CCTV will be required in all areas where live animals are present, with unrestricted access to footage for Official Veterinarians.
In addition, the Government has also announced that it will be modernising statutory animal welfare codes to reflect enhancements in medicines, technology and the latest research and advice from veterinary surgeons. The codes will remain enshrined in law and the first to be updated will cover chickens bred for meat.
Consultations on these proposals have been launched this morning (https://consult.defra.gov.uk/farm-animal-welfare/cctv-in-slaughterhouses/ and https://consult.defra.gov.uk/animal-health-and-welfare/code-of-practice-for-the-welfare-of-meat-chickens/)
Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: "We have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and the actions I am setting out today will reinforce our status as a global leader.
"As we prepare to leave the EU, these measures provide a further demonstration to consumers around the world that our food is produced to the very highest standards."
BVA President Gudrun Ravetz said: "Today’s announcement is extremely welcome. We have been campaigning on this issue for a number of years and this announcement represents a huge win for animal health and welfare in England.
"Mandatory CCTV in all areas of slaughterhouses will provide an essential tool in fostering a culture of compassion that could help safeguard animal welfare and we are particularly pleased to see a commitment to Official Veterinarians having unrestricted access to footage.
"Vets' independence and unique qualifications help ensure that the UK will continue to have the highest standards of animal health, welfare and food safety.
"We recognise that the cost of installing CCTV may be a burden for some very small abattoirs, but it is important that the animals we farm for food have both a good life and a humane death and CCTV has a key role to play in ensuring these requirements are met."
Gudrun added: "We welcome the consultation to update welfare codes for farmed animals and pets, many of which are in urgent need of updating to reflect the latest animal welfare science and good practice. We are keen to see Defra working with the veterinary profession, industry and all relevant stakeholders to ensure vital welfare codes are brought up to date."
John Tasker of the British Veterinary Poultry Association said: "BVPA are committed to supporting research and implementation of best practice in all aspects of poultry production, including welfare on farm and in the abattoir. We look forward to cooperating fully with Defra in development and implementation of these new initiatives. The British poultry industry has some of the highest welfare standards in the world and seeks to continually update and refine its practices in the light of new research, and to maintain public confidence in the industry."
Photo: Lititz, Pennsylvania. Hoisting a slaughtered steer in Benjamin Lutz's slaughterhouse, 1942. Wikipedia.
Kruuse UK has expanded the well-known Buster range of “elizabethan” collars with the introduction of a Buster Comfort Collar. This new design is softer and more flexible and features a soft rubber outer edge for better comfort for the animal and is kinder to its surroundings.
Kruuse says prolonged use can make the edges of strong, rigid plastic collars brittle and ragged, especially with active animals, which is why the Comfort Collar was developed to alleviate this problem in such situations. Manufactured out of environmentally-friendly 100 per cent polypropylene, these collars still feature the quick-fastening system found on the Buster Clic Collar and are fully transparent to allow the animal all-round vision. The Buster Comfort Collars are available in seven sizes ranging from 7.5 to 30cm. For further information, please contact: Andrew Groom, Country Manager, Kruuse UK Ltd. Telephone: +44 (0) 1977 681523. E-mail: andrew.groom@kruuse.com.
The Legislative Reform Order (LRO) to reconstitute the RCVS disciplinary committees separately from its Council has come into force and has amended the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 (VSA).
The LRO brings the RCVS in line with regulatory best practice and, says the College, improves the independence of its disciplinary processes, marking a major step towards the College becoming a 'First Rate Regulator'.
The amendment made by the LRO requires that the RCVS Preliminary Investigation and Disciplinary Committees are made up of veterinary surgeons and lay members who are not RCVS Council members, and who are appointed independently. This ensures that the same group of people is not responsible for setting the rules, investigating complaints and adjudication.
The LRO also brings lay people formally into the Preliminary Investigation Committee and will allow the RCVS to increase the pool of people available to investigate complaints and sit on disciplinary hearings.
The first external members will join the Disciplinary and Preliminary Investigation Committees from July 2013. After a two-year transition period, members of the RCVS Council will become ineligible for membership of these committees.
RCVS Registrar, Gordon Hockey, said: "The LRO has been the culmination of many years hard work by the RCVS and Defra, with the support of the British Veterinary Association. At first glance the change that the LRO makes to the Act may appear minor, but the reform fundamentally improves the way the veterinary profession is regulated, and will help to ensure public confidence in the RCVS disciplinary processes."
For the study, 2,834 seizure incident cases were identified from a population of 455,553 dogs attending VetCompass participating practices in 2013.
The study found that that approximately 1 in 160 dogs under first opinion veterinary care are affected by seizures every year.
Many of those dogs will have underlying epilepsy, defined as dogs with two or more unprovoked seizures at least 24 hours apart. Seizures can be secondary to idiopathic epilepsy, structural epilepsy or epilepsy of unknown cause.
Until now, however, there has been little information on the classifications of seizures, diagnostic approaches, or clinical management of dogs with seizures in the veterinary first opinion population.
