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First ever Guinea Pig Awareness Week announced
Vets are encourage to get involved and share their knowledge and experience as part of Guinea Pig Awareness Week.

Week-long 'festival of events' to be held online.

Burgess Pet Care has partnered with multiple animal charities to launched the first ever Guinea Pig Awareness Week to highlight the welfare needs of these pets.

Guinea Pig Awareness Week (GPAW) will take place online from 22-28 March this year. It has been created by Burgess Pet Care along with the RSPCA, Woodgreen The Animals Charity, Blue Cross and PDSA – the same partnership behind Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW), which has been running for 15 years this year.

A series of surveys of guinea pig owners and veterinary professionals conducted by Burgess Pet Care found that 94 per cent of veterinary professionals feel that the most common mistake owners of small animals make is feeding them the wrong diet.

GPAW organisers will seek to address this issue in the campaign’s programme, and encourages veterinary professionals to share their knowledge and experiences online in order to help educate and inform guinea pig owners on a large scale.

Dr Suzanne Moyes MVB MRCVS, operations and technical director at Burgess Pet Care, said: “Guinea pigs are always a popular choice of pet, particularly for families, but the survey results show a clear lack of understanding around their particular welfare needs.

“GPAW is a fantastic opportunity for vets to get involved, raise the profile of their practices, showcase their guinea pig expertise and to actively engage with their clients, communities and fellow practitioners online.”

More information on GPAW and a new website will be launched soon. Meanwhile, the GPAW team is urging veterinary professionals, retailers and charities to support the campaign by liking and sharing the GPAW official Facebook page.

Image (c) Burgess Pet Care.

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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. 

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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.