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Collaboration to reunite pets with owners
Lost and found website helps find UK pets

Cats Protection has announced that it will now be working alongside Animal Search UK to help reunite pets with their owners.

The charity's lost and found pages for each individual branch and centre will now take people directly to the Animal Search UK website.

Animal Search UK is a free site that helps reunite lost pets with their owners. With more than 20,000 volunteers, it has one of the largest networks of Pet Patrollers in the UK.

When a pet is reported as missing, Animal Search UK alerts its Pet Patrollers in that area, who will keep an eye out.

Tom Watkins, a former police officer who founded Animal Search UK, explained that the website enables users to add up to four photos of a missing family pet, or a pet that has been found straying.

It also has a sophisticated mapping system that automatically matches lost and found reports, dependant on their location in relation to one another.

"In the past, despite the best efforts of many, there have been occasions whereupon a missing pet has been adopted after being rescued and the original owners have been none the wiser," he said.

"Particularly if the pet did not have a microchip which confirms the owner's details."

While recommending microchipping as a safe and permanent means of identification, Cats Protection encourages owners who's cats are already microchipped to ensure their contact details are up to date.

Lee Bishop, Cats Protection's website manager, commented on the collaboration: "Our branches and centres have been offered the opportunity to direct people from their lost and found pages to the Animal Search UK site so that they can register pets on a national database.

"We hope that this will increase the chances of pets being reunited with their owners."

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
UK's BSE risk status downgraded

The WOAH has downgraded the UK's international risk status for BSE to 'negligible'.

Defra says that the UK's improved risk status recognises the reputation for having the highest standards for biosecurity. It adds that it demonstrates decades of rigorous animal control.

Outbreaks of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, also known as mad cow disease, have previously resulted in bans on Britain's beef exports.

The UK's new status could lead to expanded trade and better confidence in British beef.

Christine Middlemiss, the UK's chief veterinary officer, said: "WOAH's recognition of the UK as negligible risk for BSE is a significant milestone and is a testament to the UK's strong biosecurity measures and the hard work and vigilance of farmers and livestock keepers across the country who have all played their part in managing the spread of this disease.