The main findings from the research were:
Dr Dan O’Neill, Senior Lecturer in Companion Animals Epidemiology at the RVC, and author of the paper, said: "Watching your dog undergo a seizure can be an incredibly scary moment for any dog owner. It is really important that dogs that seizure are rapidly diagnosed to decide whether they need no further treatment beyond careful monitoring or alternatively require a clinical work-up to define the cause of the seizures.
"There are now some excellent treatments for many seizure-related diseases. This study helps up to understand the current state of play for seizure management in dogs and identifies opportunities for improved care of these affected dogs."
Reference
The full paper is freely available from Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine and can be accessed here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jvim.15911
Pets At Home Vet Group and Dick White Referrals have announced a strategic partnership in order to develop Pets at Home's strategy for providing specialist care.
Pets at Home says it is creating a new divisional structure comprised of the existing First Opinion Division (Vets4Pets and Companion Care joint venture practices) and the new Specialist Division, which comprises Dick White Referrals, Northwest Surgeons, Anderson Moores, and Eye Vet Referrals.
Dick White has been appointed Clinical Director of the new Specialist Division.
Dick will remain as a shareholder in Dick White Referrals. He and three of the Specialist clinicians - Giunio Bruto Cherubini, Federico Corletto and Rob Foale - will retain 24% of the practice.
Sally Hopson, CEO of Pets at Home Vet Group said: "We are delighted to have attracted a colleague of Dick White’s pedigree to join us, not only to help drive the future growth of Dick White Referrals, but also to play a key role in developing our Specialist Division. Professor White is a key figure in the development of the Specialist Veterinary segment; he has trained many of the leading Specialist veterinary practitioners. This is a tremendous step forward for the Vet Group. I’m also very pleased that Professor White and his colleagues have chosen to remain as equity partners in Dick White Referrals."
Dick said: "Forming this strategic partnership provides great opportunities for us to continue to develop Dick White Referrals as a world class referrals centre with a team of leading Veterinary Specialists. I am delighted to be working with a partner that shares our vision for Dick White Referrals and is committed to supporting its future development. Joining the Board of the Specialist Division will allow me to provide clinical leadership and governance across the division, input into the formulation of strategy and support M&A activity and veterinary recruitment."
RSPCA has launched a new website called 'Political Animal' to encourage voters to lobby their prospective parliamentary candidates about animal welfare issues ahead of the General Election.
The site offers an interesting timeline of the last 20 years of animal welfare law, leading up to the Animal Welfare Act 2006, showing landmark changes. It also gives details of the RSPCA's stance on issues like status dogs, higher welfare farming, wild animals in circuses and animals used in experiments.
RSPCA parliamentary officer Stacey Frier, said: "The Political Animal microsite is a unique project allowing our supporters to drive the debate by letting politicians know what they want them to do for animal welfare if they are elected.
"The RSPCA and its supporters have been instrumental in campaigning for change in animal welfare legislation since the Society's creation in 1824 and we're urging the incoming parliament to continue to work with us to achieve further animal welfare milestones."
For more information, please log on to http://www.politicalanimal.org.uk/
Ms Buttler was charged with having been under the influence of alcohol whilst at work on two separate occasions. On both occasions, she was working as a locum veterinary nurse.
The first occasion was between 25th and 28th April 2016 in Frome, and the second from 3rd July to 4th July 2016 in Salisbury.
It was also alleged that a prior conviction of drunk driving on 19th November 2013 rendered her unfit to practise as a veterinary nurse.
The Committee decided to hear the case in Ms Buttler’s absence as it was satisfied that she had properly been served with the notice of hearing and because she had stated that she was aware of the proceedings but did not wish to engage with the process. The Committee also noted that she had not requested any adjournment.
The Committee heard from five witnesses for the first charge, including three veterinary nurses and one veterinary surgeon. They gave testimony that they had had cause to suspect that Ms Buttler was under the influence of alcohol whilst at work due to her demeanour, and recalled Ms Buttler repeatedly retreating upstairs to her accommodation during the working day. Further, an open wine bottle was found in Ms Buttler’s accommodation and was observed to have been drunk during the course of her shift. The Committee found the first charge proved.
The Committee heard from four witnesses in respect of the second charge. Two of the witnesses stated that they smelt alcohol on Ms Buttler’s breath while she was on duty, with one of them stating that Ms Buttler had slurred speech and a flushed face at the end of a fourteen-hour shift. The other two witnesses also presented evidence to support the assertion that Ms Buttler was under the influence of alcohol whilst at work, while the Committee found that Ms Buttler lacked credibility because she had denied having any alcohol on the premises when originally confronted, but later admitted in an email to the College that she had had an open bottle of wine in her bag. The Committee found the second charge proved.
The Committee then considered the third charge, namely the conviction in 2013. The Committee considered the certificate of conviction obtained from the North East Devon Magistrates Court and was satisfied that Ms Buttler had been convicted of driving with excess alcohol as set out within charge 3.
