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Snowboarding opossum clip goes viral
Image - YouTube.com
Marsupial takes to the slopes

A short video clip of a jumper-wearing opossum named Ratatouille taking to the slopes of Emmitsburg, Pennsylvania on a small Burton Riglet Snowboard has, perhaps inevitably, attracted great interest on the internet. The marsupial, with a Season Pass for the slopes at the US Liberty Ski Resort around his neck, can be seen hitting the slopes from both an external perspective and from a miniature 'board-cam'. His striped blue and lime-green jumper may not constitute normal snowboarding apparel, but Ratatouille does not appear to register any objections.

At the time of writing, the brief clip had won in excess of 600,000 hits on YouTube and had even more on other sites. It has also thus far been featured on The Today Show, Sportcenter Top 10, Good Morning America, Buzzfeed, Red Bull, Yahoo.com, AOL.com and HuffingtonPost.com, and is likely to spread even further as momentum gathers.

The clip, which is 56 seconds long, may be found here.

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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.

 

Click here for more...
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.