THE PDSA is launching a responsible pet care initiative which aims to raise awareness of the benefits of responsible pet ownership through educating its clients and the wider pet owning public about caring for the health of their pets.

PDSA will be delivering its responsible pet care messages through informative leaflets, written by its vets, supported by a poster campaign and launched each month at its 46 PetAid hospitals, 169 charity shops and through PDSA fundraising groups. Topics covered by the 12 leaflets will include vaccination, first aid and diet and nutrition. The information leaflets and posters on each pet care topic will be made available to schools, libraries, community centres and social services departments throughout the UK in an attempt to communicate PDSA’s responsible pet care messages to as many pet owners as possible.

The responsible pet care messages will also be available to members of PDSA’s young people’s club, Pet Protectors, and is committed giving scheme, Best Friends, in addition to being published on PDSA’s website – www.pdsa.org.uk

PDSA’s chief veterinary surgeon, Richard Hooker, said: ‘The development of responsible pet care is an integral part of PDSA’s mission. Moreover, both our own and private practice research has found that simple procedures such as vaccination and worming are not always seen as a priority by pet owners. As such, PDSA decided that its responsible pet care messages are as relevant to the pet-owning public at large as they are to PDSA clients’.