I cannot say which passion drives me more!

When I set out with my vision as a vegan and a vet 3 years ago, I was driven by an overwhelming desire to promote plant-based feeding in our dogs and my initial reason for going vegan was to protect our biodiversity. I had my eyes opened to the effects of animal agriculture on our ecosystem by David Attenborough while watching his very moving documentaries and listening to his wise words and I was terrified that my children may not delight in our dwindling nature as I have been so fortunate to experience in my life.

This realisation that we may wake up and hear no more birdsong as there were far more chickens on the planet today than there are every different bird specie around the world put together made me really want to prove that our dogs can thrive on a plant-based diet just as we can as we all really need to go plant-based!

“Veganism is the SINGLE BIGGEST WAY to reduce your environmental impact on the planet”

University of Oxford

My journey has taken me onto a path I never dreamt possible as the effects of dogs going plant-based doesn’t cease to amaze me as I talk to owner after owner and listen to their inspiring and heartwarming stories about their dogs – yes we are all doing it right, and yes, we must keep doing it as all your dogs are proof of the health benefits of eating plants and cutting out raw foods or processed meat-based foods! I would never have set out to encourage other owners to feed their dogs a vegan diet if I didn’t think that it was 100% right for our own family dog Ruff (who we adore).

These 2 passions  – the desire to preserve what little nature we have left, and the desire to promote dog’s health were overtaken this morning by the third passion I have  – The passion to stop the slaughter of so many innocent animals!

As a vet having studied animal agriculture veterinary as we all have to do at vet school; I was blinded by the cruelty of what we do to animals just as each one of us who is not vegan is blinded by where their milk and fast food burgers truly come from.

We currently live in the small market town of Melton Mowbray that very sadly is an agricultural town and has a farmer’s market every Tuesday. I dread my drive through town on a Tuesday as I know that I will see trucks carrying animals  – some stacked 3 stories high and I find myself sitting at the traffic light and holding my hands to my eyes to block out the sight before me and trying my hardest not to imagine what those animals must be feeling.

This morning, instead of turning to the market, one of the cattle trucks being pulled by a tractor carried on straight along the exact country route I was taking. I felt my anxiety rising as I was forced to follow it slowly along the winding route to my unit. I could not look away and I felt angrier and angrier. When it came time to pass and the winding road was clear, I changed gears in my small red Toyota (I am saving for an electric car) and as I shot past the truck and accelerated, I found myself screaming in anger at the driver and completely out of character I swore screaming ‘ **…. How dare you!’ – all my emotions were being generated at the injustice of what we are doing to animals as well as the injustice of what is happening in the world where people believe themselves to be superior to others and plunder another country and I burst into tears and just sobbed all the way to my unit.

By the time I arrived and opened the door to be greeted by the smell of Greta and Green Crunch, I felt calmer and was immediately soothed by the thought of everything that this unit held – it was full of hope in such an imperfect world and I felt at peace. So to all you wonderful dog owners who feed their dogs a 100% plant-based diet, I applaud and thank you and together we can  make a difference!