When considering whether these all amounted to a finding of disgraceful conduct in a professional respect, the Committee was concerned about Ms Buttler showing no insight into her drinking, and the repeated nature of the offences. The Committee also considered that being under the influence of alcohol when working as a veterinary nurse was conduct which fell far short of the standards to be expected of members of the veterinary nursing profession.
It therefore concluded that Ms Buttler was guilty of disgraceful conduct in respect of charges 1 and 2.
The Committee then considered whether Ms Buttler’s conviction (charge 3) rendered her unfit to practise as a veterinary nurse. The Committee concluded that Ms Buttler had not acknowledged the seriousness of her actions in 2013, or learnt any lessons from it. Accordingly, it felt that she continued to pose a risk to animals and the public in the future. The Committee also felt that the conviction undermined the reputation of the veterinary nursing profession because the offence inevitably involved a risk of injury to herself and other road users.
Having found Ms Buttler guilty of misconduct, the Committee went on to consider sanction.
The Committee took into account aggravating factors, including that there was a risk of injury to an animal, the fact that the first two charges involved an element of premeditation, the fact that Ms Buttler was under the influence on more than one shift in each practice, that there is no evidence of insight from Ms Buttler and there is a future risk to animals if she continued to practice unrestricted.
They also considered mitigating factors, including the fact that this is the first disciplinary hearing she has faced, that she did not cause any harm to any animal and that she did not gain financially from her conduct.
In reaching its decision Jane Downes, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: "The Committee noted that Ms Buttler said she had worked for twenty years without any problem and that she was previously of good character. However because there was no evidence that Ms Buttler would not repeat the conduct with regards to working whilst under the influence of alcohol she could continue to pose a risk to animals or the public in the future. The Committee therefore was bound to consider her removal from the register.
"Although it noted from the brief email correspondence Ms Buttler had sent to the College that she said she did not intend to practice in the future, the Committee decided that until she had shown insight into her behaviour in 2016, she remained a risk to animals. It therefore decided that the proportionate action was to instruct the Registrar to remove her name from the register of veterinary nurses forthwith."
If Ms Buttler chose to re-engage with the College, she could apply for restoration to the register after ten months.
The inquiry in regard to Karen Tracey Hancock took place in her absence in January, after she indicated that she was content not to appear or to be represented.
The charges against Mrs Hancock related to an injury she falsely claimed she sustained to her knee while moving a euthanased dog in August 2015 that was then exacerbated while moving another dog a couple of weeks later.
The charges also stated that she made entries in the practice’s accident book also stating that she had injured her knee at work and then aggravated it later.
The charges also stated that, in County Court civil proceedings against the practice in relation to the alleged injuries, she falsely:
The Committee noted that the County Court claim made by Mrs Hancock was listed for a trial and concluded with a consent order dated 21 June 2019 which stated that the claim was dismissed.
It also considered evidence from eyewitnesses regarding the two alleged events that led to and exacerbated her knee injury in August 2015. In doing so the Committee found that, though Mrs Hancock did have an injury to her right knee, this was due to a horse-riding incident a number of years earlier and that her account of the incidents on 13 and 29 August, and therefore her claims to have been caused injury by them, were false and that her conduct had been dishonest.
The Committee therefore found all charges against Mrs Hancock proven.
The Committee then considered whether the proven charges amounted to serious professional misconduct. In doing so it considered submissions made by Counsel for the RCVS that there were a number of aggravating factors in the case of Mrs Hancock’s conduct including that the misconduct was sustained over a long period of time, was premeditated and involved lying for financial gain.
In commenting on whether the conduct was serious professional misconduct Judith Way, chairing the Committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “The Committee found all of the aggravating factors set out… in this case applied to its decision on whether or not the conduct amounted to disgraceful conduct in a professional respect.
"Such conduct would bring the profession of veterinary nurses into disrepute and would undermine public confidence in the profession because the dishonesty was directly concerned with the respondent’s work as a veterinary nurse in the veterinary practice.
"The Committee concluded that the dishonest behaviour was serious misconduct, particularly so because it took place at the respondent’s workplace. It considered that honesty and trust between veterinary nurses and their employers is essential to the profession and that such conduct as set out in the charges would be considered deplorable by other members of the profession."
The Committee was therefore satisfied that all four charges individually and cumulatively amounted to serious professional misconduct.
Committee members then considered the appropriate sanction for Mrs Hancock, taking into account the aggravating factors, including a lack of insight in that, in correspondence before the hearing, she continued to deny the charges. In mitigation it noted that there had been a significant lapse of time and that she had a long and hitherto unblemished career.
On balance it decided that removal from the Register was the appropriate and proportionate sanction and requested Mrs Hancock be removed from the Register, particularly as dishonesty is considered ‘in the top spectrum of gravity’ for misconduct.
Judith Way added: “The Committee acknowledged that the respondent was physically unwell with her knee between 2015 and 2019. However there was no evidence that her health had caused her to commit the misconduct. It noted the representations that the respondent made regarding the need to support herself financially but the Committee determined that the public interest outweighed the respondent’s own interests in this case because the proven dishonesty in the circumstances in which it took place was fundamentally incompatible with continued professional registration.
