Leading vet charity, PDSA, is offering free health MOTs to South Yorkshire dogs

A PDSA vet nurse will be on board one of the charity’s PetCheck vehicles, which travels across the UK every year providing free health checks and offering expert pet care advice. The charity will be at the following locations:

Tuesday 4 July, 11am-6pm – Ascension Close, Maltby

Wednesday 5 July, 11am-6pm – Outside the Lifestyle Express Shop, Calladine Way, Fitzwilliams Estate, Swinton

Thursday 6 July, 11am-6pm – Car park of The Hub, Canklow Road, Canklow

Friday 7 July, 9am-4pm – Car Park to Brinsworth Playing Fields, Field View, Brinsworth

PDSA Vet Nurse Kaya Hawrylak will deliver PDSA’s specially developed ‘PetWise’ MOT for every dog, which assesses the five elements pets need to be healthy and happy, known as the welfare needs. These are diet, environment, companionship, behaviour and health. A simple traffic light system gives each pet a score, and a personalised action plan to help owners improve their pet’s wellbeing.

Additional services including nail clipping and ear cleaning are also available free of charge although donations are welcome. Microchipping, which is now mandatory for all dogs in the UK, is also available at a small cost, and Cats Protection neutering vouchers are also available.

PDSA Vet Nurse Kaya said: “We know people love their pets and want the best for them, which is why we’re here to help. By offering free, friendly advice and support, we can help owners make small changes that often make big differences to the wellbeing of pets in Rotherham.”

PDSA’s PetCheck vehicle will return to the area in a few months. More information is available on PDSA’s website at www.pdsa.org.uk/petcheck.

PDSA is on a mission to improve the life of all pets through preventive care, emergency treatment and education. Last year more than 3,500 PetWise MOTs were completed, resulting in various improvements to local dogs’ health and welfare. For instance, there was a 5% increase in dogs that were neutered after PDSA’s first visit, which has important health benefits as well as preventing unwanted litters.*

However, there is still room for improvement, as almost a third of dogs (31%) who visited showed signs of behavioural problems**. Many owners are also not clear on their responsibilities as a pet owner, as three-in-five dogs seen during last year’s tour (61%) were not wearing an ID tag, despite it being a legal requirement.

Worryingly, the charity’s annual PAW Report has found that awareness of the Animal Welfare Act is worryingly low, with only around a third of pet owners familiar with their legal responsibilities***. Millions of pets aren’t having their basic needs met, not through deliberate mistreatment, but because owners don’t always understand exactly what their pet’s needs are and how to meet them.

PDSA is the UK’s leading veterinary charity, providing more than 2.7 million treatments to around 470,000 pets every year.