Spotlight on Joey Herrick

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Just after Christmas, we talked with Joey Herrick, the president of Dick Van Patten’s Natural Balance Pet Foods, about his passion for animals, the charities he is involved in and the advances Natural Balance are making in the pet industry.

The first part of the of the interview was published in the February issue of Pet Age, and can be read here.

Here is the rest of his interview:

Michelle: An interview with Natural Balance wouldn’t be complete without talking about your spokesdog Tillman. He is everywhere — on treats, becoming an honorary marine and even has his own TV show. What’s a spokesdog’s life like?

 Joey: Today, he spent the last three hours doing press for the Rose Bowl Parade. He was even in his Marine uniform. It’s funny, when he came in he was going nuts and barking. He knew it was going to be a fun day.

I saw him skateboarding, and he was just so good at it, and so funny, and Ron, his owner, was just a very neat person to be around. We’ve been together 5 years and we’ll be together many more years. We all get along great and it’s a lot of fun.

There is only one dog in the world that does what he does. I’ve never found a dog that can skateboard like him!

 Michelle: Working with rescue groups is a very important part of the work Natural Balance does. What are some of the programs you are involved in?

 Joey: We donate food to a lot of recue groups. We’ve always done that. On the back of every package of our food, you’ll find the words “Help Me Help Animals” directly above Dick Van Patten’s signature. As a pet food manufacturer, we believe it’s our responsibility to help animals everywhere.