“In the Committee’s judgment without any evidence of remorse or insight by the respondent a suspension order could not meet the public interest in this case. It therefore concluded that removal of the Respondent’s name from the register was the proportionate and appropriate sanction in this case.”
Part of the Pets at Home Vet Group, the new centre was originally set for a Spring/Summer 2020 opening, but the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown set launch plans back to later in the year.
The 24/7 referral centre, which is led by Dr Sam Woods and Professor Dick White as co-Clinical Directors, takes referrals in orthopaedics, internal medicine, neurology, soft tissue surgery, diagnostic imaging and anaesthesia.
Sam said: "We are thrilled to finally be able to officially open our centre this week and to start welcoming patients from the surrounding area and throughout Scotland.
"This has been a strange and difficult year for us all, and as a profession we have faced some hard months. We hope our new referral hospital will be a great asset to the local first opinion professionals, as an extra support with any specialist referral cases, and we are really looking forward to building relationships with them.
"We are lucky to have a great team of veterinary Specialists, nurses and support colleagues at VSS, who are all dedicated to offering the best service and care possible. We are all excited to see what the next few months will bring.
The centre, based at Deer Park in Livingston, will also provide a CPD programme and internship and residency opportunities to those in the profession.
Professor Dick White said: “Since its original inception, our vision for VSS has always been to create a world-class facility, with state-of-the-art technology and outstanding levels of care, and it feels great that we have finally been able to open the doors, welcome patients in and start on our journey.
"We hope the referral centre not only supports local vets and pets, but also fosters new talent and helps develop the next generation of veterinary professionals through our CPD and Internship offering. We are looking forward to what the future will hold."
Cefshot is indicated for treatment of subclinical mastitis at drying off with action against Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria.
Jude Roberts MRCVS from Zoetis says this makes possible three-way selective dry cow therapy with products from the company's dry cow portfolio: "With evidence-based triage, this covers teat sealant solo, in combination with narrow spectrum cloxacillin, or now with broader spectrum long-acting cephalonium.
"This is in keeping with the trend from milk buyers for increasing precision in the use of antibiotic dry cow therapy, and only when it is justified in the first place."
Dry periods longer that 54 days require milk withhold for 96 hours. For shorter dry periods, milk withhold is 58 days. Meat withhold period is 21 days.
Cefshot is available in multiples of 24 and 120 tubes, for delivery September onwards.
According to the AHT, there is undisputed evidence that owners, riders and trainers have a poor ability to recognise signs of pain seen when horses are ridden. As a result, problems are labelled as training-related, rider-related, behavioural, or deemed 'normal' for that horse because 'that’s how he’s always gone'.
This, says the AHT, means pain-related problems are often disregarded, the horse continues in work, and the problem gets progressively worse.
Dr Sue Dyson, Head of Clinical Orthopaedics at the AHT, believes it may be easier to educate riders and trainers to recognise changes in facial expression and behaviour rather than lameness. So she and her team set out to develop and test an ethogram to describe facial expressions in ridden horses and to determine whether individuals could interpret and correctly apply the ethogram consistently.
At this stage in the project, they concluded that their ethogram could reliably be used to describe facial expressions of ridden horses by people from different professional backgrounds (full paper here: http://www.journalvetbehavior.com/article/S1558-7878(16)30184-8/fulltext).
In the next stage of the project, Sue and her team sought to demonstrate that the ethogram could be used to identify lameness.
The ethogram was applied blindly by a trained analyst to photographs (n=519) of the head and neck of lame (n=76) and non-lame (n=25) horses acquired during ridden schooling-type work at both trot and canter. These included images of seven lame horses acquired before (n=30 photographs) and after diagnostic analgesia had abolished lameness (n=22 photographs).
A pain score (0-3; 0=normal, 1-3=abnormal) was applied to each feature in the ethogram, based on published descriptions of pain in horses.
A total of 27,407 facial markers were recorded, with those giving the greatest significant difference between lame and sound horses including ears back, eyes partially or fully closed, an open mouth with exposed teeth and being severely above the bit.
Pain scores were higher for lame horses than non-lame horses (p<0.001). Total pain score (p<0.05), total head position score (p<0.01), and total ear score (p<0.01) were reduced in lame horses after abolition of lameness.
Severely ‘above the bit’, twisting the head, asymmetrical position of the bit, ear position (both ears backwards, one ear backwards and one to the side, one ear backwards and one ear forwards) and eye features (exposure of the sclera, the eye partially or completely closed, muscle tension caudal to the eye, an intense stare) were the best indicators of pain.
The researchers concluded that application of the ethogram and pain score could differentiate between lame and non-lame horses. Assessment of facial expression could potentially improve recognition of pain-related gait abnormalities in ridden horses (full paper here: http://www.journalvetbehavior.com/article/S1558-7878(17)30019-9/fulltext)
Sue and her team are now working on the development of a whole horse ethogram and its application to non-lame and lame horses, to help to differentiate between manifestations of conflict behaviour, in response to the demands of the rider, and pain. They are also working towards the development of a practical tool for recognising facial expressions, similar to that of a body condition score chart, which they say could dramatically improve the health and welfare of all horses.
