Mark Morris, 72, Made Science Diet for Pets
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Mark Loren Morris, a veterinarian who developed the Science Diet brand pet foods and ZuPreem products for zoo animals, died Sunday in Topeka. He was 72.
Morris took over the business from his father, Mark L. Morris Sr., who had moved Hill’s Packing Co. from New Jersey to Topeka in 1948. The junior Morris developed the Science Diet line of pet foods and worked with the Topeka Zoo to develop ZuPreem products.
The company also developed a high-energy dog diet for the sled dogs of polar explorer Will Steger.
The family businesses were sold to Colgate-Palmolive Co. in 1988. Sales for Hill’s Pet Nutrition reached $1.52 billion in 2005.
