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Petsavers announces £40,000 funding to veterinary colleges

vetreportApril 14, 2014

PetSavers celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, and used the occasion at Congress to announce £40,000 of funding to be split between the seven veterinary colleges, with the remaining £5,000 available to veterinary nurses who apply for funding. It also launched a new appeal to veterinary practices to raise money to help secure the next forty years of vital research funding.

Founded in 1974, the charity has invested more than £2 million in a number of crucial veterinary medicine research projects spanning oncology, orthopaedics, dermatology and, recently, the impact of passive smoking on animal health.

It is now launching its ‘£200 Project’ – an appeal to veterinary practices to raise £200 each year, a figure which would secure the future of the organisation and reduce its reliance on unpredictable income sources such as legacy funding.

Pedro Martin Bartolome, PetSavers’ chairperson said, “PetSavers’ work has greatly improved the health of pets over the last forty years but our biggest challenge is now to secure regular income that will allow us to plan for the future.

“It’s important that we raise our profile among the general public, and vets are our best hope of doing this through the fundraising activities we are encouraging them to take part in. We really hope that vets embrace our project for the benefit of the health of animals and the veterinary profession.”

Darek Attride, chairman of the grant awarding committee, said the new £40,000 funding was a “great opportunity for young, committed and enthusiastic vet students and vet nurses.”

Previous grant recipients were on hand to discuss how the funding they received allowed them to carry out important work:

Dr Sarah Mason was granted PetSavers residency in small animal oncology in 2010 and completed her study in 2013. Sarah said: “It was an honour to be awarded PerSavers residency and I consider the growth and development of the field of veterinary oncology to be significantly down to the work and funding of the charity.”

Sue Paterson was awarded a dermatology residency with PetSavers between 1997 and 1999. Sue said: “It was always my dream to become a dermatologist, and PetSavers funding allowed me to carry out a study into the use of antiseptics and an alternative to antibiotics. Sue said that having benefitted from PetSavers earlier in her career she wanted to give something back, and will be running the London Marathon to raise funds.