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Animal Euthanasia – not just when, but how and why

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Monday November 12th, 2018
I write this with a very heavy heart. One of my professional colleagues - although I never knew him personally - has just been struck off by our regulator, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS). And the biggest tragedy of all is that I think they were absolutely right to do so. It is profoundly distressing that a vet could make such a massive error and not realise that what he had done was wrong - we all make mistakes, but not accepting and learning from them is the cardinal sin in our profession. In this blog, I want to look at what he did, why he shouldn’t have done it, and what the ramifications are for us as vets and as pet owners. Just so you’re aware, this blog will go into details which some pet owners may find unpleasant, but which we know others will want to know about, so as to understand all the things that may happen.
Life as vet - what its like
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Brexit and Pet Travel – URGENT Update for Pet Owners

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Tuesday November 6th, 2018
As part of the planning process before Brexit next spring, the government has been releasing a series of “advisory” notices for businesses, professions, and the public. Today (6th November), the APHA (Animal and Plant Health Agency, the part of DEFRA responsible for, among other things, Pet Passports) has issued their update. In this blog, we’re going to explore what they’ve said - but the bottom line is that if you want to be certain of your pet’s ability to travel to Europe after 28th March 2019, you need to take action this month.
News and Comment
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Will the clock change affect my animals?

David Harris BVSc MRCVS - Wednesday October 24th, 2018
This weekend (at 2am on Sunday, October 28th) the clocks in the UK go back by one hour. If you’d forgotten, now’s the time to go and set a reminder for yourself (!), otherwise, I’d like to look in a bit more detail at how the change affects our animals. We change the clocks to give ourselves more daylight at certain times of day - the idea dates back to the early 20th century, and was started in the UK in 1916. However, it can cause problems with our body clocks.
News and Comment
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How clever is your dog? A literature review sums up the evidence and if dogs were clever enough to understand, they wouldn’t be happy

Dr Pete Wedderburn BVM&S CertVR MRCVSDr - Wednesday October 3rd, 2018
A literature review carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter has reached a conclusion that may upset millions of pet owners: the combination of many different studies of animal intelligence suggest that dogs are no smarter than many other animals. You may think your pooch understands every word you say, you may believe that Rover knows exactly what is going on around him, and you may like to think that when he looks at you with his head cocked, that he has the intellectual ability of a super-smart mammal. The truth? He may be no smarter than a pigeon.
Behaviour
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A no-deal Brexit will increase hassle and costs to vets, pets, farm animals and agricultural trade in the UK

Dr Pete Wedderburn BVM&S CertVR MRCVSDr - Friday September 28th, 2018
As the days, weeks and months count down to Brexit day, every sector of British life must surely have its own concerns. The veterinary sector, largely involving pets and farm animals, is no different. As the UK government prepares for the eventuality of a no-deal Brexit, new technical notices have been issued that give detail of the changes that will need to be implemented. These include pet travel, as well as the import/export of animals and animal products coming to and from the UK. The anticipated changes will be very challenging to implement, even if there are enough vets to carry out the work.

There are three main areas that will be significantly impacted:

News and Comment
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