In 1860, James Spratt, an American who had traveled to London to sell lightning rods, noticed dogs hanging around the shipyards eating discarded hardtack, the dry biscuits which sustained sailors on long journeys. Knowing how the English loved dogs, it occurred to him that there was a need for a commercial, easy to use dog food. His first dog ration was made up of wheat meal, vegetables, beetroot, and beef blood. The name? Spratt's Patent Meal Fibrine Dog Cakes.
The product took hold and Spratt stayed in London, so it wasn't until 1890 that America saw its first commercial dry dog ration. How were dogs fed before the convenience of kibble? Pets in homes ate scraps, and kennels fed mushes made up of oats, barely, or cornmeal. Due to the large number of work horses dying in cities, canned horse meat was available and utilized by many to the benefit of their dogs. Up until 1941, 90 percent of all pet food sold in the United States was canned meat.
But a big change was in the air when both meat and metal were rationed in World War II. Canned pet food had to go, and this saw the rise of dry dog kibble. Most were produced in small, local mills and sold at feed stores. In 1957 Ralston Purina experimented with their human breakfast cereal extruders to produce a kibble which quickly became one of the best-selling and widely available dog foods in America. Over the next three decades there were a handful of dog food brands available to the public, all about the same in quality and price. To be honest, they were a pretty sorry lot, with corn generally being the main ingredient and the "meat" from sources best not dwelt on.
Rise of the Premium Foods – And Scams
In 1938 animal nutritionist Paul Iams turned a small feed mill near Dayton, Ohio, into the Iams Company. He developed the first animal-based protein (instead of corn) dry dog food. In 1969 he developed Eukanuba, the first real "high end" dog food. Eukanuba was a term from jazz music originated by jazz era personality Hoagy Carmichael, meaning "something supreme." And Eukanuba was a definite step up in canine nutrition.
Eukanuba proved that pet owners would pay more for a better product, and producers took notice. The first major attempt to hook pet food buyers was modeled on the practice of toothpaste companies working in concert with dentists to push their particular brand of toothpaste to their clients. In the public mind, if a dentist favored a certain toothpaste, and a veterinarian pushed a certain dog food brand, it must be better than the rest, since these folks were "in the know." A Kansas veterinarian took this idea, began courting veterinarian schools and veterinarian students and offering lucrative deals to veterinarians for selling a product called Science Diet. The hook was that while this product contained no medicine and could very well have been sold at any feed store, the Hill's Brand food was offered only through veterinarians. While Hill's did offer a few prescription diets formulated to assist in treating dogs with things like kidney disease, the fact was it was not a controlled substance. But the ploy worked, and the brand surged by 20 percent from 1992 to 1997.
The effort did not go unchallenged; a North Carolina legal firm headed a class action suit alleging that "prescription dog and cat food is a marketing scheme devised by pet food companies to pump up their profits." On September 29, 2023 a federal judge decided an 80-million-dollar lawsuit brought by two Illinois women against Hill’s could move forward as a class action suit. The allegations were damning; that Hill’s engaged in deceptive, “unethical and unscrupulous” conduct in the marketing of foods called “Prescription Diet” to owners of sick dogs and cats. Hill’s had spent millions of dollars over many years to convince their conspirators, the veterinarians who received lucrative profits for selling the food to worried pet owners, to go along with the “prescription” scam.
Scam because when questioned under oath Hill’s executives had to admit that its highly priced “Prescription” diets contained zero drugs or medicine and needed no prescription to buy.