Photo: Signs of pain include ears back (pain score of 3), intense stare, muscle tension and mouth. Courtesy Dr Sue Tyson.
The disease had been identified as a priority by the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework Group.
Further details will be announced in the coming months following ongoing discussions with industry representatives.
The Minister said: "Sheep scab has significant economic consequences for sheep producers and animal welfare issues for sheep. It is one of the most contagious disease of sheep in Wales and eradicating it is a priority for us and the industry.
"I’m pleased to be able to announce £5m Rural Development Programme funding will be used to help support the industry tackle the disease. Eradicating the disease has the potential to deliver significant lasting economic benefits for the sector at a particularly challenging time as we prepare to leave the European Union."
The service offers Galen myotherapy, a form of massage, together with diet, exercise, nutraceutical and weight advice, house management advice, and an owner awareness and pain indicator assessment.
Hannah, who spent 14 years in small animal practice, said: "During a very bad week in practice I put two dogs to sleep in quick succession who’d both gone off their back legs. They were mentally there but their bodies had given up. I realised that osteoarthritis needed to be approached much more thoroughly and at a much earlier stage in a dog’s life."
CAM’s home-visiting service assesses arthritic dogs in the calm of their own surroundings. Hannah says that treatment aims to improve a dog’s posture and movement, support their ability to exercise and give owners the tools they need to make life easier for arthritic dogs. She added: "In a consultation, it can be very difficult to get all the information across to an owner whose dog has just been diagnosed with arthritis. CAM is a unique service that fills a gap. It aims to go into a dog’s home and make adjustments that will be good for that individual long-term."
Hannah says that the new service is offered alongside the owner's existing veterinary surgeon, who will need to give consent and prescribe any other treatments, such as NSAIDs, which are needed as part of the larger treatment plan. In other words, it's an additional service that vets can offer to their clients, ensuring they are doing everything they can to help their many arthritic patients.
Hannah said: "Arthritis is a household name, it's massively prevalent in humans and there are huge support services for people dealing with the chronic pain associated with the condition. As a profession we know that dogs with arthritis suffer the same pain – it’s time we had a proper service for them too. CAM is that service – a tailored, multimodal approach to help successfully manage these patients."
Canine Arthritis Management (CAM) is currently available to dog owners throughout Sussex. If you would like to know more, email info@caninearthritis.co.uk
Animalcare Ltd has launched Tilmodil (tilmicosin 300mg/ml solution for injection), a semi-synthetic macrolide antibiotic licensed for pneumonia in cattle and sheep, foul in the foot in cattle, and footrot and mastitis in sheep.
According to the company, Tilmicosin is fast-acting1, long-acting2 and highly effective against the major Gram-ve bovine respiratory pathogens.2,3 In addition, the company says tissue penetration is excellent.1 In calves a single SC injection at 10mg/kg bw results in lung concentrations exceeding the MIC90 of Mannheimia haemolytica for 72 hours.2
Animalcare says that pooled data from greater than 6000 cattle has confirmed the effectiveness of tilmicosin in the treatment of bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in well-controlled, randomised field studies. Tilmodil treatment has been proven equally effective compared to antibiotics, such as florfenicol, marbofloxacin and danofloxacin.
A recent report by the Farm Animal Welfare Council estimates that three million of the national sheep flock are lame at any one time. It is estimated that footrot is responsible for greater than 90% of lameness and is present in 97% of flocks. Tilmicosin has good activity against the key Gram-ve pathogens2 and has been successfully used in the treatment of footrot.4
Tilmodil has been developed for animal use only and is administered by veterinary surgeons only. Dosage is 1ml per 30kg bw for respiratory disease and mastitis in sheep and 0.5ml per 30kg bw for interdigital necrobacillosis (foul in the foot/footrot/bovine pododermatitis).
Tilmodil is administered as a single, low volume subcutaneous (SC) injection dose and presented in 50ml multi-dose vials.
References
1. Apley M., Antimicrobial therapy of Bovine Respiratory Disease.Veterinary Clinics of North America.Food Animal Practice (1997) 13,3:159-5622. Tilmodil SPC3. Giguere S et al .,Antimicrobial therapy in Veterinary Medicine.4th edition 2006.Chp.12,2014. Winter A., Lameness in sheep. 2. Treatment and control. In Practice (2004),3, 130-139.
For the study, the researchers analysed rehoming adverts placed on the websites of 16 Dogs Trust and RSPCA centres in 2015 and 2018. Data was collected on 1793 dogs across the 16 centres.
The percentage of dogs classified as 'extreme brachycephalic' using the Kennel Club definition increased from 2.76% (n=24) in 2015 to 5.19% (n=48) in 2018.The researchers speculate that owners may be passing on the financial burden of caring for and treating chronic health issues in brachycephalic dogs to the rehoming charities.
