MEET ANDREW

After 20 years in the NHS, I've traded my desk for the North Leeds countryside. This is the story of Hero Tails and my animal friends along the way

Tigra and Cheetara doing their best album cover pose

Hi, I'm Andy!

After 20 years of working for the NHS, I decided to leave my job in tech to set up Hero Tails. It was a big, scary decision to leave my guaranteed wage, but ultimately you only get one life and it was time for me to take a chance and do something I'm genuinely passionate about. I'm at my happiest when I'm out in the countryside with my team - my wife Alex and my dog Kona.

If it's not already alarmingly obvious, I'm an 80's child and a huge fan of superhero comics/films/cartoons especially those Ninjas that are into pepperoni and cheese. If you follow my socials, be prepared to hear a lot of 80's synth pop in the reels.

I've always had animals in my life, from family cats growing up to our two rescue cats (Tigra and Cheetara - yes - the Thundercats). Tigra was my shadow and followed me everywhere, sleeping on my belly every night. We lost her a few years ago, my first tattoo was in memory of her (this was the start of a trend). We sadly lost Cheetara just this year at the ripe old age of 19 too (so cat visits to the front please).

We always wanted a dog, but either never had the space or lived in a building that didn't allow them, which led to us we signing on with the Cinnamon Trust, a charity which helps elderly and terminally ill people with their pets. Through the trust we walked a lovely black and white Collie named Casper, which set a trend for black and white dogs in our household.

We were living in a city centre flat during lockdown and started walking my mums Cockapoo, Boston every week. It quickly became the highlight of the week and was really where my love of walking and being outdoors began.

Eventually we moved into a bigger house (where we still live now) and immediately got a dog. He was our first dog, an absolute legend by the name of Indiana Bones. We live in North Leeds and quickly realised how lucky we were to live in such a beautiful area. Every weekend led to new adventures and unexplored maps. We sadly lost Indy just shy of his second birthday, he was born with liver complications and we knew there was a very low chance that he'd ever reach adulthood.

Indy taught us a lot, not only about the constant obsession to monitor everything he ate like a hawk (he was a vegetarian), but how to handle other people (and their opinions) and try to give him as normal a life as possible. He couldn't eat meat, or pretty much any 'standard' dog food as he couldn't process the proteins - but he bloody loved rice pudding and custard. If you've never seen an Australian Shepherd wolfing down a bowl of Ambrosia you're missing out. He also taught us how precious our time is and that taking the time to stop and smell the wild garlic was not a moment wasted.

We got Kona a couple of months after losing Indy, he's my spirit dog - simply put. He can be a handful and keeps us on our toes, but we love every minute. He's a medium to big dog at 30kg and we've had plenty of experience managing reactive dogs - from both sides of the fence. Part of being a responsible dog owner is about identifying any behavioural issues or peccadillos your dog has and making sure you advocate for them.

That’s where Hero Tails comes in. Every hero deserves their moment - whether that’s a big countryside adventure, a calm and steady walk, or just a friendly face dropping by to check in. Whatever your pet needs, I’m here to make sure they’re safe, happy, and having a great time doing it.

animal friends

All the Hero Tails characters on my van and the website are based on my own family pets

animal friends

All the Hero Tails characters on my van and the website are based on my own family pets