Vegan vet stories: excellent news and a surprise visit from James Wilks
It's a fantastic day for vegan advocates and dogs everywhere By Dr Arielle Griffiths
What an amazing surprise… I never dreamt that in one day on the 14th of April, all my dreams would come true — that the published studies done by our wonderful Prof Andrew Knight, would point to vegan dog food as being better than meat-based food for our companions. Hurrah! At last, it has been broadcast loud and clear, and, on that very same day, I happened to meet my biggest hero, too: James Wilks from the plant-powered, smash-hit documentary, Gamechangers!
My head was spinning on Thursday, when I woke up as every major newspaper and radio station was broadcasting about what we as dog carers have known all this time… that vegan dog food comes out top! After years of doing all the research, listening and learning from hundreds of plant-based feeders, reaching out to the top nutritionists in Germany (who knew it all before we did) and trialling everything on our own darling little family dog Ruff (who is thriving), to have it confirmed by a scientific paper was just indescribable. The ripple effect that this will have to our pet's health and longevity and, equally, to our planet's health is what excites me the most. Think of all those lives saved — our pets not having to be put to sleep early, due to chronic illnesses caused by a poor diet, and all those farm animals' lives spared — wow.
This amazing news needed to be broadcast, so I decided to video myself at my little unit (where I run Just Be Kind Vegan Dog Food), as I needed to clear my thoughts. It was a really poor video — my thoughts were all over the place, I had no make-up on, I wasn't even looking at the camera properly, but I just wanted to clear my head so that I could process it all. I would never have released this video… had it not been for an amazing surprise visitor — James Wilks from Gamechangers, visiting the UK with his son! I had to stop recording when he knocked on my door, but amazingly, with the angle of my phone he appeared in the video.
I hire a small unit that holds the vegan dog food I import and the supplement I produce for all the wonderful vegan dogs out there, and the unit is owned and run by James Wilks' dad, Gary. His office is just next door to my unit, and I can honestly say that he makes my day every time I see him — such a dignified and considerate man who I constantly seek out to ask about anything. He loves that I regularly ask about his son, James (who has lived in the US with his family since 2002) and returns home to see his parents when he can in between his busy life, since he produced the Netflix sensation Gamechangers.
What a lovely man. I do admit to being horribly starstruck, as he has such a presence, and he has made such an impact in the vegan world and helped so many people make the decision to transition to a plant-based diet — and I got to hug him when he arrived (and when he left!). Wow. And I didn't think that my day as a vegan vet could get any better but with that visit, it certainly did!