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Spread a little animal magic in the North West during National Pet Week
THE Pet Health Council (PHC) welcomes this year’s National Pet Week theme, ‘Best of Friends, Best of Health’. Why not encourage people of the North West to get involved so they can reap the benefits?
Dog-walking or playing with a cat is not only fun, but it’s also a great way of burning a few calories for you and your pet. Contact with animals can bring real physiological and psychological benefits: reducing stress, lowering blood pressure, aiding recovery and boosting chances of survival after a life-threatening illness. To celebrate the week, the PHC has compiled the following facts which demonstrate how pets can be your best ally to help keep you and your family in tip-top condition.
Puppy love is good for children...
1. Children who live with a cat or dog in their first years of life have a lower incidence of hay fever and asthma and are less likely to develop animal-related allergies.
2. A study found children from pet-owning families have significantly better school attendance due to lower levels of absenteeism through illness than those from non-pet owning families.
A pet all day keeps the doctor away...
A large-scale survey of more than 11,000 Australians, Chinese and Germans proved that pet owners enjoy better health than non-pet owners. Over a 5 year period, pet owners made 15 – 20% fewer annual visits to the doctor than non pet-owners. An American study found that men who own cats or dogs have lower resting heart rates and blood pressure than those who don’t.
Stress-busting....
1. Dog and cat owners also seem to suffer less mental and physical stress, and recover more quickly from potentially stressful situations.
2. A UK study exploring how pets could help recently widowed people in dealing with stress found that months after bereavement, pet owners showed fewer physical symptoms such as crying, than non-pet owners. The pet owners were able to talk to their animals and confide in them at a time when they did not feel able to share their feelings with other people.
A speedy recovery....
Research indicates that owning a pet can improve a person’s chances of survival after a life-threatening illness such as a heart attack.
A recent UK study of women between 50-60 years of age recovering from breast cancer found 87% of the women reported that their pets filled at least one important role in their social support. 43% reported that that their pets fulfilled more than 10 important support functions – being cared for, tactile comfort, an outlet for expression of feelings and still feeling included socially – e.g. when taking the dog for a walk.
About National Pet Week...
Each year the responsible pet ownership message is conveyed by running National Pet Week events under a central theme. This year it is
"Best of Friends - Best of Health". For further information, visit:-
www.nationalpetweek.org.uk.
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Ship Shape for the 2005 parade
THERE'S something fishy going on in this year's Lord Mayor's Parade. The Year of the Sea will wash over the city's streets on Saturday 4 June, as the 2005 parade takes on an aquatic theme. And the organisers of the parade are on the hunt for Liverpool's very own Neptune and mermaid to sit aboard an underwater themed float, specially commissioned by the Liverpool Culture Company.
They are looking for a mermaid aged 8 or above to be joined on the float with an older male member of the family - for example, a brother, father, uncle or grandfather - who will be transformed into Neptune for a day. Not only will the lucky couple take pride of place on one of the day's star floats, they will also be given a make-over which will include having a costume exclusively designed for them.
To be in with the chance of winning this splashing prize, entrants need to send in a picture of themselves along with a winning sentence about why they should take pride of place on the Capital of Culture float.
Leader of Liverpool City Council, Mike Storey, said:- "The Lord Mayor's Parade really is a fantastic event which attracts thousands of people every year. It gives the new Lord Mayor the opportunity to meet some of the amazing people in our city and to experience first hand how Liverpool can put on a great show. I'm sure that because of this year's nautical theme we will see a wave of creativity in all the floats and costumes and it really will be an unmissable day."
A 22 foot long yellow submarine and a huge Friendship vessel will be joining the Culture float to set sail along the city streets. Also lined up to take part in the parade are floats from the Glitter campaign, Homotopia and Hope Street.
The annual extravaganza is in its 33rd year and all the money raised is donated to the Lord Mayor's Charity Appeal. This year's charities are The Samaritans, KIND,
a local charity for children, and Bankfield House which is a community centre in
Garston.
All companies, organisations, charities, schools, and youth groups in Liverpool are just some of the people invited to join in the fun.
