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Funding boost for Vetlife Helpline
Katie Moore (Vetlife Trustee) and Geoff Little (Vetlife President) gratefully accept the donation from Tim Hutchinson, XLVets Director.

Money will further enhance specialist service

A charity that provides emotional, financial and mental health support to the veterinary community has received a funding boost towards its helpline.

XLVets has donated £10,000 to the Vetlife Helpline which provides confidential emotional support by telephone or email.   

Run by volunteer vets and nurses, the helpline provides a confidential, non-judgemental listening service, giving people time and space to talk.

Welcoming the donation, Dr Rosie Allister, Vetlife Helpline manager, said: “This generous gift from XLVets will enable us to improve the specialist email Helpline platform, by which we offer complete anonymity to those who contact us for independent support.

“With 864 email contacts made to Helpline last year, e-mail is now the most common way that people access Vetlife, and by which our trained volunteers respond.”

XLVets’ decision to donate to Vetlife was made during their annual general meeting in Bristol last month.

Vetlife president Geoff Little took time out from the Vetlife AGM to gratefully receive the donation from Tim Hutchinson, partner at Larkmead Vets and XLVets director.

Speaking about the decision to direct the donation to Vetlife, Jane Simpson, people development manager for XLVets said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be able to give something back to Vetlife. The information, support and resources they provide to XLVets practices form a key part of our "Thriving in Practice" initiative.

“The fact that this money will enable Vetlife to further enhance its independent Helpline service is just amazing. We look forward to continuing our partnership with Vetlife, who provide such valuable support across our industry”.

If you need support please contact Vetlife Helpline on 0303 040 2551 or email Vetlife via www.vetlife.org.uk

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Annual submission deadline small pet animal exemptions

News Story 1
 Companies marketing medicines for small pets exempt from authorisation must submit their annual return to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) by 30 November 2026.

Submitting this annual return ensures continued compliance with regulatory requirements for products marketed without a full Marketing Authorisation. The exemption specifically applies to products intended for animals, cage birds, terrarium animals, small rodents, ferrets and rabbits.

For further details and submission guidelines, visit the gov.uk website.  

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News Shorts
Bluetongue RZ extended across Scotland

The Scottish Government has announced an extension to a Bluetongue Restricted Zone that is in place in south-west Scotland.

From 3 October, the Restricted Zone will be extended to cover the whole of Scotland. The Animal, Plant and Health Agency (APHA) says this is in response to further disease spread, as well as simplify trading conditions ahead of the autumn.

Since the whole country will share a disease status, it will no longer be necessary to have a movement license to move susceptible livestock around the country. Restrictions on germinal products remain.

As of 1 October 2026, there were 1,979 cases of BTV-3 in England, 389 cases in Wales and 40 cases in Scotland.