A FARNHAM cafe owner has extolled the virtues of owning a pet to mark national Love Your Pet Day.

Giles Lovett, the 45-year-old owner of vegan cafe Okomoko in Downing Street, had several surgeries over a decade ago on both of his knees due to double circulate ligament damage caused by playing rugby and hockey.

Such was the extent of the damage to his knees, he found extensive walking extremely difficult – even many years after the surgeries.

He didn’t realise it at first, but adopting two-year-old Labrador retriever Henry would play a huge part in his road to recovery.

Because of Henry, Giles was forced to walk him for an hour daily and he says it has massively improved how he feels physically and helped reduce his knee pain substantially.

Although his knee hasn’t fully recovered, he is no longer considering another surgery and he credits his time exercising outdoors with Henry as the reason why.

In addition to aiding Giles in his physical recovery, Henry also helped him with his mental and emotional wellbeing as he was only able to work part-time due to his recovery restrictions.

With his big personality, Henry quickly became great company in recovery and Giles was able to meet other dog owners too.

Giles showed Henry some extra love on Love Your Pet Day by taking him not on just one, but two long walks!