Hill’s has had its share of legal issues. KetoNatural Pet Foods has filed a lawsuit against Hill’s alleging the company and its veterinarians conspired to manipulate the FDA into a bogus investigation of the link between grain in dog foods and the deadly disease dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) a disease which kills 67% of all Dobermans, worldwide. The lawsuit claims Hill’s orchestrated the reporting of DCM cases to the FDA using a “network of veterinary researchers funded by Hill’s including scientists at Tuft’s University”, in an effort to undermine public trust in other pet food brands. This case is being heard in the U.S. District Court of Kansas. Of Wolves, Guilt, Slavery And Savory The flood gates were opened, and during the '70s and '80s, a number of marketing schemes popped up offering dog food manufactured to appeal to dog owners' senses. This saw the rise of Gaines Burgers, which resembled prepacked hamburger patties, and various "homemade stew" brands, with carrots, potatoes, and peas which may have looked great to people but which dogs generally left on the floor beside the dish. Next came the raw food craze, which, while still a viable option for the very committed, rose and fell rather quickly as a major public option, due to cost, difficulty of obtaining ingredients, diseases associated with raw feeding for both canines and humans and lengthy preparation times. For busy Americans, it is much quicker to dip a dog bowl into a bag of kibble than to prepare steamed chicken, rice and carefully balance vitamins and minerals every night. The raw versus kibble controversy rages on in groups such as "Dog Food Nerds Of Facebook," and the American Veterinarian Medical Association stepped in when salmonella cases popped up in both pets and humans, discouraging "the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs as well as humans." Today's pet owner faces more than just marketing hooks; social pressure backed by well-funded animal rights groups hoping to ultimately end the keeping of pets (which they view as "slavery")* is slowly but surely changing how we view our dogs and cats. And pet food companies, with short-sighted enthusiasm, are falling into line. Advertisements no longer represent us as dog owners picking up a bag of nutritious feed for our dog companions but rather as "pet parents" shopping with the exquisite care obligated by our "fur babies." There's a lot of guilt associated with being perceived as a good parent, and don't you know the dog food companies know that! The pressure is on, and the current hook is designed to get you wondering if you are a failed pet parent because you are not feeding your Cavalier King Charles spaniel like an Arctic wolf. Protein levels which used to average a healthy (for house pets) 24 to 28 percent have now climbed to 32 to 37 percent, which can often result in crystals in the urine and ultimately kidney problems. Sedate house dogs eating these high levels of protein may also itch and lick themselves, especially the paws. Dogs have not been wolves for an estimated 40,000 years, and they have adapted to the carbohydrate rich, protein low diet of their human companions. I get the biggest kick out the latest hook, which appeals to the hipster in us, and implies that the same dog that licks up cat poop and dead earthworms with abandon should partake of dog food made only with "human grade, deboned, organic, free range" protein. The visuals and feel-good words carefully worked into the dog food brand make me wish there was a restaurant in my small home town serving these same items: "Ancestral Fish Formula," "Lotus Oven Baked Fish Recipe," "Wild Kangaroo and Apples," "Cold Water Fish and Field Peas" (what other kind of peas are there?), and "Gather Free Acres Organic Free Run Chicken" where, we are assured, the company "hand selects the farmers, growers, and fishers that provide the ingredients" by "kicking the dirt in their fields, inspecting their farms, and standing on their boats." For this assurance, you will be paying $42 for a 6 (six) pound bag. A few more of my favorite "visuals" designed to sell you on the uber-wholesomeness of their dog food include: "Wild Ocean Line-Caught Cod" (because a dog cares intensely if its fish is line caught or netted), "chicken and pomegranate," "buffalo with grains harvested in Texas," "bison, lentil, and carrot blend," "New Zealand lamb and blueberries," "wild caught salmon, grass fed beef," "meat lovers medley with rabbit, wild game duck, wild boar, and kale, broccoli, and spinach," "cod and lentils," "trout and sweet potato," "wild boar and apples," "holistic surf and turf," "antibiotic free, natural chicken" (leaving me to wonder what "unnatural chicken is), and "Tuscan natural simply pure lamb." I'll end with my favorite. Such an all-out, no holding back attempt to simply kill you with the very goodness of its ingredients, is "Earthborn Holistic Unrefined Smoked Salmon with Ancient Grains and Superfoods Dry Dog Food." If you feed your mutt this food you have earned the right to look down your nose at us mere mortals. We will just be over here eating our ham sandwichs. • PETA has often compared the ownership of animals both domestic and wild as “slavery”. They work to end all ownership of all animals. This is one statement of many from PETA comparing ownership of animals to slavery: “When an individual is removed from his or her home by force, imprisoned, made to work, and forever denied their freedom, it’s called “slavery.” In October 2011, PETA filed a lawsuit against SeaWorld on behalf of five killer whales seeking a declaration that these five orcas are slaves and subjected to involuntary servitude in violation of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Joined by three orca experts and two former SeaWorld trainers, PETA’s lawsuit asserts that the conditions under which these orcas live constitute the very definition of slavery.