Dr Anne Carter, Senior Lecturer in Animal Science at Nottingham Trent University said: "The increasing numbers and rising popularity of brachycephalic breeds is already influencing the demographic spread in rescue centres. This pattern that is likely to continue, particularly as these dogs reach 3–4 years old, which we have found is the most common age for dogs being relinquished.
"Differing breeds require highly contrasting intensities of care, housing, and particularly veterinary care. Owners may often choose brachycephalic dogs with limited consideration for their potential health conditions. These dogs then enter rescue centres, placing additional strain on resources due to cost of treatment and additional length of stay for recovery.”
Feliscratch by Feliway is a synthetic copy of the feline interdigital semiochemical (FIS) naturally produced by cats and Ceva says it is the only product clinically proven to help divert scratching behaviour onto a desired location.
The company says it helps control both vertical and horizontal scratching and helps prevent inappropriate scratching with newly adopted cats or kittens.
The new pheromone is available in a pack of nine single use 5ml pipettes which should be applied on a scratching post to redirect the scratching.
The product attracts cats in three ways: the blue staining mimics the visual message (scratch marks), catnip helps attract the cat to the scratching post and the pheromone directs cat scratching on the surface where the product has been applied. One pack lasts for up to four weeks.
Feliscratch by Feliway can be used alongside Feliway Classic if the owner is experiencing stress-related scratching or alongside Feliway Friends for conflicts in the home.
Claire Russell, pheromone product manager at Ceva Animal Health said: "Scratching is a major problem in cat owning households with many owners experiencing damaged carpets, sofas and other household furniture. Feliscratch by Feliway can help redirect scratching onto a desired location, such as a scratching post, and can be used in conjunction with Feliway Classic and Feliway Friends to help prevent other stress-related behaviours."
Ceva Animal Health has launched a range of marketing materials to support the launch of Feliscratch by Feliway including a pet owner leaflet, posters, wobblers and a digital pack containing social media posts, product pack shots, logo and videos.
For information on Feliway visit www.feliway.com/uk.
The practice was formed earlier this year by Jade Statt and Sam Joseph, two veterinary surgeons who, quite separately, had been inspired by the bond between homeless people and their dogs and decided to do what they could to help. Each hit the streets, Jade in Westminster and Sam in North London, offering healthchecks and basic flea and worm treatment to the homeless. Unbeknownst to each other, they worked under the same name of Streetvet.
Their paths crossed earlier this year, whereupon they decided to join forces and create a proper framework through which to deliver not just preventative care for the majority of animals that are well cared for and healthy, but treatment for those that need it. So Streetvet was born.
Since then, the practice has grown to a 65-strong team of volunteer veterinary surgeons and nurses providing a free, first opinion veterinary service across London, supported by drug companies, veterinary practices, animal welfare charities, social non-profit organisations and local councils.
Jade said: "We have vets out in the community at least 4 days a week and everything that can be done in a consultation room, we can perform on the street. This includes medicating, vaccinating, blood sampling, urine analysis, lump sampling, microchipping and more.
"When we meet a dog that needs more advanced treatment we are able to take them to one of the practices that we work at to perform procedures including neutering, dental work, surgery, diagnostic imaging and even hydrotherapy.
"Being vets, we love animals, but much of our day-to-day work involves caring for their owners as well. Many of the owners that we meet are vulnerable people and one of the main benefits of having vets out on the streets is that we get to know the owners and their dogs and gain their trust.”
Streetvet will be launching in Brighton on Sunday 26th November and in Bristol on 2nd December.
if you are in the Brighton or Bristol area and want to volunteer, offer practice support or get involved with fundraising, email: info@streetvet.co.uk.
Veterinary professionals across the UK are also encouraged to email their interest in volunteering, to help StreetVet build its database and in time set up StreetVet UK-wide.
Andrea Tarr BPharm MSC MRPharmS, the founder and director of Veterinary Prescriber said: "Prescribing is a neglected aspect of veterinary practice. When it comes to making treatment decisions, vets are very poorly supported by their professional organisations, the pharmaceutical industry has a hugely distorting influence and there's a lack of access to really helpful information.
"We're determined to use the expertise in Veterinary Prescriber to change this, and support vets in their use of medicines in the best interests of animals, their owners and the environment.
"With this in mind, we start the year with a learning module of good veterinary dispensing practice."
The module explains what constitutes a well-run dispensary, including how to organise, handle and store medicines correctly. It reviews the legal classifications of medicines, including controlled drugs and the cascade. It also considers why dispensing errors occur and what to do when they happen.
Veterinary Prescriber says its modules are evidence-based, peer-reviewed and independent of the pharmaceutical industry.
Subscription costs £9.95 per month, which you can cancel any time. To subscribe, visit: www.veterinaryprescriber.org
This year the congress is being organised in collaboration with the British Veterinary Dermatology Study Group and will form the Group’s autumn meeting.
The main scientific topics are skin and ear surgery, skin biology, host-microbial interaction, dermatophytosis, exotics dermatology and clinical pharmacology. There will be a three-tiered programme:
Basic level: providing updates on the topics covered
Intermediate level: advanced information for those with a good grounding in veterinary dermatology
Advanced level: more specialist subjects, including human dermatology
For the first time, there will also be a dedicated nurses programme, taking place on Saturday 28th September.
