Dr Tom Lonsdale

BVetMed MRCVS

Candidate 11 of 20

Proposers: Roger Meacock, Dr Andrew Stephens

Contact details

Address PO Box 6096, Windsor D.C, NSW 2756, Australia

M +61 437 292 800

E [email protected]

W www.ThePetFoodCon.com

Candidate biography

1972 Royal Veterinary College, London graduate. In the late 1980s, I realized I had harmed patients and defrauded clients by endorsing the feeding of industrial pet foods.

Conscience-stricken, I blew the whistle on the reprehensible cruelty and corruption.

From 1991 to the present, I have researched and written about the pet food fraud and its impact on animal health, human well-being, and stewardship of the planet.

In 1992, I formulated the Cybernetic Hypothesis of Periodontal Disease in Mammalian Carnivores (JVetDent 11:1 1994), a new hypothesis of health and disease applicable to animals and humans.

Raw Meaty Bones Trilogy:

• Raw Meaty Bones: Promote Health (2001) – Essential science and practical know-how for all pet professionals.
• Work Wonders: Feed Your Dog Raw Meaty Bones (2005) – Practical, easy-to-read guide for pet carers.
• Multi-Billion-Dollar Pet Food Fraud: Hiding in Plain Sight (2023) – Foundational science providing an indictment and prosecuting brief against the pet food/vet alliance.

 2023/4 Petition to Parliament: ‘Inquiry into the pet food industry and its relationship with the vet profession.’

For 24 consecutive years from 1997 to 2020, I contested RCVS elections on the single most important issue confronting our profession.

This year marks my 26th appeal for your vote.

Candidate statement 

Why do you want to stand to be a member of RCVS Council?

If possible, we should choose to make the world a better place.

I believe the RCVS is criminally negligent and in breach of its undertakings:

To enhance society through improved animal health and welfare. We do this by setting, upholding, and advancing the educational, ethical, and clinical standards of veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses.

In 1995, I believe Henry Carter acknowledged core failings but denied RCVS regulatory accountability, writing to me:

“….

For 45 years, I have observed Pedigree Petfoods (and its predecessor, Chappie Ltd) seeking to influence veterinary students and practitioners.

For over 25 years, I have observed Pedigree Petfoods and other pet food manufacturers exerting what some may consider to be undue influence on the BSAVA.

As a past president of the RCVS, I believe that your complaints about the BSAVA and the BVA are of no concern to the Royal College.

As a past chairman of the Disciplinary Committee, I do not believe that the activities of any of the individuals you have named could be considered to be unprofessional or calculated to bring the profession into disrepute.

….

You may use these comments in any way you choose.”

For the greater good, my choice—our choice—remains clear.

What do you think you can bring to RCVS Council?

With the Veterinary Surgeons Act up for review, I bring a unique and essential perspective gained from 55 years of experience.

As a London vet student, I first became concerned about the difficult choices confronting our profession. I noted that human medicine and dentistry have clear-eyed goals for the health of their patients. As vets, we suffer constant cognitive dissonance. We’re mostly available to the highest bidder. Factory farms receive acceptance despite the widespread animal suffering. Pets in terminal decline receive lavish care whilst puppies and kittens are euthanised en masse.

I enrolled at the London School of Economics in search of answers. But it was only after establishing a group of vet clinics in Sydney, Australia, that I came to understand the economic foundations of the profession: the junk pet food industry’s relentless promotion of dog ownership—modified wolves with hereditary defects—and relentless promotion of ultra-processed junk.

The veterinary bubble economy depends on a population of diet-affected dogs and cats. When bureaucrats take over regulatory control of the profession, the junk pet food industry’s fraudulent bubble may receive scrutiny. I believe that my know-how and experience can help restore confidence, leading to a renaissance for the profession.

What relevant experience do you have?

At 75 years of age, I have extensive life experience. My relevant experience and leadership are second to none.

Vet testimonials and manifestos from 26 years of standing in RCVS elections are published on the RawMeatyBones website. ThePetFoodCon website carries new information.

Whilst researching junk pet food-induced disease, I saw the co-evolutionary role periodontal disease plays in carnivore biology, with consequent significance for human medicine, dentistry, and science more generally. In 1992, I proposed a new paradigm of health and disease—the Cybernetic Hypothesis of Periodontal Disease in Mammalian Carnivores. Nowadays human periodontists identify patterns of systemic disease triggered by gum disease—although they fail to grasp the co-evolutionary significance.

I have gained inspiration from the struggles of Ignaz Semmelweis and Joseph Lister and the following books:

The Sleepwalkers: Man's changing view of the universe – Arthur Koestler

Gaia: A new look at life on Earth – James Lovelock

Silent Spring – Rachel Carson

Animal Farm – George Orwell

The Age of Propaganda – Pratkanis and Aronson

The Double Helix – James Watson

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions – Thomas Kuhn

Microcosmos: Four billion years of microbial evolution – Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan

Effectiveness and Efficiency – Archie Cochrane

Is there anything else you would like to add in support of your candidacy?

Since 1991, from the beginning of the Raw Meaty Bones (RMB) Campaign, the vet establishment has been in denial. Veterinary schools continue in partnership with pet food makers.

Multi-Billion-Dollar Pet Food Fraud was awarded Best of the Best Book Award 2023 by the Dog Writers Association of America. Pet owners give the book five stars. But vet journals refuse to review the book.

The RCVS administration refused to disseminate the book to Councillors. Which, for lay-Councillors is especially disadvantageous.

I hereby request for copies of the RMB Trilogy to be shared with ALL Councillors. Better still, I ask that ALL MEMBERS on the RCVS mailing list be provided with clickable links to the three books.

I believe that the RCVS is obliged to facilitate full, fair and easy access to information—especially where that information disproves vet dogma and helps bring the profession into line with universally accepted medical and dental teaching.

If the RCVS administration fails in its function and declines to provide internet links for members, then I offer free PDF copies of the RMB Trilogy to all veterinarians, their staff and clients. Please send an email request to receive PDF books by return. Audiobooks are also available.