Hello, I’m Devon, and I’m the creator of Beau’s Bites. I am a 20-year-old living in the beautiful Bay of Plenty with my family and our dog, Beau. Beau is a 15-going-on-16, miniature pinscher foxy cross. We adopted him when I was 6 years old and he was about 18 months old. Ever since then, he has been the family’s pride and joy. He is a very happy dude who has been through a lot, some of which inspired me to create Beau’s Bites. Beau has had several health issues, including having pancreatitis 3 times, surviving different types of cancers, having an eye removed, both his back knees being put back together due to luxating patella, and many skin issues and allergies. He is a real fighter, always winning his battles with anything life throws at him. Now that he is older, he’s a bit grumpy but still loves to play and go for walks, and have adventures. Due to all of Beau’s health scares, he had to be put on a strict diet. This made me curious about the pet food industry, and I started to research. I was horrified by what I had found.

Much like the human food industry, the pet food world is filled with greed and misinformation. Many dog treats on the market, such as rawhide, are contributing to health issues in pets, including pancreatitis. When Beau was younger and my family and I were less educated on the correct ways to feed him, he had rawhide many times, which was suspected to be the reason for his first experience with pancreatitis. When your pet has to experience something like that and it’s your fault, is gut-wrenching, something no pet owner should ever experience. I wanted to help educate others on the dangers of various treats and the safer, healthier alternatives. I found it very difficult to find treats and chews that had clean ingredients, and I knew where those ingredients came from. Often, companies that claim their products are single-ingredient and healthy are made from imported proteins that are already dehydrated or freeze dried just repackaged. Usually, these are made from unhealthy animals full of hormones or even roadkill. Other treats had additives or ingredients that wouldn’t benefit Beau or were even bad for him. I felt that what I feed him shouldn’t only be delicious but also support his health in some way.

In February 2024, I came up with the idea of Beau’s Bites, a single-ingredient pet treat company that was safe and beneficial for Beau himself but also something I could share with the public. While creating Beau’s Bites, sustainability and ethics were my number one priority. When finding suppliers, I wanted all of our products to be sourced from animals that lived freely and came from sustainable farms, hunters, and fisheries. I am also very passionate about less wasteful farming, as farms contribute to so much of climate change. Beau’s Bites aims to use human-grade products left over from the human meat industry that would otherwise be thrown away or put into an offal pit. All treats and chews from Beau’s Bites are made from free-range or wild New Zealand animals, without preservatives or additives. Every product we offer has at least one health benefit. Making it a nutritious and delicious treat that also aids in the well-being of your pet.