The Fashionable Business of Curing Pets
A local dog fancier describes the burgeoning industry of canine health, from tail-docking 'fads' to managing bilious pugs.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
“Yes, I’m a doctor now,” said a bird fancier to a reporter, as he dropped a capsule into the mouth of a bulldog. “Yes, sir, I’m a real doctor now; that is, as far as dogs and birds go. Never lost a patient yet and some of my cures are marvelous. Does it pay? Well, I reckon it does. Surgical operations? Bless your soul, we have plenty of that sort of work. It was only Monday that I amputated a dog’s tail. It’s a society fad, you know, to have dogs with short tails. You would laugh if you could see some of the ladies who bring dogs here to have their tails cut. They go on terrible, and if the pup happens to yell, which, of course, it does, they stop up their ears and run away.” The doctor recounted a visit from a lady with a fat pug named Toodles. “The dog’s bilious,” said the doctor with a wink. “You’ve been feeding him on candy.” The lady admitted to the sweets, and after paying her dollar fee, the doctor remarked, “They are the people we make a living off of. Dogs should be fed but twice a day—a light breakfast and a heavy dinner. Meat should never be given to puppies. The proper thing to feed a dog is what you call dog cakes—waste meal chopped up with corn meal and vegetables and baked.”
“It’s a society fad, you know, to have dogs with short tails. You would laugh if you could see some of the ladies who bring dogs here to have their tails cut.”
This 1891 report on 'society' pet pampering captures the early professionalization of veterinary care in Yakima. Much like today, the transition from 'working dog' to 'family member' created a market for specialized medical advice and diet fads, though the methods described—like amputating tails as a social requirement—highlight a very different era of animal ethics.
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