Defra has announced a consultation which seeks to strengthen the regulations around dog breeding and pet sales in order to improve animal welfare.

The consultation proposes to make it a requirement for anyone producing three more more litters a year to be licensed, and to clarify existing rules that require breeding businesses to be licensed.

The consultation also seeks to formalise the adoption of existing model conditions on good breeding health and welfare by making it a requirement of breeders to comply with the conditions and for local authorities to use them.

It is hoped that a consequence of any new regulations would be that local authorities can better target their enforcement activity by directing less resource at responsible businesses, for example those who are controlled by the Kennel Club’s UKAS-accredited Assured Breeders’ Scheme. This will free up resources to follow-up on reports of poor welfare at backstreet breeding establishments.

For the first time, the consultation will also clarify that online retailers selling puppies should be treated in the same way as high street pet shops by local authorities – meaning they must abide by the same licensing and welfare regulations.

Animal Welfare Minister George Eustice said: "We are aiming to reform the licensing regime we have so that smaller puppy breeding establishments must abide by the same regulations and licensing rules as bigger breeders so that the worst offenders can be dealt with more quickly.

"We are also reviewing other animal related licensed activities such as pet sales to address problems associated with the growing trend for internet sales that can contribute to impulse buying."

BVA President Sean Wesley said: "We welcome the consultation to strengthen the regulations around dog breeding and pet sales. It represents a valuable opportunity to improve licensing regulations and ensure all breeding establishments are producing only healthy, well-socialised puppies. Vets see first hand the tragic consequences that can result from irresponsible breeding, as owners are faced with serious and avoidable health and behavioural problems in their new pets. "

To take part in the consultation online, visit: https://consult.defra.gov.uk/animal-health-and-welfare/consultation-on-the-review-of-animal-licensing 

Photo courtesy www.gov.co.uk Crown Copyright

Here's the latest horror to hit the shops in time for Halloween this year:

Form an orderly queue please, everyone.

The Company of Animals has announced the launch of the CLIX® Car Safe Harness. Designed by Animal Psychologist and founder of The Company of Animals, Dr. Roger Mugford, the CLIX® Car Safe harness has been designed to maximise safety and comfort for dogs while ensuring easy fitting and use for owners.

Ergonomically designed from one continuous loop of approved, safety-standard seatbelt material, the CLIX ® Car Safe Harness provides maximum strength restraint in the unfortunate case of an accident.  With a simple buckling mechanism, there is no need to fiddle around with the dog's legs to get them through the harness. Instead, the harness clips from either side of the dog and then plugs into the seat belt socket. Alternatively, it can be looped through the seat belt harness, easily adjusting to any type of car.

The CLIX ® Car Safe Harness has been lined with soft neoprene padding at all points of contact for maximum comfort and safety. Special attention has been paid to the cross design used to protect the dog's chest to ensure that the harness remains in place, even when the dog changes position.

CLIX® Car Safe Harness is available in four sizes and is suitable for most breeds of dog. It comes with a free guide on safe travelling with dogs full of helpful tips on car safety. The CLIX® Car Safe also doubles as a walking harness.

For more information, visit http://www.companyofanimals.co.uk/clix-carsafe.php

What does a well-known flea & tick collar have in common with the World Cup?

It transpires that the same Bayer MaterialScience technology which is being used by Adidas to make the 'Brazuca' - the new official match ball - more stable, elastic and hardwearing, is also used to allow imidacloprid and flumethrin to diffuse consistently through Seresto flea and tick collars for up to 8 months.

There you go. Bet you didn't know that.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons has called for comment on a new draft health protocol which aims to deal compassionately with veterinary surgeons who have health problems, such as alcohol or drug addiction or mental health issues, while continuing to protect the public interest.

According to independent legal advice sought by the College, such an approach is appropriate and necessary in order for the RCVS to fulfil its regulatory responsibilities - similar systems exist within other regulators.

