URBANDALE, Iowa (AP) — When a 2015 earthquake struck in Nepal, killing more than 9,000 people, including 19 climbers on Mount Everest, and causing up to $10 billion in damages, Dr. Anil Regmi wanted to help.
A Des Moines-area veterinarian born in Nepal’s capital city of Kathmandu, Regmi wasn’t sure how to contribute.
“If I just donate money, it’s not going to work because of corruption,” Regmi said in an interview with The Gazette. “So then I said ‘Why don’t I just open my own company?’.”
First, he started with yaks, shaggy animals known for carrying heavy loads across the Himalayan mountains.
On a trip back home, Regmi purchased several yaks and found Nepalis who lived in the mountains to care for the animals.
His plan was to use yak milk to make churpi, a hard cheese fermented for a smoky taste. People in the Himalayas eat churpi, but it also is a protein-rich treat for dogs, Regmi said.
The cheese, which looks like small slabs of wood, is sent from the mountains to Kathmandu, where it is stored at Regmi’s childhood home. Once there’s enough for a shipment, it travels by barge and truck to Urbandale, where Regmi packages it as pet dental chews.
The treats are sold at Regmi’s veterinary practice, online at UrbanPetSupply.com and at Hy-Vee and Fareway stores in the Des Moines…
