The British Veterinary Association is delighted to unveil the full programme for its most comprehensive annual event for many years, adding farm and equine clinical streams to the popular contentious issues programme of BVA Congress, at this year’s London Vet Show (LVS) on 21-22 November at London Olympia. And following its success at last year’s [...]

CE modules provided by Vetacademy in the Online Learning Center at this year’s NAVC Conference have received accreditation from the Registry of Approved Continuing Education (RACE). This means that each module will count towards the continuing education (CE) targets for veterinarians until March 2015.

The University of Edinburgh has signed a deal with the Chinese Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) that will see both parties join forces on veterinary research and educational programmes. The agreement – the first between the CVMA and a UK university – also aims to strengthen the role of the vet in China, particularly in the [...]

BVA president speaks on role of vets in animal and public health at annual London dinner

BVA President Peter Jones highlighted the lead vets play in society and their importance in governmental policy-making process on matters concerning animal and public healthcare.

Travel regulations, puppy contracts and the recent horsemeat scandal were all mentioned during the speech which can be found on the BVA site.

Ratio of income to debt for new vets ‘ominous’

A report by the NY Times has revealed stark increases in student debt in the last decade, with median borrowing of $63 000 per year according to the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges.

This figure has not been met by increasing wages. Starting salaries have in fact fallen by 13% to an average of $45,575, with a lower total population of pets and rising medical costs resulting in too many vets and not enough jobs.

Unfortunately there are no simple solutions: vet schools need to make it obvious that new vets will face higher debt.

Vets agree that the current situation is simply unsustainable, thousands of students paying for more expensive training to do worse paid jobs just simply doesn’t add up.

For the full story visit the NY Times.

British Veterinary Association (BVA) and British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) comment on horse meat scandal

Defra Minister David Heath has announced the latest bute (phenylbutazone) test results. The presence of bute has been confirmed in 8 samples out of 206 tests.

Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies has stated that horsemeat containing phenylbutazone presents a very low risk to human health.

Responding to these latest developments BVA and the BEVA have issued the following statement.

Guidance notes are available via the BEVA’s Medicines Page.

Phenylbutazone presence in horses prompts RCVS to remind vets of responsibilities

A small number of horses have tested positive for the presence of phenylbutazone, which, if consumed, can be harmful to human health.

Defra and the FSA have asked for the assistance of the profession in ensuring that treatment with phenylbutazone is properly recorded in Horse Passports and have said that they are working together to understand the cause of the positive tests, and what longer term measures can be put in place to stop this happening.

Read more at RCVS.

Mandatory microchipping for all UK dogs by 2016 welcomed by BVA and BSAVA

Veterinary associations have hailed the introduction of compulsory microchipping for all dogs in England as a giant leap forward for dogs and their owners. The new law is designed to reduce the number of strays who currently make up over a third of all dogs in the UK.

Defra has announced that from 6 April 2016 all dogs will be required to have a microchip, giving owners over 3 years to comply with new legislation that will be drafted by Defra. Dog owners who fail to comply will be met with a fine.

Commenting, BVA President Peter Jones, said:
“Microchipping is a safe and effective way to link dogs to their owners and is an essential part of responsible ownership.”

For more information visit the Microchipping Alliance.

What should vets do when a pit bull terrier walks into the waiting room?

This question, and many others, were addressed this week when the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and The Webinar Vet joined forces to deliver an informative and thought-provoking webinar on dangerous dogs to over 350 live attendees.

The webinar, now available to view on vets.tv, was presented by BVA President Robin Hargreaves under the banner “Bad dogs or bad law? Problems with the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991”.

In the webinar small animal practitioner Robin outlined the legislation as it stands across the UK and explained what action the BVA and others have taken in campaigning to move away from breed-specific legislation towards a more preventive approach.

The guidance covers what vets should know when presented with a dog suspected of being of a banned type, what advice they should give to clients, and where to find further information to help encourage responsible ownership and promote safe interaction between people and dogs.

British Horse Society to use posters on buses to avoid horse injuries

The British Horse Society is hoping that posters placed on the back of buses will help raise awareness of the plight of horses and riders on the road.

Ask any horse rider and they will tell you about an incident they have been involved in while riding on the road. The British Horse Society wants drivers to be aware of the need to be careful when they meet horses on the road. It is not only horse and rider that can be injured; a horse colliding with a vehicle can cause significant damage to a vehicle and its occupants.

To tackle this problem, the Society has recently trialled a pilot equestrian road safety advertising project in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The ‘Hit the Brakes, not my Horse’ poster was displayed in the region on the back of ten buses for four weeks. The project was enthusiastically welcomed by the horse owning community in the area and much interest has been expressed from other regions in running a similar project.

For more information visit Horse Accidents.