claim, feed safety claim, or animal-suitability claim may be treated as approved by Murzo Group unless it has been directly approved in writing by Murzo Group or by a person with written authority to approve that specific activity.
- Approval for one product, batch, species, country, claim, customer, site, animal group, duration, or trial type does not create approval for any other use
- Supplier assurance, customer request, broker suggestion, affiliate promotion, marketplace listing, influencer content, farm practice, or previous use does not amount to Murzo Group approval
- Any person acting without written approval is responsible for their own conduct, product use, claims, animal welfare impact, legal exposure, and customer communication
6. Animal Welfare Principles
Any approved animal-related product use must give priority to animal welfare, avoid unnecessary suffering, and be designed so that animals have suitable conditions, suitable diet, access to care where appropriate, and protection from pain, injury, illness, distress, contamination, and foreseeable harm.
Approved trials should be proportionate to the purpose, limited to the minimum needed, suitable for the species and life stage, supervised by competent persons, and stopped if there is an adverse reaction, welfare concern, unexpected behaviour, refusal, illness, injury, contamination, or uncertainty about safety.
7. Animal Testing and Scientific Procedures
Murzo Group does not conduct, commission, permit, or approve regulated animal testing or scientific procedures unless the activity is lawful, appropriately licensed, ethically reviewed where required, carried out by competent and authorised persons, and expressly approved in writing by Murzo Group.
Where an activity could cause pain, suffering, distress, lasting harm, invasive treatment, controlled dosing, deliberate exposure, deprivation, disease challenge, toxicology testing, batch quality testing, or other regulated animal research risk, the activity must not proceed as an ordinary product trial.
8. Feed Safety and Product Suitability
Animal feed, pet food, treats, supplements, feed materials, additives, premixtures, substrates, and food by-products intended for feed use must be suitable for the intended species, end use, country, batch, storage conditions, and legal classification.
- Ingredients and materials should not be assumed safe because they are human food, natural, plant-based, insect-derived, recycled, organic, biodegradable, or previously used in another species
- Feed materials, additives, animal by-products, GM material, allergens, contaminants, medicated substances, veterinary substances, prohibited substrates, and restricted ingredients require extra care
- Products intended for food-producing animals require additional checks because animal welfare, feed safety, residues, contamination, withdrawal, traceability, and human food-chain risks may arise
9. Pet Food and Companion Animal Products
Pet food, treats, supplements, chews, enrichment products, grooming products, bedding, textiles, toys, packaging, containers, bowls, cleaning products, and other companion-animal products must not be marketed or supplied as safe, suitable, complete, complementary, hypoallergenic, veterinary, dental, calming, therapeutic, breed-specific, life-stage-specific, or species-specific unless the wording and evidence have been approved.
Owners and keepers remain responsible for using pet products sensibly, following instructions, considering the animal's age, size, health, allergies, medication, diet, and behaviour, and seeking veterinary advice where appropriate.
10. Food-Producing Animals and Farm Trials
Trials involving livestock, poultry, aquaculture, insects intended for food or feed, horses that may enter the food chain, bees, farmed animals, or animals kept for commercial production require additional caution. Murzo Group must consider feed legality, animal welfare, animal health, disease control, residues, veterinary medicines, additives, withdrawal requirements, transport, traceability, slaughter, product labelling, and human food-chain implications before approval.
No trial may be run on a farm, holding, rearing facility, customer site, supplier site, or third-party premises if the product, species, intended use, feed classification, or legal status is unclear.