Send all entries for the mermaid and Neptune competition to: Lord Mayor's Parade Competition, c/o Andy
McNicholl, Culture Company Events, 3rd Floor Millennium House, 60 Victoria Street, Liverpool, L1 6JH.
Or, to find out other ways to become part of this memorable occasion, please contact event manager, Andy
McNicholl, by telephone on 0151 233 4233.
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Wildlife Farming On The Web
THE British countryside will become a much 'greener' and richer place for wildlife due to major changes in the subsidies being paid to farmers. The Government's new Entry Level Stewardship Scheme, worth £30.00 per hectare to most farmers, will now reward farmers for creating and maintaining wildlife habitats that encourage biodiversity on their land.
Although the New Entry Level Scheme offers a fantastic opportunity to boost game and other wildlife, it is important to consider the options very carefully before making any final decisions. To sustain birdlife, for example, a farm needs to have places for nesting, places to find food and places for shelter, and these need to be local. It is no good if the feeding areas are miles away from the nesting areas.
To help farmers and landowners make these right choices to suit their land, The Game Conservancy Trust has written an easy to follow guide to planning an Entry Level Scheme, which is on the Trust's website at
www.gct.org.uk
Dr Stephen Tapper, Director of Policy and Public Affairs with the Trust said:- "Like a supermarket shelf, Entry Level Stewardship contains a rather bewildering array of options, so it is important to have a thought-out plan with the right options in the right place. This will provide a lot of habitat for wildlife and is much better than a haphazard approach. On our website, we have selected what we think are the best options for a range of farmers, especially with game in mind."
Every farm is different, there is no one-size-fits-all, and so the Trust recommends that a plan should be based on the following themes:-
Think about life cycles. Animals need food and shelter year round, so cater for all seasons.
Integrate the set-aside. This is valuable habitat too, so you should not waste it.
Enhance existing features. Protect, widen and compliment what is there already.
Re-create a patch-work quilt. Crops are habitat, but animals do like a choice.
Create small-scale diversity. Cherish variety in everything -especially the planting mixtures.
As well as viewing the Trust's website, farmers should consult the Defra website and their published handbook
Vaccinating your pet is a lifesaver says
PDSA!
VACCINATING your pet against preventable illness is one of the most important things owners should do to protect the health of their pet, says the UK's leading veterinary charity,
PDSA. To highlight the importance of vaccinations, the charity for pets in need of vets has produced a new vaccination advice leaflet, which it hopes will encourage pet owners to carry out a regular vaccination programme.
Vaccinations are used to prevent often-fatal diseases such as canine
parvovirus, canine distemper, leptospirosis (dogs), feline leukaemia
(FeLV) and viral haemorrhagic disease (in rabbits) plus many more.
PDSA Senior Veterinary Surgeon, Elaine Pendlebury, comments:- "Losing a pet in any situation is heart breaking. It's even worse when the loss is the result of a disease, which could have been prevented through vaccination. Many of these preventable diseases can be very harmful to our pets. For example, over 80 per cent of puppies infected with the distemper virus will die. Some of these diseases can also affect us. Leptospirosis can cause serious diseases in people affecting the liver and kidneys, which again can be fatal."
In cats, feline leukaemia (FeLV) is now the most common infectious cause of premature death in cats in the UK. It has been estimated that 8 out of 10 cats infected with FeLV will die within 3 years.
Rabbits don't fare much better, either. One preventable disease, viral haemorrhagic disease
(VHD) is a very contagious and almost always fatal viral disease. The virus is very resistant and can remain active for almost 4 months. In the acute form, the rabbit usually dies within a day or 2 after showing the first signs of the disease.
Elaine continues:- "The development of many of these diseases is often horrific, and it is distressing for vets, nurses and owners alike to see a pet die when the problem could have been prevented with a simple vaccination."
The Vaccination leaflet forms part of a larger range of Responsible Pet Care leaflets produced by PDSA which cover a variety of pet care topics including, First Aid, Diet and Nutrition and Neutering. The leaflets are available from PDSA PetAid hospitals and charity shops nationwide. Further information can be obtained from
www.pdsa.org.uk or by calling freephone 0800 917 2509.
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