Cats’ chance for Oscar glory

The 

 Dubbed the “Feline Oscars” the awards are designed to celebrate the real life stories of survival, bravery and heroism in the cat world and are open to any living cat rescued as a stray by its current owner or adopted from an animal welfare organisation.

 
 Hero Cat – Cats that save the day!

Best Friends – Where a best feline friend has radically improved the quality of human life

 A special Lifetime Achievement award will also be presented by sponsor Purina PetCare to an older cat chosen from all entries who has shown remarkable support or friendship to its owner over the years.

 Brian Blessed was one of the celebrity judges of the Rescue Cat Awards 2008 and starred in the original production of

 “I hope that Cats Protection’s Rescue Cat Awards 2010 will attract many entries to remind us of the love, companionship and sheer wonder that rescue cats bring to our lives.  I’m also thrilled to hear that this year’s ceremony will be taking place at the New London Theatre where Cats was first performed.”

 The winner of this year’s Rescue Cat Awards will inherit the title from previous winner Speedy, a tabby cat from Suffolk. Speedy won the award for the constant companionship she provides to her owner, 19-year-old Christine Payne, who suffers with a range of conditions including progressive spinal ataxia, epilepsy and severe learning difficulties. 

Locum RVN – Countrywide – My client is looking for an RVN to work alongside their team in their mobile veterinarian van, as part of a promotional programme. The programme would start at the end of March and run through until the end of October. Main duties would be carrying out pet health checks on dogs bought to the vehicle, and to deal with owners queries regarding other popular species of pets. Days worked would vary on location and the nature of the events worked, weekend work would be the norm. My client would be paying £8.50 - £9.43 depending on experience, Saturday, Sunday and bank holidays work would attract an additional payment of £10.00 p/h. Satisfactory completion of the programme will also attract a loyalty payment of £500.00.

For any more details on any of the roles, please feel free to give me a call on 01392 314 786 or email me on giles.jacobs@rigvets.co.uk.

Dogs Trust is delighted that the Government has announced a long awaited consultation on measures to tackle the issue of Dangerous Dogs. It has been apparent for many years that the existing Dangerous Dogs Act doesn’t work and that it urgently needs revising to help protect the general public and dog welfare.  

 Dogs Trust has been lobbying the Government about the benefits of compulsory microchipping for the past twelve months. The charity believes that permanent identification must form a central part of any new dog legislation so it is deeply gratifying that this has been included as part of the consultation. Just a third of dog owners currently have their dog microchipped, but should this become a legal requirement more stray dogs can be reunited with their owners, thus ultimately reducing the 9,000 dogs that are destroyed by Local Authorities every year. A recent survey conducted by Dogs Trust shows that 88% of dog owners would be in favour of such a law.

 Similarly compulsory third party insurance is a sensible precaution to protect both human and animal victims of dog attacks. Many household insurance policies will include this as long as the dog is in the insured person’s control at the time. There are also membership schemes such as the one Dogs Trust offers where for just £20 a year, any dog within the household has third party liability insurance up to a million pounds per claim.

 There is a real need to extend the existing dangerous dog laws to cover private property as well as public spaces but exemptions will need to be carefully thought through. For example if a dog were to bite an intruder in the home such as a burglar, would their owners be exempt from punishment?

 It is really positive to see a joined up approach from Defra and the Home Office in tackling the issue of irresponsible dog ownership. However it is essential that this is regarded as a social rather than a dog issue. It is unacceptable that a young person feels it is necessary to own a dog as a form of protection in order to feel safe on the streets.

 In terms of what appears to be missing from the consultation, Dogs Trust would have liked to see the total repeal of all breed specific legislation and more consideration given to the penalties awarded to irresponsible owners including possible custodial sentences. The charity is currently lobbying for the introduction of increased penalties along the lines of dog owner ‘ASBOS’ which firmly place responsibility for the dog’s behaviour on the owner rather than looking at the breed of the dog in question.

According to the figures, there are around 10.3m cats and 10.5m dogs in the UK, a total of 4m more than pet food manufacturers had estimated.

The report, the first published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal for more than 20 years, also reaches what may be a controversial conclusion about the kind of person that prefers a cat or a dog.

Cats, according to the study, are more likely to live in households with someone qualified to degree level, possibly because such people have less time to look after a dog.

Last year the Pet Food Manufacturers Association estimated the size of the UK domestic cat and dog population at about 8m each. The last peer-reviewed study, which dates back to 1989, suggested there were 6.2m cats and 6.4m dogs.

The new study, published in the Veterinary Record by Jane Murray, a cats protection lecturer in feline epidemiology at Bristol University and colleagues, suggests there are many more than was thought – and does not take into account stray dogs or those owned by Travellers and the considerable number of feral cats.

The study confirmed some assumptions. Cats are more likely to be owned by households with gardens and were less likely to live in homes where there was a dog. Dogs were also more likely to be owned by people with gardens, by rural households and less likely to live with families with younger children. Dog owners tended to be younger than their cat counterparts. Some 7% of UK households own both a cat and dog.

Perhaps more surprising was the conclusion that cats are more likely to be owned by someone with a degree.

Murray said one reason could be that people with degrees may have jobs that made it harder to look after a dog.

"The study has shown many common factors relating to cat and dog ownership, such as a garden and rural location, but it has also identified some notable differences," she said.

"In particular, the difference in the level of education achieved by a household owning cats and dogs. The reason for this association is unclear. It could be related to household members with longer working hours having less time to care for a dog."

The researchers suggested that another survey be carried out in 2011, the year of the next human population census so that trends could be pinpointed.