John Burns is an esteemed veterinary surgeon and founder of leading pet food company Burns Pet Nutrition. He has been awarded an MBE for services to business and community in West Wales.
The prestigious accolade was announced as part of Her Majesty The Queen’s Birthday 2022 Honours List.
The philanthropist and businessman graduated as a vet in 1971, over fifty years ago. When working as a veterinary surgeon, John realised that many pets common ailments could be treated and solved with better nutrition. This inspired him to establish Burns Pet Nutrition, a family run business based in Kidwelly, South Wales.
John Burns is an advocate of pets eating healthily. Therefore, all Burns products are natural, hypoallergenic and designed to suit dogs of all ages and breeds. The natural pet food company has been feeding both dogs and cats since 1993.
“I am absolutely delighted to be honoured with an MBE. Needless to say, everything that has been achieved here is the result of the combined efforts and dedication of many colleagues working as a team, and I would like to record my thanks to them all.”
John Burns Founder of Burns Pet Nutrition
Charity Work
It has always been very important to Mr Burns that in addition to providing natural pet food, his company supports good causes in the community.
As such, Burns supports more than 30 charities and contributes donations throughout the year.
In 2006, the John Burns Foundation was established. The foundation enhances the lives of disadvantaged people through providing recreational facilities and opportunities to learn life skills. This includes the arts, outdoor recreation and community events.
The foundation has multiple programs. It runs many community initiatives including Burns By Your Side. Burns By Your Side is a scheme helping school children improve their communication and literacy skills. It does this with the help of trained volunteers and reading dogs.
The Burns In The Community scheme aids those at risk of social isolation. It does this through events like coffee mornings and lunch clubs. The Better Tomorrow program changes the lives of children at risk of social isolation by providing contact with others and teaching valuable life skills for their futures.
In addition to the work of the foundation, Burns support charities, community projects and rescue centres with donations of money and food every year. Burns supports more than 20 shelters and rescue centres, dog sanctuary’s and mountain search and rescue teams.
John is naturally charitable. On a whim, he might decide to help a former Burns employee with their university fees, donate vans to a rescue centre or most recently, donate pallets of dog food to aid shelters in Ukraine.
John’s aim has always been to make a difference to the lives of people and companion animals across the UK. Through his personal work, the work of Burns Pet Nutrition and the John Burns Foundation, he does just that
Healthy Food For Dogs
Burns Pet Nutrition started from humble beginnings. John Burns hauled bags of healthy pet food to countless county fayres and shows. Word of mouth spread about his Original Chicken & Brown Rice dog food. Using just rosemary oil and Vitamin E, John preserved his healthy recipes naturally and Burns has grown from strength to strength ever since.
After the company experienced initial success, John Burns opened up several more businesses in West Wales. This includes farm shop, pet shop and cafe Parc y Bocs and a number of independent pet shops.
The company has received countless awards, including a recent win for best Ethical and Sustainable Manufacturer at the Made in Wales awards. They are now one of the leading providers of healthy and delicious pet food across the UK.
Burns has a team of over 120 staff members which John still mans the helm of, even into his seventies. The next Burns venture will be a Camarthen based wellness centre near to Burns’ head office.
As for John, he has no plans to retire any time soon. No doubt he will continue to make the world a brighter place for both people and their pets for a long time to come.
Thank you John!
We LOVE Burns Pet Nutrition
They have been an important part of our journey at Dog Furiendly. From supplying goody bags at our tail-wagging events to supporting our group walks in communities across the UK. Discover more about our tail-wagging partnership here.
