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Battersea dogs guzzle 50 tonnes of food
Dog eating
Battersea dogs wolfed down more than 42,000 tins of wet food last year.
Hungry hounds eat the equivalent weight of 12 elephants per year

Lonely hounds at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home wolfed down nearly 50 tonnes of food in 2013 alone, the charity reports. It is the equivalent of four double decker buses, 12 elephants or 660 great Danes.

Battersea fed more than 5,000 dogs last year, getting through 42,384 tins of wet food and 28,672kg of dry food. Not forgetting the 134,000 poo bags staff used to clean up the mess!

Likewise, Battersea cats munched their way through 58,944 pouches of cat food and 1,264kg of cat biscuits.

On average, 13 dogs and eight cats arrived at the rescue home every day in 2013. The charity receives about 1,000 calls each month from people who can no longer care for or afford their pets.

In addition, another 3,451 stray dogs and cats arrived at the charity last year after they were found tied up or wandering the streets.

Battersea recently launched an appeal to raise 1.9m to help build new state-of-the-art kennels for its canine residents.

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Antibiotic Amnesty survey opens

News Story 1
 The Responsible Use of Medicines Alliance - Companion Animal and Equine (RUMA - CA&E) has launched a survey which seeks to measure the success of this year's Antibiotic Amnesty campaign.

Its results will help the group to calculate how many unused or out-of-date antibiotics were returned as part of the campaign throughout November. Practices are also asked how they engaged with clients to raise awareness of the issue.

Participating practices can enter a prize draw to win up to 100 in vouchers for taking part. Further prizes from BSAVA and Webinar Vet will be available for practices with the best input.

The survey takes a few minutes to complete and will be running throughout December. It can be accessed via this link

Click here for more...
News Shorts
Bluetongue cases lead to restricted zone extension

Following the detection of new cases of bluetongue virus serotype 3 (BTV-3), the restricted zone has been extended to include additional parts of Hampshire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire and North Yorkshire, as well as Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole and part of Dorset.

The zone now covers 28 counties and unitary authorities in England. As of 16 December, 185 cases of BTV-3 have been confirmed in England and Wales during the current vector period.

Bluetongue is a notifiable disease. Suspected cases must be reported on 03000 200 301 in England or 03003 038 268 in Wales. In Scotland, suspected cases should be reported to the local field services office. Suspected cases in Northern Ireland should be reported to the DAERA Helpline on 0300 200 7840 or by contacting the local DAERA Direct Veterinary Office.

A map of the area where movement restrictions apply can be found here.