To most people, for over fifty years, commercially manufactured bagged kibble and canned wet food has been synonymous with kibble.

James Spratt of Cincinnati, Ohio invented first processed dog biscuit in 1860. I wasn’t until World War II that commercial dog food manufacturers began to promote the ease of kibble and canned food onto financial struggling families. No one considered the quality of the food or the ingredients. This new time saver had to be better than the table scraps that domestic animals enjoyed at the time, right?

Wrong!

In fact, early commercial dog food manufacturers agreed that feeding dogs meat, vegetables and some grains was better for the dogs than the processed kibble they were making from meat scraps, meat- by-products, and factory waste, such as saw dust and grain husk. Convenient? Absolutely! Cheap – not in the long run. Healthy? You can excuse the early adopters but, generations later, dog diseases are near epidemic levels. In spite of the evidence that something is wrong, millions of people continue to give their dogs manufactured dog food.

Between the farmers, slaughterhouses, and Madison Avenue advertising agencies, the manufactured pet food industry has been a huge moneymaker. Meat scraps and grain scraps unfit for human consumption were sold as ingredients to the manufactured pet food industry. The extrusion process was developed by Purina to fluff the wet kibble before drying, making it appear as though the consumer was getting a lot for their money. Alas, unaware pet owners are left holding the bag.

The Pet Food Institute began their massive media campaign against feeding your pets table scraps in 1964. Veterinarians throughout the world jumped on the bandwagon without having any scientific basis. By the early 1960s, the majority of pet owners were feeding their four-legged family members this wondrous, convenient and readily available food.

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