FIVP calls for urgent review of CMA remedies

“We want to support businesses to operate in full compliance of the law” - VMD. 

The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) has published updated guidance to support vets with advertising non-medicinal veterinary products.

The guidance is for anyone who makes, advertises, sells or supplies products for use in or near animals in the UK, including feeds, supplements, topical hygiene products, bedding and behavioural products.

It has been developed in response to stakeholder queries and addresses common issues the regulator has identified in how businesses interpret the existing rules. The VMD states that it has received more than 400 reports relating to unauthorised medical claims in the last year.

The guidance covers:
    •    What counts as a veterinary medicine under UK law
    •    The difference between products that are ‘medicinal by presentation’ and ‘medicinal by function’
    •    What businesses can and cannot claim for non-medicinal products
    •    Rules for health maintenance claims
    •    How testimonials, reviews and educational materials must be handled
    •    Specific rules for different product types.

Lee Grist, head of inspections and enforcement at the VMD, said: “We want to support businesses to operate in full compliance of the law. This guidance provides clear, practical advice to help manufacturers, retailers and other suppliers understand their legal obligations when advertising non-medicinal veterinary products.

“Many businesses have asked us for more detail on what they can and cannot claim when advertising these kinds of products. This guidance responds to those requests and will help protect both businesses and animal health by ensuring products are properly presented to end consumers.”

Image (C) New Africa/Shutterstock.com.

Endangered Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo born to mum Kitawa.

Keepers at Chester Zoo are celebrating the arrival of a rare Goodfellow’s tree kangaroo.

The male joey, who is yet to be named, was born to mum, Kitawa, and dad, Kayjo, as part of an international conservation breeding programme.

It’s the second time experts have bred the species at the conservation zoo, with only two UK zoos currently caring for the animals.

To commemorate the milestone, the zoo has released rare video footage revealing the secret world inside the kangaroo’s pouch. Experts inserted tiny endoscopic cameras into Kitawa’s pouch to track the baby’s development and carefully monitor her.

The footage will be used to help conservationists safeguard the future of the species. Native to the forests of Papua New Guinea, Goodfellow’s kangaroos have seen a 50 per cent decline in recent years owing to hunting and habitat loss.

Matthew Lloyd, a tree kangaroo expert at the zoo, said: “When people think of kangaroos, they rarely imagine small, fluffy animals living high in the treetops. With so little known about tree kangaroos, Kitawa’s joey is a particularly special arrival and represents a major step forward in understanding and protecting this remarkable species from extinction.

“Being able to carefully track this joey’s development inside the pouch using tiny cameras wasn’t possible only a few years ago, and it’s already helped us learn more crucial information about the early stages of life inside the pouch - knowledge that can now support, and hopefully speed up, our conservation breeding efforts globally.

“We don’t have a name for the little one just yet, but our choice will be influenced by communities in Papua New Guinea who live alongside tree kangaroos and are now part of efforts to protect their forest homes.”

Image (C) Chester Zoo. 

Study reveals how a deadly fungus is silently devastating the Darwin’s frog.

A new study has revealed how ‘silent’ outbreaks of a deadly fungus are rapidly wiping out the endangered Southern Darwin’s frog in Chile’s remote Parque Tantauco.

The study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, shows how the devastating chytrid fungus not only spreads through water – as was previously understood – but also through close contact with other frogs on land.

This means Darwin's frogs living in forest patches near infected neighbours face the greatest risk. These small, undetected epidemics have population declines of up to 90 per cent.

In the study, researchers used a decade of data from some 1,500 frogs to show, for the first time, how the fungus-caused disease, chytridiomycosis, spreads in a species that spends its entire life on land. 

Dr Andrés Valenzuela-Sánchez, Research Fellow at ZSL’s Institute of Zoology and lead author of the study, said: “The global spread of chytrid fungus is one of the biggest threats for amphibians – of an apocalyptic scale – but we still have a chance to turn things around.  

“Darwin’s frogs are a unique part of South America’s rich biodiversity, and uncovering these hidden dynamics gives us the tools to monitor and manage the fungus as effectively as possible in our fight to protect this precious frog and other amphibians across the world.”

When chytrid fungus was first detected in 2023, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Ranita de Darwin and Parque Tantauco launched a rescue mission to establish a protected breeding population of the threatened frogs.

Fifty-three chytrid-free frogs were transported 13,000km by boat, car and plane in specially-designed climate-controlled boxes to London Zoo. The Zoo’s team care for them in bio secure habitats, and since the frogs’ arrival, over 30 rice-grain sized froglets have already been born.

Dr Benjamin Tapley, ZSL’s curator of amphibians and reptiles, explained: “Conservation zoos are lifelines for wildlife, including the hundreds of amphibians whose futures are threatened by this deadly fungus.

"They allow us conservationists to boost numbers and raising awareness while we use science to develop strategies to tackle this pandemic. Every insight we get into the disease brings us one step closer to releasing zoo-bred Darwin’s frogs back into the forests of Chile and Argentina.”

Image (C) ZSL.

The results will inform further education and guidance.

Dog owners are being urged to contribute to a new survey on sheep worrying.

The survey forms part of ongoing work by the National Sheep Association (NSA) to highlight this serious and highly distressing problem for both sheep and farmers.

NSA has been gathering data on sheep worrying for more than 13 years, and continues to raise awareness of these incidents through education, guidance and cooperation.

Results from this year’s survey will be shared with interested parties in the spring, including the national press, to highlight the issue.

NSA chief executive Phil Stocker comments: “Sheep farmers across the UK nations are regularly faced with the dreadful consequences of sheep worrying by dogs. Attacks not only compromise animal welfare but also cause great stress, anxiety and financial loss to farmers themselves.



