Local dog owners offered FREE pet health checks
The Highland Council and the PDSA are inviting Highland dog owners to bring their pooches along for a free wellbeing check at PDSA’s PetCheck vehicle between Tuesday 3 to Friday 13 September.
Councillor Philips, Chair of the Council's TEC Services Committee said: “The first pet checks which have already taken place in Thurso, Wick, Tain, Alness and Dingwall have proved extremely popular with dog owners wishing to get their dogs checked over and people have been delighted with the excellent free service they have received from the PDSA.”
In partnership with Highland Council, the veterinary charity’s annual UK-wide PetCheck tour will be also stopping at the following locations from 9am to 4pm.
• Wed 11 Sep – Pavillion car park, Keppoch Road, Inverness
• Thurs 12 & Fri 13 Sep – An Aird car park, Fort William
On-board, a PDSA Vet Nurse will examine the weight, body-shape, teeth, eyes, coat and general fitness of canine visitors, and will also offer free expert advice about how to care for other pets. Microchipping and nail clipping will be available at a low cost. For safety reasons only dogs can be brought along to the PetCheck vehicle.
Love is not enough
PDSA’s PetCheck Tour is travelling the length and breadth of the country in response to PDSA’s Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report*, which found that over 10 million pets are missing out on key health and welfare requirements. In the vast majority of cases this isn’t deliberate – owners love their pets but just don’t always understand what they need to be healthy and happy, resulting in pets suffering unnecessarily.
PDSA Senior Veterinary Surgeon, Sean Wensley, said: “These figures highlight the importance of our PetCheck tour in helping owners to have a deeper understanding of their pet’s health and welfare needs and how to meet them. Owners generally want the best for their pets, and by providing advice and support to owners PDSA aims to help owners to ensure their pets have happy, healthy lives.”
Scotland findings
Two of the key issues identified in the PAW Report were pet obesity and problem behaviour. Around one-in-six owners in Scotland (16%) reported that their dog regularly showed problem behaviour towards people and other animals, including growling, snarling, snapping and aggression. And worryingly, nearly a third of owners (31%) in the region have been bitten or attacked by a dog.
Contributing to this behaviour meltdown is the fact that 56% dogs in Scotland never attended training classes in the first six months, which means that over half are missing out on vital behaviour and socialisation experiences while young. This can lead to behavioural problems, such as aggression, in later life.
When it comes to diet, Scotland doesn’t fare much better with 67% of owners admitting to feeding inappropriate treats such as cakes, crisps, cheese and takeaways to their pets, often on a daily basis. This is fuelling the pet obesity epidemic and can lead to potentially fatal illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes and arthritis.
Please note that dogs must be kept on leads at all times, and owners should never leave pets locked in cars.
About PDSA PetCheck
Alongside the charity’s 50 PetAid hospitals and nearly 380 PetAid practices, the two custom-designed PDSA PetCheck vehicles tour the country from March to October every year, kindly sponsored by Julie and Robert Breckman.
PDSA receives no government or national lottery funding and relies entirely on public support to fund its vital charitable veterinary services. To find out more about PDSA, the PetCheck tour, or ways to support the charity, visit http://www.pdsa.org.uk/.
For more information please visit http://www.www.highland.gov.uk/ email recycle@highland.gov.uk or call 01349 886603.