‘The conscientious dog food manufacturer and members of the veterinary profession together, can do much to eliminate many of the evils now prevalent. It is no selfish motive on the part of members of the veterinary profession. They have no monetary gain insight [sic]. Their motive is to better fulfil their obligations to their clients and to their patients. The conscientious manufacturer and members of the profession can do much by working in harmony to foster a more wholesome state of affairs. Veterinarians guide surely a million dog owners in the selection of food for their dogs. They will give preference to the products of worthwhile manufacturers when those manufacturers can and do show that their products are wholesome and adequate.

The History of Canned Dog Food

About ten years ago a group of individuals interested in the exportation of horse flesh for human food conceived of the idea of exporting some of their surplus and otherwise unexportable cuts into dog food. The cuts which went abroad constituted but a small part of the entire carcass of the animal. Here was a largely unusual situation for a dog food. A large part of the carcass all dressed up, as it were, and no place to go, except to the dogs.

There were two avenues of approach. One was to put something in a can that a dog would eat, the other to develop a scientific dog food. It would appear that they have chosen the latter; that they knew where the necessary scientific information that could be applied to the feeding of dogs was obtainable, and proceeded to get it. The response to their efforts was neither immediate nor great. There was, is, and probably always will be, sentimental objection in this country to the use of horse flesh for a food for man or dogs. I confess to having entertained it. So have others without number. A more timid group would have given up the idea. They persisted. Here was the genesis and idea of a product destined to revolutionize the feeding of dogs, stalled because of the need of a starter. The starter was forthcoming in the form of a man with a basket of canned dog food on his arm soliciting sales from the veterinarians in the city of Chicago. So far as I know, this was the first attempt ever made to sell a dog food put up in cans. If an earlier attempt was made, veterinary literature does not record it. The veterinarians, as well as all others approached, gave little encouragement at first. Nevertheless, the idea eventually caught and spread like wild fire. It grew into a business of amazing proportions. Millions of cans a month are now produced and sold.

Of course, the success of the original brands of canned dog food did not pass unnoticed. “There is gold in them thar cans,” visioned many. So great was the haste to make a strike when the gold rush started that there was little time or, on the part of many, little inclination to study the other fellow and his success. Some deemed unnecessary, equipment other than false claims, meaningless words and, from a nutritive standpoint, almost empty cans. It cost someof the “hitch-hikers” so little to get there that you can buy them cheap. Although the comparison to hitch-hikers who don’t even buy gas applies aptly to a large majority of those who rushed into this “get rich quick” field, fortunately there were some of ability and vision attracted to it. They realized that for enduring success their product must be builded [sic] upon [532-533] a solid foundation, sound scientifically. They enlisted  the services of nutrition experts and set about the investigation of various meat and fish products and combinations of grains. They were not among the first or even the early followers of the pioneer into the canned dog field for nutritional studies and biological tests are time consuming. They are now in the enviable position of having foods that are adequate for the nutritional requirements of the dog and the scientific facts to prove it. In a later discussion, I shall point out these brands that have used brains to determine what should go into the can and not expended all their efforts in the production of the label.’ (533-534)

‘There is a popular myth, possibly based on beliefs advanced by both French and German scientists in the early days of food research, that the meat of the horse contains some harmful element not found in other animals of the red meat type.

...

The early scientific theories about horse-meat have been thoroughly disproved by scientific facts, but the myth remains. A well-known writer on things canine – S. Boehm – probably aroused a sort of “whispering campaign” that is going on against this very excellent meat food for dogs, has just raised the issue in a challenging article in one of the monthly dog magazines – Dogdom for May, 1933 = citing a recent article by Dr. H. Loessl in a well-known German dog publication. We quote briefly:

Dr. Loessl says: “The warning against horse-meat that, supposedly, contains harmful substances... is founded on an unfortunately often repeated fairy tale. Last year further experiments were made in the Agricultural College (Dr. Loessl, probably, refers to the Agricultural College of Berlin). Several groups of litters received as their meat supply, exclusively and plentifully, raw horse meat, from earliest puppyhood until complete maturity, and INVARIABLY THE GREATEST SUCCESS WAS RECORDED. In its effect, the raw horse meat exceeded all other kinds of meat equal in albumen, even if other kinds of meat were given in larger quanities...

“... scientific research work is always to be recommended and its findings are always of value, but it seems to me the plainest of common sense would settle the question anent [sic] and detrimental effects of horse meat. There is no biological reason whatever why the meat of the horse should be more harmful than any other kind of meat. So far as I know, the wild animals of the Zoological Gardens of the world are all fed on horse meat. If there was the slightest danger in this food, it’s a cinch that these expensive and often rare creatures would get it! Also, numerous of my acquaintances have fed horse meat to their dogs for years, and one of our best known and very widely used canned rations admittedly contains horse meat, and I have never heard that this product engendered any undesirable effects. Finally, horse meat is extensively sold as human food in foreign countries.”’ (446)

‘scientists find the horse as a meat animal, and the dog as a meat-eating animal, from the earliest times – long before the ancestors of the cow, sheep, hog, or any other domestic animal had taken a form which would enable us to connect them with the common human meat-animals of today. These records of nature, revealed by geology, seem to leave no doubt that dogs have been eating horse-meat for more than 50,000,000 years. And there are still a few dogs alive in the world today!’ (448)

‘The horse of the American western plains today is a descendent of... southern [European and Middle Eastern] horses...

It is from the horses of the Crusades that the modern heavy horses of northern Europe descend. Some years ago the three Chappel brothers, experienced livestock men, decided to try an audacious experiment. They joined these two types, for the specific purposes of producing a meat horse – different from eaither type and resembling the ancient meat-animal from which both are descended. The experiment was completely successful, and now the offspring of thick-meated Percheron and Belgian stallions and light-boned western mares are being bred and raised in herds of thousands solely for their meat. The resulting cross has typical “hybrid vitality.”

The Uses of Horse Flesh

What becomes of all this meat? It has many uses, but the chief of them is to supply food for dogs. Some of it is exported for human food. Liver extract and blood serums used in medicine are among other familiar products. Veterinarians say that the horse is the healthiest of all domestic animals, and probably that is one reason why its products are highly esteemed as therapeutic agents.’ (448)