Laura Buckley CertVD DipECVD MRCVS, Local Organising Committee (pictured right), said: "Congress is always a major event in the veterinary dermatology calendar, featuring some of the world’s leading specialists, and this year showcases some of Liverpool’s spectacular historic sites.
"As always there will be commercial and poster exhibitions featuring state-of-the-art veterinary products and leading research in veterinary dermatology respectively."
This year’s social programme includes the Welcome Reception on Thursday 26th and the Dinner Dance on Friday 27th September. The Welcome Reception will be held at Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. It is the largest Cathedral in the UK and the fifth largest in the world.
The Dinner Dance will take place at Revolución de Cuba overlooking the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Albert Dock.
For further information and to register please visit the congress website: www.esvd-ecvdcongress.com
Lucy and Rosanna have joined the business in hybrid positions as Novice OVs and will do this alongside working in a clinical practice.
The company says this is a significant milestone for the industry, which has relied on overseas talent for many years.
Eville & Jones says it has now developed a compelling proposition for UK new graduates who want to combine OV work with traditional clinical practice, and vets looking for a lifestyle change or a move away from practice, working flexibly in export certification, abattoir work, certification against standards, or small animal vaccination.
Charles Hartwell, chief executive officer of Eville & Jones said: “The team at Eville & Jones has spent two years developing an attractive proposition to encourage UK-educated veterinary surgeons to consider a career in this field, whether combined with traditional clinical practice, or stand alone.
"We wish Lucy and Rosanna the best of luck and hope they become trailblazers for many others to follow in their footsteps.”
Lucy said: “I’m really excited to be starting my career in veterinary public health where, as an OV, you can positively affect the lives of 1000’s of animals."
Rosanna added: “I’m really proud to have joined the veterinary industry this summer; OVs are instrumental in monitoring and safe-guarding animal welfare in a way that many vets don't realise."
Led by Jacques Ferreira, an RCVS and European Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia (pictured right), the new clinic will provide a bespoke pain management plan for pets referred both by external first opinion practices or internally by colleagues in other disciplines at the centre.
Jacques, who joined Willows in 2018 having previously lectured in Veterinary Anaesthesia at the University of Liverpool after specialising in the same subject in his native South Africa, said: "Just as with humans, our pets are living longer and, with that, there is an increased risk of developing chronic pain conditions.
"Traditionally, the most common patients are cats and dogs with chronic joint disease such as osteoarthritis but patients with a history of back problems and trapped nerves, cats with chronic cystitis and even those with some forms of cancer may benefit.
"We will work with first opinion vets who refer their patients to us, as well as internal referrals. The management of chronic pain is obviously ongoing but the aim for us would be to get to a stage where pain is effectively managed through the most appropriate avenue and check-ups are only needed every few months.
For more information, visit www.willows.uk.net.
Ane’s research interests lie in the surgical correction of neurological diseases leading to chronic pain and epilepsy. Amongst other things, she has developed an international database and phone application to help dogs and owners affected by epilepsy.
Ane began her veterinary studies in her native Spain before transferring to the Veterinary School of Paris (Ecole National Veterinaire d’Alfort) where she completed a three-year European residency in neurology. She then spent eight years working as a neurology-neurosurgery specialist in the UK.
Ane, who speaks five languages, then moved to the USA, where she joined Tufts University, training students, interns and residents and continuing her passion for research.
Henry L'Eplattenier, clinical director at Southfields, said: “We’re absolutely delighted Dr Uriarte has agreed to join the team.
"She is a very talented neurologist with a passion for neuro-oncology and will bring a wealth of experience and knowledge, which will benefit our world-class team."
Ane said: “I’m thrilled for the opportunity of leading the neurology service of such an outstanding hospital.
"Pets are part of our family and having a neurological disorder can be devastation. I’m committed and looking forward to helping referring veterinarians and owners in such circumstances."
BEVA says it was aware, from both younger members and their employers, that there were some equine fields, for which the association had no courses, where newer graduates were lacking in clinical skills.
The new Equine Practice Fundamentals Programme comprises 10 individual CPD courses with a mix of lectures and hands-on practicals. BEVA says it builds on the broad training delivered by the universities to specifically provide the pragmatic knowledge and hands-on clinical skills needed by those in the early stages of an equine veterinary career.
The content was designed on the back of consultation with over 60 senior practitioners from across BEVA’s membership.
The average senior practitioner rated the likelihood that they would encourage recent graduates to attend the programme as 9/10 and BEVA says feedback on the initial course proposal was highly encouraging.
The courses cover:
David Mountford, Chief Executive of BEVA, said: "Because BEVA doesn’t seek to make a profit on its CPD we can deliver an outstanding programme that is both highly regarded and affordable. We anticipate that the series will become essential CPD for those looking to establish themselves in equine practice, for practices looking to support the development of new staff, and for employers looking to differentiate between candidates."
