New Nunavut product transforms unused narwhal meat into dog treats

Bradley Pirie of Iqaluit holds out a handful of Narwhal Nibbles. “I’ve had good reaction from p[retty much every dog who’s tried them,” Pirie said. (PHOTO BY JANE GEORGE)

An Iqaluit man has come up with a new kind of dog treat made with what can clearly be called locally-sourced products.

Narwhal Nibbles, as their name implies, are made from narwhal meat that otherwise wouldn’t be used, says their creator Bradley Pirie.

Inside brown paper bags, embellished with a cute blue-and-white narwhal theme sticker, you can find 12 ounces of brownie-shaped dog treats which dogs apparently love.

“I’ve had good reaction from pretty much every dog who’s tried them,” Pirie said.

The idea for making treats from narwhal came out of a request from a co-worker at the Government of Nunavut’s environment department who asked Pirie to make dog treats for the humane society’s annual “Puppy Love” event.

So Pirie whipped up some dog treats out of beef liver—which sold out.

That got him thinking about starting a home-based dog-treat business because some “people spend almost as much on themselves as they do on their dogs up here,” Pirie said.

And they might be willing to spend money on a resource that isn’t used much anymore; narwhal meat is generally fed to sled dogs but most hunters now use snowmobiles.

“I chose narwhal specifically because the muscle content has a lower mercury content than either beluga or bowhead,” Pirie said, “I wanted to make sure that the treats were as healthy as possible.”

There was also a big surplus of narwhal meat unused in Pond Inlet which has seen entrapments of narwhal, most recently in 2015 when hunters culled 600 narwhal trapped near the north Baffin community.

Those narwhal were part of a population which a 2013 Department of Fisheries and Oceans aerial survey put at roughly 10,000—although that number has been disputed by hunters who say the population is much larger.

After purchasing narwhal meat from the hunters and trappers association, Pirie tried out recipes on about a dozen dogs.

There’s a lot of flavour to each treat, which is “super-high” protein and high in iron: “It’s very robust,” he said.

Other ingredients include honey, eggs, corn meal and vitamin C powder.

After mixing up the treats, he bakes them and dries them for two days, making enough treats in one session to fill five bags.

The finished product sells for $12 and Pirie said he’s had no problem selling them. At one crafts sale he sold 30 bags in 40 minutes.

Pitrie plans to continue making treats and he’s bought a freezer to store narwhal meat. But with only 20 to 30 pounds of meat left, his chief concern will now be to source more narwhal from hunters.

If you’re looking to learn more about the treats, you can go to a Narwhal Nibbles Facebook page for customers, although right now, Pirie said he can only supply to Nunavut-based customers because of regulations on animal feed.