TRADE TALK | PET GAZETTE | 7
HILL’S PET NUTRITION CROWNS DOG RESCUERS
POTENTIALLY
ITS KITTEN OF THE YEAR
Fifi the kitten will be given the chance to be the face of Hill’s Science Plan kitten food adverts
A kitten from London has beaten nationwide
competition to be crowned ‘Kitten of the Year
2018’, in an annual competition run by food
brand, Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
Fifi from Ealing was chosen out of over
450 kittens to gain the title in the annual
competition, which encouraged pet owners
across the country to submit the best snap of
their furry feline friend.
Kate Lawson, Fifi’s owner, adopted her
in April this year after she was abandoned
by her mother, and she fell in love with her
playful and mischievous personality straight
away.
Lawson said: “It was Fifi’s relaxed nature
that encouraged us to take lots of pictures
of her, filling our phones with hundreds of
snaps! I stumbled across the competition on
Instagram and thought it would be a shame
not to share some of the beautiful photos
we’d taken of her so far.”
Fifi wins the chance to be the face of Hill’s
Science Plan kitten food adverts, as well as a
40 percent of companion animal vets
have reportedly seen new or rare diseases
associated with dog import over the last year
six-month supply of Hill’s pet food, which is
specially formulated to provide high-quality,
balanced nutrition and will aid in Fifi’s growth
and development from kitten to cat.
Cat Stanley, brand manager of wellness
at Hill’s Pet Nutrition, UK and Republic of
Ireland added: “We loved all the entries in
this year’s competition and are delighted
that so many people took part. We are
thrilled to be supporting Fifi on her journey
from kitten to cat with a nutritional and
balanced diet of Hill’s Science Plan, and we
can’t wait to follow her journey over the next
six months.”
ADCH WELCOMES SCOTTISH
GOVERNMENT’S COMMITMENT TO
REGULATING RESCUE CENTRES
The government’s decision will see Scotland become the first country in the UK to regulate this
part of the sector
The Association of Dogs and Cats Homes
(ADCH) applauds the new Programme for
Government (PfG), which commits to pushing
forward with the regulation of the nation’s
rescue centres and animal sanctuaries.
The Scottish government’s planned
regulations, outlined in its PfG, are based
on ADCH’s Minimum Standards and would
make Scotland the first nation in the UK to
regulate the sector.
ADCH is the UK’s main rescue
membership body, committed to improving
animal welfare standards, and it has long
argued for better regulation of the sector.
Over 130 national and local charities are
ADCH members. These include one of
ADCH’s founding members – Edinburgh Dog
and Cat Home – as well as the Scottish SPCA
and more than a dozen other Scottish rescue
centres and animal sanctuaries.
www.petgazette.biz
‘IMPORTING
DISEASES’ INTO
UK, VETS WARN
ADCH chairman Claire Horton said: “ADCH
welcomes the Programme for Government,
which commits to pushing forward with
regulations to ensure there’s a minimum
mandatory standard of care across all
Scottish rescue centres and sanctuaries.
Currently, anyone can set up an animal
rescue or sanctuary without having to
meet any minimum welfare standards. The
commitment by the Scottish government to
regulate the sector will help ensure all rescue
animals are given the care, love, resources
and space they need.”
The British Veterinary Association (BVA) is
urging well-meaning animal lovers to stop
importing ‘Trojan’ rescue dogs from abroad
as it could increase the risk of “dangerous
exotic diseases” in the UK.
BVA is asking prospective owners to
protect the domestic dog population by
rehoming dogs from within the UK instead.
Some 93 percent of companion animal
vets in the country are concerned about the
import of rescue dogs from abroad, with
three quarters feeling the numbers have
increased over the last year, figures from
BVA’s latest Voice of the Veterinary Profession
survey revealed.
The survey also found that 93 percent
of companion animal vets had seen dogs
in the last twelve months that had been
rescued from abroad.
The survey, which had 851 respondents
including 564 vets, showed that 40 percent
of companion animal vets had seen new or
rare conditions over the last year that were
associated with dog import. Vets working
in England and Scotland were most likely to
have perceived an increase (76 percent and
77 percent respectively) while those in Wales
and Northern Ireland were less likely to feel
the numbers had increased (56 percent and
31 percent respectively).
BVA president John Fishwick said: “As
vets, we are extremely concerned about the
risks posed by rescuing dogs with unknown
health histories from abroad and, while it
may sound harsh, we believe that the wider
consequences for the UK dog population
must outweigh the benefit to an individual
animal being imported.”
October 2018