The first five courses will be running during 2018 and again in 2019 together with the remaining five. The full series of ten courses can be booked at a discounted rate. Alternatively, each course can be booked individually.
For further information visit https://www.beva.org.uk/Home/Education/CPD/The-Fundamentals-of-Equine-Practice
According to the forthcoming PDSA Animal Welfare 2016 report, only 35% of pet owners are familiar with their pets' legal welfare needs, a figure which has remained persistently low over the past 6 years (45% in 2011, 31% in 2012, 38% in 2013, 36% in 2014 and 31% in 2015).
The same report revealed in 2015 that 97% of veterinary professionals agreed there is value in encouraging pet owners to better understand and provide for the five welfare needs of their pets.
The 2016 report will also report that pet owners who feel more informed about each of the five welfare needs are significantly more likely to provide preventive healthcare to their pets.
Gudrun Ravetz, President of the BVA said: "It’s concerning that, despite many veterinary practices’ best efforts, public awareness of the five welfare needs remains consistently low. There are so many strong voices for animal welfare, which is why it’s great that so many veterinary organisations – including BSAVA, BVNA and BVZS – are coming together within this coalition to highlight pet owners’ legal duty of care. We hope practices across the country will join us in spreading the message by continuing to deliver the welfare need-focused advice to clients that they already do, day-in, day-out."
The 2006 Animal Welfare Acts of England and Wales, and Scotland consolidated and replaced more than 20 pieces of outmoded legislation. They established a duty of care, enshrining in law five animal welfare needs, outlining housing, diet, behaviour, social interactions and health as the legal responsibilities that every owner should meet to ensure their pet is as happy and healthy as possible.
The veterinary animal welfare coalition says it recognises that veterinary practices across the UK already promote the five welfare needs through a range of methods, from displaying materials in their waiting rooms to providing health check consultations with vets and vet nurses to discuss pets’ needs. The seven organisations, which are all UK based and support or provide veterinary service delivery, are pooling their resources so that veterinary practices can more easily signpost clients to the wealth of resources that are available.
James Yeates, who chairs the veterinary animal welfare coalition as part of the Vet Futures Action Plan, said: "The five welfare needs are a fantastic 'umbrella' guide to taking care of our pets, yet each and every species has such differing welfare needs - from cats who tend to be solitary animals and usually prefer to be the only pet to rabbits that should live in pairs or groups of other rabbits and dogs, who should not be left on their own for more than a few hours a day - it’s vital that pet owners can translate theory into practice. Our understanding of animal welfare science has come such a long way over the past 50 years so we'd really like pet owners to visit their local veterinary practice, where they will be able to get tailored, up-to-date advice for their pets."
The BVA's Spring 2016 Voice of the Profession survey of over 1,600 veterinary surgeons found that the majority (60%) see diet as their main welfare concern, causing obesity, dental issues and a variety of other complex health problems. The coalition of veterinary organisations behind this campaign says it hopes it will encourage the 15% of pet owners not currently registered with a veterinary practice to seek out their local surgery for expert advice about issues such as these.
More information about the coalition and the resources available to practices can be found at www.bva.co.uk/news-campaigns-and-policy/newsroom/news-releases/uk-pets-at-risk-as-two-thirds-of-owners-unaware-of-legal-welfare-needs/
The Swadlincote and Melbourne-based IVC practice worked with a Great Workplaces by BVA accreditor during the pilot of the new scheme, to demonstrate its strengths against an accreditation framework covering four key themes: health and wellbeing, leadership and management, culture and learning and development.
In the report, the accreditor was particularly impressed by the practice’s strong leadership and management; its emphasis on accommodating flexibility for team members in various forms; a robust teamworking ethos; and a focus on continuous improvement.
British Veterinary Association President Elizabeth Mullineaux said: “We’re delighted to see Swadlincote Veterinary Centre become the first veterinary workplace to achieve Gold accreditation through Great Workplaces by BVA scheme.
"Congratulations to the whole practice team for this incredible recognition.
“Creating positive working environments and targeting areas for improvement are the key to tackling ongoing workforce challenges around recruitment and retention.
"We hope this first Gold accreditation inspires others to strive towards gaining recognition as workplaces where vet teams thrive.”
Ingrid Stevenson, Clinical Director at Swadlincote Veterinary Centre, said: “While we knew the practice was doing well, we didn’t go into this process expecting Gold at all.
"My practice manager and I were just both really keen to get some feedback and to find out what more we could do to help the team.
“We have several clinical accreditations in the practice, but it is the team that are responsible for achieving these and maintaining the high standards.
"I believe the team should be looked after, recognised and rewarded for their hard work and going above and beyond when necessary.
"The team were really pleased when I shared the news.
"It has certainly been good for team morale and a positive outcome to share with potential new recruits. '
“The accreditation process was a thorough assessment of the practice and our accreditor made us feel all at ease during the interviews.
"While we achieved Gold, which was unexpected, we have also learnt of areas to develop further over the coming months.
"Overall, it was a positive experience for our practice.”
www.bva.co.uk/take-action/good-veterinary-workplaces/