“NSA urges dog owners to complete this year’s survey and encourages organisations to share it amongst their networks. All contributions help to create a more accurate representation of the matter, critical for NSA when working towards increased understanding of the problem, whether that be amongst the dog owning population, farmers or those responsible for legislating on the issue.”

The survey is available here will remain open until Monday, 9 March. 

Image (C) Wayne Evans/Shutterstock.

The species has been greatly impacted by flooding in Sumatra. 

Years of orangutan veterinary support could be “wiped out overnight” due to the recent catastrophic floods in Sumatra, a UK-based charity has warned.

According to Orangutan Veterinary Aid (OVAID), the loss of equipment and transport means there is now only a brief window of time to prevent long-term impact on the conservation work for the species.

It warns that the critically-endangered apes cannot survive without expert veterinary care, and has launched a campaign to help replace lost and damaged equipment so local vets can continue their work.

OVAID co-founder Sara Fell Hicks, said: “We are devastated by what has happened to veterinary friends and conservation colleagues as a result of the disastrous floods and landslides. We must help them continue their vital work which contributes hugely to the conservation of orangutan in Borneo and Sumatra where every single orangutan life is precious”. 



OVAID was formed in 2014 by Sara and her husband, Dr Nigel Hicks, who have over 17 years’ experience in working alongside Indonesian vets in orangutan rescue and rehabilitation. The charity supports veterinary teams by providing them with equipment and training to sustain orangutan numbers.

Specialist veterinary support is crucial for the species, not least because release back into the wild can take many years. Rehabilitating orangutans rescued from threats like poaching and habitat destruction also requires specialist care, with may suffering from physical wounds caused by machetes and gunshots, as well as severe mental trauma.

Sara added: “We formed OVAID in 2014 because we could see from working alongside the vet teams that it was an absolute necessity for strengthening orangutan welfare. Veterinary care is a key piece of the jigsaw in conservation efforts to sustain the orangutan populations which are under constant threat from so many directions – habitat destruction, poaching, the illegal wildlife trade and increasingly climate change. The vet teams tell us what they need and we provide it – a vet without equipment is like a mechanic without tools.
 
‘Equally important has been the training and support we have been able to provide for vets working on the ground. They often work in difficult situations and challenging conditions in the jungle and even more so now, after the floods have caused such devastation. There is always hope though – we wouldn’t do what we do without hope. We know the front-line vets truly appreciate our help and gain encouragement from knowing that people around the world care passionately about their work.”

For further information and to donate to the campaign, visit ovaid.org

Image (C) OVAID.

Professionals are encouraged to be open minded while being aware of the ethical risks. 

The British Veterinary Association (BVA) has released an eight-point policy statement outlining its position on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the veterinary profession.  

Designed to support the profession across clinical practice, education, research epidemiology, admin and practice management, the eight principles advise vets on how to: 

    1.    Use AI as a tool to support, not replace, the vet. 
    2.    Understand how AI technologies work and feel confident in using them. 
    3.    Actively participate in the design, development, and validation of AI tools for animal health and welfare. 
    4.    Understand how an AI system was trained and the contexts in which bias may appear. 
    5.    Be confident understanding how AI technologies are advancing and adapt to potentially quick changes in the tools available. 
    6.    Ensure data privacy and client consent. 
    7.    Oversee AI use in clinical practice and be responsible for final decisions. 
    8.    Be able to easily access what data was used and explain how an AI tool reached its conclusion.

The position statement calls on vets to keep a positive open-minded approach to AI, while remaining aware of its potential ethical implications.

Among its recommendations include a call for veterinary workplaces to develop AI policies, undertake risk assessments, and develop resources to help team members understand how AI tools work.

It also calls on the wider sector to set clear rules as to how veterinary AI systems should be governed, establish proper regulations for their use, and for AI tech developers to be more transparent.

BVA president Dr Rob Williams said: “The AI revolution is here to stay and brings with it both important opportunities as well as challenges for the veterinary profession. Having a positive and open-minded approach that views AI as a tool to support vets and the wider vet team is the best way forward to make sure that the profession is confident applying these technologies in their day-to-day work.

“The general principles developed in BVA’s new policy position offer a timely and helpful framework for all veterinary workplaces considering the safe and effective use of AI technologies”.

He continued: “Vets must also be involved in the development process for AI tools as early and as frequently as possible so the profession can lead from the front when applying these emerging technologies, to ensure we continue to deliver on our number one priority of supporting the highest levels of animal health and welfare.”

According to data from BVA's Voice of the Veterinary profession survey, one in five vets (21%) are already using AI for tasks like data interpretation, diagnostic testing  and time saving. However, an overreliance of AI undermining human skills and results being interpreted without context of follow-up checks were highlighted as potential risks.

To address this, the BVA has created a risk pyramid classifying the risks of AI use in veterinary settings from ‘minimal to unacceptable’. It has also produced a set of questions vets should ask software companies when undertaking risk assessments.

Dr Williams added: “We know that the degree of risk in AI use exponentially increases with the degree of autonomy an AI tool has. This risk pyramid is a handy reference for vets looking to incorporate AI in their work, with tasks lower down the pyramid such as marketing or clerical tasks able to be undertaken with more confidence of safety than those closer to the top, such as automated diagnosis or clinical decision making.

“As use cases move closer to the top, the importance of following the principles set out in BVA’s policy position becomes more critical as the impacts on animal health and welfare, professional standards, and people will be more significant.  I’d urge all colleagues to take a look at this risk pyramid alongside the general principles.”

BVA’s full position statement on the use of AI in the veterinary profession can be found is available at bva.co.uk. 

Image (C) Raker/Shutterstock.