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First ever Guinea Pig Awareness Week announced
Vets are encourage to get involved and share their knowledge and experience as part of Guinea Pig Awareness Week.

Week-long 'festival of events' to be held online.

Burgess Pet Care has partnered with multiple animal charities to launched the first ever Guinea Pig Awareness Week to highlight the welfare needs of these pets.

Guinea Pig Awareness Week (GPAW) will take place online from 22-28 March this year. It has been created by Burgess Pet Care along with the RSPCA, Woodgreen The Animals Charity, Blue Cross and PDSA – the same partnership behind Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW), which has been running for 15 years this year.

A series of surveys of guinea pig owners and veterinary professionals conducted by Burgess Pet Care found that 94 per cent of veterinary professionals feel that the most common mistake owners of small animals make is feeding them the wrong diet.

GPAW organisers will seek to address this issue in the campaign’s programme, and encourages veterinary professionals to share their knowledge and experiences online in order to help educate and inform guinea pig owners on a large scale.

Dr Suzanne Moyes MVB MRCVS, operations and technical director at Burgess Pet Care, said: “Guinea pigs are always a popular choice of pet, particularly for families, but the survey results show a clear lack of understanding around their particular welfare needs.

“GPAW is a fantastic opportunity for vets to get involved, raise the profile of their practices, showcase their guinea pig expertise and to actively engage with their clients, communities and fellow practitioners online.”

More information on GPAW and a new website will be launched soon. Meanwhile, the GPAW team is urging veterinary professionals, retailers and charities to support the campaign by liking and sharing the GPAW official Facebook page.

Image (c) Burgess Pet Care.

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Applications open for MMI research grants

News Story 1
 RCVS' Mind Matters Initiative (MMI) has launched round two of its veterinary mental health research grants.

Researchers have until 11.59pm on Wednesday, 28 May 2025 to apply for a grant for research which reflects MMI's 2025 focus areas.

Only one Impact Grant was awarded last year, and so this year there are two Discovery Grants and one Impact Grants available. Each Discovery Grant is worth £5,000 and the Impact Grant is worth £15,000.

For more information or to apply, email researchgrants@rcvs.org.uk to contact the MMI team.

 

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News Shorts
BBC Radio 4 documentary addresses corporate fees

BBC Radio 4's File on 4 Investigates has released a documentary exploring how corporate-owned veterinary practices may be inflating bills to increase profit.

Released on 15 April, 'What's Happening To Your Vet Bills?' revealed the policies which many corporate groups have in place to increase their profits. This included targets and upgrades which veterinary teams are tasked with meeting on a regular basis.

It also features Anrich Vets, an independently-owned practice based in Wigan. Following the case of Staffordshire terrier Benjy, who is diagnosed with a tumour, the documentary shares how the team were able to offer contextualised care and advice to make the procedure as affordable as possible for his owners.

The documentary can be heard on demand on BBC iPlayer.