RCVS President Peter Jinman said: "At present, where veterinary surgeons suffer from health problems that affect their fitness to practise, they may be referred to a formal and public Disciplinary Committee inquiry and stopped from practising. But it is recognised that this is not always in the public interest, which could be protected by a more compassionate approach, involving medical help, workplace supervision and continued practice, subject to conditions."

As a result, the draft Protocol has been developed by the RCVS Preliminary Investigation and Advisory Committees. It formalises and builds on steps taken by the Preliminary Investigation Committee in the past to help veterinary surgeons to recover from health problems affecting fitness to practise, without referral to the RCVS Disciplinary Committee. Often those veterinary surgeons are also receiving help from the Veterinary Benevolent Fund's Veterinary Surgeons' Health Support Programme.

The Protocol encourages anyone coming into contact with veterinary surgeons - including other veterinary surgeons, veterinary nurses, members of practice staff, clients and healthcare professionals - who have concerns about a veterinary surgeon's health to report those concerns to the RCVS as soon as is reasonably practicable. Veterinary surgeons and veterinary nurses who are concerned about the health of a veterinary surgeon must also take steps to ensure that animals are not put at risk and that the interests of the public, including those of their colleagues, are protected.

A similar protocol would be introduced for Registered Veterinary Nurses when the equivalent disciplinary system comes into force next year.

The draft protocol, together with recommended changes to the RCVS Guide to Professional Conduct to support the change, is available online (www.rcvs.org.uk/healthprotocol) and comments are requested by 8 October 2010. The comments will be considered by Advisory Committee and then RCVS Council.

 Comments should be sent to Simon Wiklund, Advisory Manager, on s.wiklund@rcvs.org.uk. A hard copy of the consultation document is available on request.

New research¹ conducted by the Donkey Sanctuary, and announced by Spillers has shown that donkeys receiving a high fibre diet are less likely to suffer from gastric ulceration than those fed a cereal-based diet.

Gastric ulceration is now recognised as a significant problem, particularly in actively trained racehorses, but until now there have not been any studies on the incidence of gastric ulceration in donkeys. 

"Donkeys have traditionally been thought of as stoic animals that do not display signs of stress or disease," said Faith Burden, veterinary projects and development manager at the Donkey Sanctuary. "However during routine necropsy examination of donkeys at our Devon sanctuary it became apparent that gastric ulcers were common and that ulceration was, in some cases, extensive."

Examination of 426 donkeys revealed that 41% had been suffering from gastric ulcers and that the composition of the diet had had an effect on the prevalence of gastric ulceration. Donkeys that had been fed a diet including cereal-based concentrates were over 20% more likely to have gastric ulcers when compared to donkeys on a fibre concentrate or forage-only diet.

"The results of this study show that donkeys can be maintained on a fibre concentrate diet, with no increased risk of ulceration, when compared to those receiving ad lib forage," explains Faith. "This is particularly encouraging because products such as SPILLERS^® High Fibre Cubes, which can be soaked to form a mash, allow the management of ill or elderly animals requiring supplementary or specialist feeding." 

For further information on SPILLERS^® visit www.spillers-feeds.com. For further information on the Donkey Sanctuary visit www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk

¹FA Burden, AK Thiemann, AF Trawford and J Gallagher: Gastric ulcers in donkeys: prevalence and effect of diet

CEVA Animal Health has announced that all dogs entering Dogs Trust's 17 Rehoming Centres will now be fitted with a D.A.P.^® collar to help reduce their stress levels while in a kennel environment. This decision was taken following a highly successful trial¹ at Dogs Trust's state-of-the-art Rehoming Centre in West London.

The trial revealed that dogs wearing D.A.P.^® collars while in kennels were less likely to display canine stress indicators, such as barking and pacing around kennels, and were more likely to lie down and rest; signs that dogs are more relaxed.

Chris Laurence, veterinary director at Dogs Trust, said: "Dogs Trust trialled D.A.P.^® collars on dogs being admitted at our Harefield Rehoming Centre.  Many dogs are very stressed by their first experience in a kennel environment and it was shown that the use of a collar significantly reduced their stress levels.

