Two centuries ago we fed our pets with leftovers and enough water to keep them nourished. In confusion during this time, street dogs canvasses the alleys and scourge for food that they can find in the trash for them to survive each day. This enigmatic animal food practice radically changed in the middle of 1800’s. During this time, the means of transportation literally used horse power; a European entrepreneur devised a way to solve the problem of what to do with the carcasses of the many horses that died every day in the European cities: He decided to package and sells the horse meat as dog food. Many wealthy dog owners caught up on the idea and appreciated the convenience of having a ready-made food for their dogs, and that was the birth of the dog food.
The first commercial dog food in America was made by Ralston-Purina in 1962. Their dog foods were tested on dogs owned by the company in large kennels on their property near St. Louis, Missouri. Until Ralston-Purina dog food was given an ultimate test when it was fed to sled dogs in 1933 for an expedition to Antarctica, and that expedition was a success.
Decades after World War 2, the idea of prepared dog food really goes mainstream in wealthy cities across America. The American economy was booming and people didn’t mind spending a little money for the convenience of having a ready-made dog food for their canine companions. Besides, the companies producing dog foods were conducting studies on the nutritional needs of dogs and their foods were billed as containing everything a healthy dog needed, and the study frenzy reached up to the large universities across America and before the whole world knows it, dog food has become a stable contributor for American economy.