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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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Equine Disease Surveillance report released for Q4 2025

News Story 1
 The latest Equine Disease Surveillance report has been released, with details on equine disease from Q4 of 2025.

The report, produced by Equine Infectious Disease Surveillance, includes advice on rule changes for equine influenza vaccination.

Statistics and maps detail recent outbreaks of equine herpes virus, equine influenza, equine strangles and equine grass sickness. A series of laboratory reports provides data on virology, bacteriology, parasitology and toxicosis.

This issue also features a case study of orthoflavivus-associated neurological disease in a horse in the UK. 

Click here for more...
News Shorts
NSA webinar explores sheep tailing and castration

The National Sheep Association (NSA) is to host a free webinar on the castration and tail docking of lambs.

The webinar, 'Understanding the tailing and castration consultation: A guide for sheep farmers', will be hosted online on Monday, 2 March 2026 at 7.30pm.

It comes during a government consultation into the methods used for these procedures. Farmers are encouraged to engage before the consultation period closes on Monday, 9 March 2026.

The webinar offers clear and actionable guidance to support farmers to contribute meaningfully to the consultation and prepare for potential changes.

On the panel will be former SVS president Kate Hovers, farmer and vet Ann Van Eetvelt and SRUC professor in Animal Health and Veterinary Sciences Cathy Dwyer. Each panel member will utilise their own specialism and expertise to evaluate risks and outcomes to sheep farming.

Find out more about the webinar on the NSA website.