PDSA rolls into Cheshire next month offering free pet health checks and advice to local pet owners – from its brand-new PetWise Mobile Unit.
Vet staff will be providing hands-on care for pets, offering expert advice, and advising on eligibility for PDSA services. This visit is part of its mission to help every pet live a happy, healthy life.
The state-of-the-art £250,000 PetWise Mobile Unit is on the road with PDSA’s PetWise Tour, following generous support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery. The new 18-tonne unit will be used to provide a variety of services, including vaccination clinics and free pet MOTs across the UK, along with PDSA’s two smaller vans in the fleet.
A PDSA team will be on board the new unit offering free wellbeing checks for all types of pets, and providing general pet health advice. The PetWise checks are open to everyone, and are available at the following locations from 10am to 4pm:
· Tuesday 2 April – Victoria Park, Birchfield Road, Widnes, WA8 7SU
· Wednesday 3 April – Brindley Theatre, High Street, Runcorn, WA7 1 BG
· Thursday 4 April – Church Square, St Helens, WA10 1HP
Additional services including nail clipping and ear cleaning are available free of charge, while microchipping (which is now a legal requirement for all dogs) is available for a small fee. Cats Protection neutering vouchers are also available.
PDSA’s specially developed PetWise ‘MOT’ checks are based on a pet’s ‘5 Welfare Needs’ – the key ingredients to pet health and happiness. These are diet, environment, companionship, behaviour and health. A simple traffic light system gives each area a score and owners receive a personalised action plan explaining how to improve their pet’s wellbeing.
PDSA Community Nurse Manager, Sue Bartlett, said: “People in Widnes, Runcorn and St Helens are very lucky as this is one of the first areas in the UK to benefit from our new PetWise vehicle offering state-of-the-art facilities so we can help pets and their owners.
“We know people love their pets and want the best for them, which is why PDSA is here to help. Thanks to support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery we can offer free, friendly advice and support, helping owners to make small changes that often make big differences to the wellbeing of pets in local area.”
More information is available on PDSA’s website at www.pdsa.org.uk/petwise-on-tour
PDSA is on a mission to improve the life of all pets through preventive care, emergency treatment and education. Last year over 5,000 PetWise MOTs were completed, resulting in improvements to local dogs’ health and welfare. For example, a nine per cent increase in neutered dogs was seen following PDSA’s first visit,* which has important health benefits as well as preventing unwanted litters.
However, there is still room for improvement, as nearly two-in-five dogs (37%) who visited showed signs of behavioural problems**. Many owners are also unclear on their responsibilities as a pet owner, with two-in-five dogs seen during last year’s tour (41%) were not wearing an ID tag, despite it being a legal requirement.