Hill’s has had its share of legal issues. KetoNatural Pet Foods has filed a lawsuit against Hill’s alleging the company and its veterinarians conspired to manipulate the FDA into a bogus investigation of the link between grain in dog foods and the deadly disease dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) a disease which kills 67% of all Dobermans, worldwide. The lawsuit claims Hill’s orchestrated the reporting of DCM cases to the FDA using a “network of veterinary researchers funded by Hill’s including scientists at Tuft’s University”, in an effort to undermine public trust in other pet food brands. This case is being heard in the U.S. District Court of Kansas. Of Wolves, Guilt, Slavery And Savory The flood gates were opened, and during the '70s and '80s, a number of marketing schemes popped up offering dog food manufactured to appeal to dog owners' senses. This saw the rise of Gaines Burgers, which resembled prepacked hamburger patties, and various "homemade stew" brands, with carrots, potatoes, and peas which may have looked great to people but which dogs generally left on the floor beside the dish. Next came the raw food craze, which, while still a viable option for the very committed, rose and fell rather quickly as a major public option, due to cost, difficulty of obtaining ingredients, diseases associated with raw feeding for both canines and humans and lengthy preparation times. For busy Americans, it is much quicker to dip a dog bowl into a bag of kibble than to prepare steamed chicken, rice and carefully balance vitamins and minerals every night. The raw versus kibble controversy rages on in groups such as "Dog Food Nerds Of Facebook," and the American Veterinarian Medical Association stepped in when salmonella cases popped up in both pets and humans, discouraging "the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal-source protein that has not first been subjected to a process to eliminate pathogens because of the risk of illness to cats and dogs as well as humans." Today's pet owner faces more than just marketing hooks; social pressure backed by well-funded animal rights groups hoping to ultimately end the keeping of pets (which they view as "slavery")* is slowly but surely changing how we view our dogs and cats. And pet food companies, with short-sighted enthusiasm, are falling into line. Advertisements no longer represent us as dog owners picking up a bag of nutritious feed for our dog companions but rather as "pet parents" shopping with the exquisite care obligated by our "fur babies." There's a lot of guilt associated with being perceived as a good parent, and don't you know the dog food companies know that! The pressure is on, and the current hook is designed to get you wondering if you are a failed pet parent because you are not feeding your Cavalier King Charles spaniel like an Arctic wolf. Protein levels which used to average a healthy (for house pets) 24 to 28 percent have now climbed to 32 to 37 percent, which can often result in crystals in the urine and ultimately kidney problems. Sedate house dogs eating these high levels of protein may also itch and lick themselves, especially the paws. Dogs have not been wolves for an estimated 40,000 years, and they have adapted to the carbohydrate rich, protein low diet of their human companions. I get the biggest kick out the latest hook, which appeals to the hipster in us, and implies that the same dog that licks up cat poop and dead earthworms with abandon should partake of dog food made only with "human grade, deboned, organic, free range" protein. The visuals and feel-good words carefully worked into the dog food brand make me wish there was a restaurant in my small home town serving these same items: "Ancestral Fish Formula," "Lotus Oven Baked Fish Recipe," "Wild Kangaroo and Apples," "Cold Water Fish and Field Peas" (what other kind of peas are there?), and "Gather Free Acres Organic Free Run Chicken" where, we are assured, the company "hand selects the farmers, growers, and fishers that provide the ingredients" by "kicking the dirt in their fields, inspecting their farms, and standing on their boats." For this assurance, you will be paying $42 for a 6 (six) pound bag. A few more of my favorite "visuals" designed to sell you on the uber-wholesomeness of their dog food include: "Wild Ocean Line-Caught Cod" (because a dog cares intensely if its fish is line caught or netted), "chicken and pomegranate," "buffalo with grains harvested in Texas," "bison, lentil, and carrot blend," "New Zealand lamb and blueberries," "wild caught salmon, grass fed beef," "meat lovers medley with rabbit, wild game duck, wild boar, and kale, broccoli, and spinach," "cod and lentils," "trout and sweet potato," "wild boar and apples," "holistic surf and turf," "antibiotic free, natural chicken" (leaving me to wonder what "unnatural chicken is), and "Tuscan natural simply pure lamb." I'll end with my favorite. Such an all-out, no holding back attempt to simply kill you with the very goodness of its ingredients, is "Earthborn Holistic Unrefined Smoked Salmon with Ancient Grains and Superfoods Dry Dog Food." If you feed your mutt this food you have earned the right to look down your nose at us mere mortals. We will just be over here eating our ham sandwichs. • PETA has often compared the ownership of animals both domestic and wild as “slavery”. They work to end all ownership of all animals. This is one statement of many from PETA comparing ownership of animals to slavery: “When an individual is removed from his or her home by force, imprisoned, made to work, and forever denied their freedom, it’s called “slavery.” In October 2011, PETA filed a lawsuit against SeaWorld on behalf of five killer whales seeking a declaration that these five orcas are slaves and subjected to involuntary servitude in violation of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Joined by three orca experts and two former SeaWorld trainers, PETA’s lawsuit asserts that the conditions under which these orcas live constitute the very definition of slavery.