West Midlands

Animal lovers looking for pets in lockdown defrauded nearly £300,000, study reveals

Criminals have stolen nearly £300,000 from 669 animal lovers looking for pets during the Covid-19 pandemic. According to national fraud and cyber crime agency, Action Fraud, criminals have continued to “take advantage” of the coronavirus pandemic to commit fraud after animal lovers have put down deposits for pets they have…

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Public should not buy pets online, West Midlands Police warns

West Midlands Police is warning the public against buying pets online without visiting them first, as they fear criminals are taking advantage of the current Covid-19 pandemic. Online sellers are using the current crisis restrictions as an excuse for not being able to visit the animals and are sending images…

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Pug popularity leads to 130% more surgeries, vets claim

A West Midlands veterinary hospital is urging owners of flat-faced dogs to be aware of the warning signs their pets may be struggling with a chronic breathing condition, after revealing the number of animals it has treated has almost doubled over the past five years. Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral…

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Willows to open chronic pain clinic

A West Midlands animal hospital is set to add to its wide range of services with the launch of a chronic pain clinic this June. Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service, based in Solihull, is introducing the new clinic to provide a bespoke pain management plan for pets referred both…

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Fish4Dogs holds Bark Off event for charity

Fish4Dogs has announced it has hosted a special afternoon tea to launch the Great Birmingham Bark Off event in aid of Birmingham Dogs Home. The afternoon tea raised £120 through the sale of a variety of bakes for both humans and dogs. Birmingham Dogs Home is encouraging supporters to stage…

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Vet care consolidation: is the CMA about to intervene?

Rapid consolidation in the UK veterinary care market, with seven major chains now accounting for nearly half of all UK vet practices, has brought with it an increasing risk of intervention by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) as concerns about local market monopolisation start to emerge. This could impact…

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2019 Veterinary Awards finalists announced

The finalists for the 2019 Petplan Veterinary Awards have been announced, the finalists have been drawn from over 40,000 nominations. The finalists are: Practice Support Staff of the Year Graham Skelton, Orchard House Veterinary Centre, Hexham, Northumberland Sharon Scarratt of Blue House Veterinary Centre, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire Zoe Pickering, Orchard House…

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RCVS Council elects first black council member as junior VP

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) Council has elected its first black council member in its 175-year history to be junior vice president of the college for 2019-20. Mandisa Greene, who was first elected to council in 2014 and was re-elected last year, is currently chair of the Practice…

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Nurse struck off for being ‘dishonest with a charity’

The Veterinary Nurse Disciplinary Committee of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) has asked its registrar to remove a West Midlands-based veterinary nurse after it was found that she had “been dishonest with a charity”. In a hearing that took place between 24 and 27 July, it was found…

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Independent retailers feeling ‘optimistic’ about high street future

More than half of the nation’s independent high street retailers are optimistic about the future of their local high street – and four out of five shoppers would miss their local high street if it was no longer there. This is according to new research to launch the government-run Great…

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