NASC: Our Story

Bill Bookout, NASC president, tells his personal story of the events that led to the formation of the National Animal Supplement Council.

Full transcript:
I grew up in Wyoming, and my goal when I was growing up was to have a purebred bird dog. And I had finally graduated from college, it was 1987, I was 30 years old, I had a house, I had a yard and I could finally live my dream, and I got a purebred black Labrador Retriever. He was an English lab, and so I thought he needed an English name, so I named him Lancelot. And he was the love of my life, he was such a great dog that I decided I needed another one. And so four months later I got a female, Cinder. And I knew they could potentially have hip problems. And so I thought I did all the right things, I got my dogs from a reputable breeder, and I checked out their heritage and all that, and I was told you couldn’t tell if their hips were good until they were two years old. So I made an appointment ahead of time, I went to the veterinarian, I had my dog’s hips x-rayed, and Lance came back and he was as solid as a rock. Four months later I go back to the vet, and they take the x-rays and Cinder has hip dysplasia. So, I didn’t do anything she was 7-1/2 years old, but she would rather play fetch than eat. And by the time she was 7-1/2 she was so painful after five minutes of playing fetch she could hardly get up. So I went back to the vet, I said, “What can I do?” I said, “I’m in the medical device business, don’t they do hip replacements for dogs?” They sent me to a veterinarian and I had two total hip replacements on Cinder, and I gave her supplements and she lived a great quality of life. So every year I had an annual physical on my dogs, and I took my dogs to have their annual physical and the veterinarian was examining Lancelot and I saw a look of concern on her face. And she finds a lump. When somebody tells you you have a lump, you know what that means. So she said, “You want to feel?” and I said, “Sure.” I thought it would be small, like an acorn or walnut. No, it was the size of a baseball. Well sure enough, Lancelot was diagnosed with cancer, so I take him back to the referral center. We removed the tumor, he’s cured, but when he was 8-1/2 years old the tumor came back. And this time it was high in his back by his kidneys and I had no options with my own dog, so I’m looking for help because he was only given 3 months to live. So I gave him supplements and he lived 2-1/2 years, which wasn’t long enough but it was a great quality of life. And that was a defining moment for me. I decided that I would leave my high-paying job as a medical device executive and I would start my own company selling supplements for animals. But the thing that I mis-assessed was the regulatory environment. I didn’t realize that there was no category for dietary supplements for animals. Something that has been so impactful in my life and in my dogs’. I started my company and then in 2001, I learned that the products were going to be removed from the marketplace, and that was an announcement by the government. So we started a trade association called the National Animal Supplement Council and we said, “Imagine if we could engage the government cooperatively and develop quality standards and programs that would make a difference in the lives of animals, and that these products would continue to be available.” And nobody gave us a chance of success. But 13 years later, the National Animal Supplement Council is the leading trade association in the world for these types of products. We have quality programs ... that seal, if you get a company that displays that seal on their product, that seal cannot be purchased. They have made a commitment to quality, but even more than that they’ve made a commitment to making a difference in the industry. So when I see that seal I think of two things: I think of the tremendous impact these products have had on my dogs, the company is a quality company, but more than that, they make a difference. They make a difference for someone who adopts a kitten from a shelter that wants them to live a healthier life. They make a difference for the rider who spends the night in the barn with her horse before an event. They make a difference for a kid from Wyoming whose goal in life was just to have a bird dog.