AVOHS Sponsor—Hartz Mountain Corporation

Excerpted from Chapter 18, Animal Health, Human Health, One Health: The Life and Legacy of Dr. James H. Steele

In 1926, Max Stern was twenty-six years old and living in post-World War I Germany near the Harz Mountain range, the highest mountains in the country. The country was experiencing unprecedented inflation and unemployment. He was struggling to get a start in life. Max was from a middle-class family that was in the paint manufacturing business. But with anti-Semitism and postwar inflation, young Max was hoping to find a business opportunity that would allow him to leave Germany. A local pet dealer had borrowed some money from Max and didn’t have the cash to pay him back. “The dealer offered to give him about 5,000 canaries instead. He quickly accepted the offer, hoping to start a thriving business. He knew that songbirds were the rage in the US after the war, as they provided a bright spot in the home. He wanted to fill that niche. He decided to try to market his birds in New York City,” Jim Steele said.

This describes the humble beginnings of the Hartz Mountain company! Today it is a global entity that develops and markets health and wellness products for dogs, cats, pet birds, reptiles, fish and an assortment of other small animals. Hartz Mountain has been the sole sponsor of the AVOHS since 1964 and provides funding for the AVOHS annual awards dinner and breakfast in conjunction with the American Veterinary Medical Association annual meetings which occur all over the US.

Many thanks to Hartz from all of us at AVOHS for this strong support!