"Centre staff were impressed with the positive changes in behaviour that were shown during the trial. Dogs were far more relaxed and less reactive to the inevitable stressful elements of their environment. We will now be using D.A.P.^® collars on all dogs entering our Rehoming Centres in tandem with the other practices we already employ to reduce kennel stress.

"Stressed dogs are more difficult to rehome so we hope the use of DAP^® to reduce stress levels will be beneficial to both their welfare and our rehoming."

For further information on D.A.P.^®, please contact your local CEVA Animal Health territory manager, or visit www.ceva.uk.com.

The BVA has called on the Government to introduce a ban on the keeping of primates as private pets.

Veterinary surgeons at the BVA have been considering the potential welfare concerns of such animals in response to an Efra select committee inquiry on the issue. They have concluded that it is almost impossible for private owners to provide primates with appropriate care as defined by the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

BVA President Robin Hargreaves said: "We appreciate that many people who keep primates privately care deeply for their pets and do their utmost to provide for them appropriately. However, primates are long-lived, intelligent, socially-complex animals and we can think of no circumstances where they would benefit from being kept as a pet.

"Primates cannot be kept on their own. They need at least one companion in order to express natural behaviour. They require both an indoor and outdoor enclosure to ensure adequate exercise and exposure to UV light, and each species has specific dietary requirements.

"These animals are not domesticated companions like dogs and cats, or even livestock, and are extraordinarily difficult to care for properly. Very few people can provide the necessary resources to meet their welfare needs. We therefore favour a ban on the keeping of primates as private pets."

The Association says that as part of the consultation, it considered the possibility that primate welfare could be improved through better regulation or licensing but members did not feel these options went far enough given the difficulties involved in meeting primates' basic welfare needs.

The only exception to the ban recommended by the BVA would be to allow individuals who are working in partnership with accredited zoos to breed primates for conservation purposes.

BVA also recognises that a ban could not be enforced immediately and effective plans, including an appropriate transition period, would be needed to secure suitable accommodation for existing pet primates.

Academics from the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences have been awarded a grant from RCVS Knowledge to create a free online teaching and learning resource for evidence-based veterinary medicine (EBVM).

The project will produce an open access series of online, re-usable learning tools presented as a web tutorial. The tutorial will have a number of modules teaching the fundamental concepts of evidence-based veterinary medicine such as finding evidence, creating patient questions, evaluating evidence, critically appraising the literature and designing knowledge summaries with clinical bottom lines for clinicians.

Brief tasks will allow users to apply and test their knowledge in bite-sized ways, for example by answering multiple choice questions, identifying appropriate clinical questions and designing search strategies to answer those questions, completing a literature search and filling in a template for a knowledge summary.

Dr Kristen Reyher, Senior Lecturer in Farm Animal Science in the School of Veterinary Sciences (pictured right), who is leading the project team, said: "This project is the largest RCVS Knowledge award to date. It is a significant step forward and will establish Bristol as a leader in this essential area. Our approach will increase the opportunities for students and members of the profession to engage in this exciting field, and the online resource will offer the flexibility to be re-used not only in independent learning, but also in a variety of teaching and learning scenarios across the sector.

"As a global group, we are passionate about being involved in larger, long-term projects to push EBVM further into the consciousness of the profession, and believe this project moves us one step further along in bringing together key stakeholders and creating an excellent online re-usable resource."

The project team represents a variety of diverse backgrounds including clinicians, scientists, researchers and other areas of the veterinary profession. The team says it believes that collaboration, sharing and adaptation of the many resources that have already been developed individually is the most powerful way to meet stakeholder needs and make a significant contribution to EBVM.

It is hoped the team's approach will increase the opportunities for students and members of the profession to engage in this exciting field and, by using best practice in pedagogy, help ensure the topic is introduced well and adopted wholeheartedly by the veterinary profession.

The resource will be available as a stand-alone tutorial for independent learning and will also have the flexibility for institutions to re-use and re-purpose individual parts to meet their own training needs. The resource will be showcased at RCVS Knowledge's EBVM Skills Day 2015 in London this autumn [Friday 30 October].