11. Prohibited and High-Risk Uses
The following activities are prohibited unless expressly approved in writing after appropriate review and only where lawful:
- Feeding animals with waste, spoiled material, unknown-origin material, contaminated material, catering waste, unauthorised animal by-products, unauthorised substrates, or materials not intended for the relevant species
- Testing products on sick, injured, pregnant, lactating, very young, elderly, stressed, quarantined, immunocompromised, wild, stray, rescued, or vulnerable animals without competent welfare oversight
- Using animals to prove safety, toxicity, performance, medicinal effect, disease prevention, weight gain, fertility, behaviour change, calming effect, pest control, or therapeutic benefit without proper approval
- Sending samples to customers, affiliates, influencers, shelters, farms, breeders, laboratories, schools, events, or clubs for animal use without written controls and approved instructions
12. Third Parties, Suppliers and Customers
Third parties must not test, trial, feed, apply, reformulate, dilute, relabel, repack, recommend, promote, or use any Murzo Group product with animals unless the activity has been approved in writing. This includes suppliers, customers, farms, laboratories, breeders, shelters, retailers, resellers, marketplace sellers, contractors, affiliates, influencers, brokers, distributors, and product reviewers.
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Murzo Group does not accept responsibility for animal illness, injury, distress, death, product failure, contamination, customer complaint, regulatory action, or loss arising from third-party animal testing, feeding, product use, product claims, storage, handling, alteration, relabelling, resale, or trial activity that has not been directly approved in writing by Murzo Group.
13. Claims, Labelling and Marketing
Animal-related claims must be accurate, approved, and not misleading. No person may make or imply claims such as animal safe, pet safe, feed safe, vet approved, breeder approved, tested on animals, not tested on animals, cruelty-free, palatable, hypoallergenic, complete, complementary, nutritious, therapeutic, calming, performance-enhancing, sustainable feed, insect feed, suitable for livestock, suitable for puppies, suitable for kittens, suitable for horses, or suitable for food-producing animals unless the claim has been approved.
Unauthorised animal claims may expose Murzo Group and third parties to product safety, feed law, advertising, consumer, animal welfare, veterinary, import/export, and platform enforcement risk.
14. Samples, Prototypes and Trial Batches
Samples, prototypes, trial batches, reformulations, rejected goods, returned goods, expired goods, surplus food, product development materials, packaging tests, and customer demonstrations must not be used with animals unless the intended animal use has been approved. Where a sample is not approved for animal use, this should be made clear where necessary.
Trial materials should be controlled so that they are not mistaken for approved feed, pet food, treats, supplements, or saleable animal products.
15. Adverse Events and Escalation
Any suspected animal illness, injury, distress, death, allergic reaction, refusal, contamination, choking, poisoning, digestive issue, abnormal behaviour, product defect, labelling error, feed safety issue, or complaint connected with a Murzo Group product or claimed Murzo Group product should be escalated promptly so that proportionate action can be considered.
Potential responses may include stopping the trial, isolating affected stock, seeking veterinary advice, contacting the customer or third party, correcting instructions, withdrawing material, using product recall controls, notifying competent authorities where required, or refusing further supply.
16. International Use
Animal feed, pet food, animal trials, product samples, ingredients, additives, substrates, animal by-products, veterinary claims, and animal welfare obligations vary significantly between countries. Approval in the United Kingdom does not mean approval in the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Spain, Italy, Gibraltar, Turks and Caicos, or any other country.
Third parties are responsible for local legal compliance unless Murzo Group has expressly agreed otherwise in writing.
17. Liability Position
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Murzo Group does not accept responsibility for unauthorised animal testing, unauthorised animal feeding, informal product trials, customer-led trials, supplier-led trials, affiliate-led trials, farm trials, laboratory trials, pet owner experiments, broker claims, reseller claims, unauthorised product use, or animal-related marketing that has not been directly approved in writing by Murzo Group.
Nothing in this policy excludes or limits liability that Murzo Group cannot lawfully exclude or limit, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, product liability that applies by law, fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, statutory consumer rights, or responsibility that cannot legally be excluded.
18. Evidence
Where animal feed, pet food, animal product trials, animal welfare concerns, adverse events, unauthorised testing, third-party claims, customer complaints, or regulatory questions arise, Murzo Group may use proportionate evidence to assess the issue, protect animals, protect customers, correct information, support takedown, refuse support, contact suppliers, contact competent authorities, or take legal steps where appropriate.
19. Review
This policy should be reviewed periodically and when Murzo Group changes animal feed, pet food, substrate, insect farming, food by-product, supplier, laboratory, farm trial, export, product development, online selling, or animal-related marketing activity.
