Your data on MRCVSonline
The nature of the services provided by Vision Media means that we might obtain certain information about you.
Please read our Data Protection and Privacy Policy for details.

In addition, (with your consent) some parts of our website may store a 'cookie' in your browser for the purposes of
functionality or performance monitoring.
Click here to manage your settings.
EmailIphone Application    Posted: 16th June 2014
If you would like to forward this story on to a friend, simply fill in the form below and click send.
Your friend's email:
Your email:
Your name:
 
 
Send Cancel

Blue Peter welcomes trainee guide dog pup
Labrador puppy
The name and sex of Blue Peter's new guide dog puppy will be revealed this week.
Children's TV show celebrates 50 years since its first guide dogs appeal

A two-month-old guide dog puppy will make its TV debut on Blue Peter this week. The children's TV show this year celebrates 50 years since it welcomed its first guide dog to the team.

Blue Peter viewers will be introduced to the puppy on Thursday, when its name and sex will also be revealed.

Over the next year, viewers will be able to track the puppy's progress as it undergoes a comprehensive training course to become a fully qualified guide dog.

Presenter Lindsey Russell will be working with a puppy-walking family to help train the dog and a series of films on its training will be featured on the show throughout the year.

Guide Dogs chief executive Richard Leaman said it is a "great honour" to work with the Blue Peter team. "I am confident Lindsey's time with her new recruit will show this generation of Blue Peter viewers exactly why our puppies are so special," he added.

It has been fifty years since Blue Peter welcomed its first guide dog, Honey, to the team. She was puppy walked by presenters Christopher Trace and Valerie Singleton for a year, before she began advanced training. She passed her final guide dog assessment in September 1966.

Blue Peter editor, Ewan Vinnicombe, said:  "It's great to be able to revisit a classic moment from Blue Peter's history but bring it right up to date to make it relevant to our current audience.  We're looking forward to welcoming the new puppy into the team."

The puppy will make its debut in the Blue Peter studio on Thursday 19 at 5.30pm on CBBC.

Become a member or log in to add this story to your CPD history

Birmingham Dogs Home makes urgent appeal

News Story 1
 Birmingham Dogs Home has issued an urgent winter appeal as it faces more challenges over the Christmas period.

The rescue centre has seen a dramatic increase in dogs coming into its care, and is currently caring for over 200 dogs. With rising costs and dropping temperatures, the charity is calling for urgent support.

It costs the charity £6,000 per day to continue its work.

Fi Harrison, head of fundraising and communications, said: "It's heart-breaking for our team to see the conditions some dogs arrive in. We really are their last chance and hope of survival."

More information about the appeal can be found here. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
Avian flu confirmed at premises in Cornwall

A case of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 has been detected in commercial poultry at a premises near Rosudgeon, Cornwall.

All poultry on the infected site will be humanely culled, and a 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone have been put in place. Poultry and other captive birds in the 3km protection zone must be housed.

The case is the second avian flu case confirmed in commercial poultry this month. The H5N5 strain was detected in a premises near Hornsea, East Riding of Yorkshire, in early November. Before then, the disease had not been confirmed in captive birds in England since February.

The UK chief veterinary officer has urged bird keepers to remain alert and practise robust biosecurity.

A map of the disease control zones can be found here.