Virbac has launched Veterinary HPM Digestive Support wet diets, two clinical diets for the nutritional management of digestive issues and convalescence in cats and dogs.

Virbac says this is the only wet product to provide separate species-specific dog and cat convalescence diets tailored to the unique nutritional needs of both species.

In an internal study conduct by Virbac, 86% of dogs with digestive issues improved within a week of using the diet¹ 

The new diets are high in protein and low in carbohydrate and they can be used alone or in combination with the company's dry diets (suggested 50/50 split).

Andrew Connolly, Marketing Director – UK & Ireland at Virbac said: “We’re thrilled with the overwhelmingly positive feedback we've received on our new Veterinary HPM Digestive Support wet diets.

“Practices and pet owners alike are commenting on the extraordinary palatability of the diets and their effectiveness, particularly with convalescing and inappetent pets”. 

References

1. O’Neill DG et al. BMC Vet Res 2021; 17(69): 1-14. (2) Internal study on 42 dogs with at least 3 abnormal digestive parameters, fed exclusively with 50% VETERINARY HPM G1 Dry & 50% VETERINARY HPM G Wet, 2024. (3) Internal study on 86 healthy dogs sequentially fed with 3 different wet foods for digestive disorders, including VETERINARY HPM Gastro Wet, 2024.

Bayer Animal Health has announced the launch of three new educational videos which look at some common concerns in the profession about antimicrobials, including owner compliance, laboratory testing, and prescribing policies in different clinical scenarios.

The videos follow research conducted by Bayer as part of its Veraflox What Lies Beneath campaign in which 73% of veterinary surgeons cited owner compliance as a frequent cause of treatment failure when tackling bacterial infections, and only 5%¹ of vets said that they send samples for culture and sensitivity testing routinely in cases where they suspect bacterial involvement.

In the first video presentation, Matt Jones, Microbiology Manager at IDEXX Laboratories, focuses on the importance of culture and sensitivity testing, and how to interpret results from these tests. Matt discusses the merits and drawbacks of various testing techniques available, both in-house and from external laboratories. 

In the second presentation, Liz Watkins, founder of Chunk Training, a veterinary training provider which specialises in customer service, provides communication tips to improve consultation technique and increase owner compliance when a course of antimicrobials has been prescribed.

In the final presentation, Ian Battersby, Recognised Specialist in Small Animal Internal Medicine at Davies Veterinary Specialists answers commonly asked questions submitted by vets about antibiotics. Questions include how to adopt a practice antimicrobial policy,  how to decide when it is appropriate to use antibiotics in GI disease and how to approach cases that are not responding as expected to antimicrobial treatment.

Hannah Watts, Group Product Manager at Bayer said: ‘‘The issues highlighted by the research need to be addressed in order to help promote responsible antimicrobial use. One of the key findings from the survey was the relatively low number of culture and sensitivity tests that are routinely performed. This may in part be due to financial constraints, but in addition to assisting in appropriate antimicrobial selection, culture and sensitivity tests often save money for the client in the long run, as well as helping to resolve the condition as quickly as possible, leading to improved treatment outcomes for the pet.‘’ 

Watching the videos can be used to count towards your annual CPD requirement. They're now available at www.vetcentre.bayer.co.uk. 

Dômes Pharma has produced a range of support materials to help vets educate pet owners on the early signs of eye conditions during National Pet Eye Health Awareness Week which this year runs from 16th – 22nd September.

The materials include a social media toolkit and a board kit, both designed to encourage owner awareness and more frequent conversations on eye health.

There is also a new CPD module, focused on ophthalmology.

The company is running a webinar on 24th September which focuses on management of dry eye and corneal ulcers for brachycephalic dogs

Campaign materials & VPD module: https://www.tvm-uk.com/national-pet-eye-health-awareness-week 

Webinar: https://thewebinarvet.com/webinars/take-a-closer-look-big-eyes-big-problems-ocular-issues-of-the-brachycephalic