London Vet Specialists and Village Vet take a stand at celebrity pooch party

Veterinary specialists from London Vet Specialists (LVS) and dedicated practice vets from the local branch of Village Vet will be on hand at this year’s annual Pup Aid extravaganza in Primrose Hill on 3 September to answer owners’ questions about their pets’ health and wellbeing. Village Vet will also provide free-of-charge microchipping, now a legal requirement for dogs.

Specialists from LVS, London’s first complete veterinary referral service under one roof, will cover everything from the benefits of laparoscopic neutering (carried out using keyhole surgery) to corrective surgery for increasingly popular breeds such as pugs and French bulldogs, which often suffer breathing problems. This is a growing problem as ownership of these ‘little’ dog breeds spirals upwards, particularly among urbanites in cities like London.

Surgery can alleviate ‘little’ dogs’ breathing problems

Surgery for obstructed airways in short-nosed (so-called brachycephalic) dogs is specially catered for at LVS; the combined consultant-led team consisting of Dr Janet Kovak McClaran, one of the world’s leading soft tissue surgeons, Dr Maja Drozdzynska, consultant anaesthetist, and Dr Adam Mugford, a critical care and emergency specialist, ensures optimum safety and outcomes for these risky surgical patients.

Pup Aid, now in its sixth year, is a fun day out for all the family, with doggy displays, have-a-go dog agility games, a doggy retail village, and contests judged by celebrities. But the driving force behind the event is to raise awareness about the cruel practice of puppy farming in the UK and abroad, something about which LVS and Village Vet feel strongly.

Every year in the UK, tens of thousands of puppies are mass-produced in horrific conditions for commercial gain, and are sold through the internet, newspaper advertisements and even in car parks. Well-meaning dog lovers lured into buying these pups usually end up with a depressed, sick, diseased puppy that doesn’t resemble its picture or its alleged breed. Pups are usually taken away from their mum very young, and before their immune system is fully-developed.

Short-nosed (brachycephalic) breeds popular in London due to their small size, are particularly vulnerable to puppy farming malpractice. Mothers are often stuck in squalid conditions hundreds of miles away, or even abroad, with the puppies smuggled in and presented as UK-bred. Unscrupulous breeders will often go to great efforts to deceive potential buyers, showing a mother that is unrelated to the puppies. Pup Aid encourages owners to adopt a rescue dog, or to buy from a responsible breeder, where they can see the pup together with its mum at the same time, healthy in their natural environment.

Microchipping dogs is a legal requirement

Village Vet is planning to spur on owners who have yet to microchip their pooches; its local practitioners will provide free-of-charge microchipping with the aim of demonstrating that the process is no more complicated than a routine vaccination, with no anaesthetic required.

A microchip, about the size of a grain of rice, is a permanent pet ID and lasts the life of the pet. It is injected beneath the surface of the pet’s skin between the shoulder blades and emits a low radio frequency that reads the microchip’s unique code. The dog’s details must then be registered on an authorized database. Village Vet’s professionals will also discuss a range of other pet issues, including what to do in case of a pet emergency.

The veterinary specialists

LVS, based in Belsize Park, provides London-based vets with access to expert help across key areas when referring their patients on for specialist care. Its veterinarians are leaders in their fields, among them pioneers in surgical and diagnostic techniques, specialising in emergency and critical care, internal medicine and surgery, diagnostic imaging, anaesthesia and analgesia, dermatology and minimally-invasive surgery.

Dr Janet Kovak McClaran (DVM, DACVS, DECVS, MRCVS), is the former head of the department of surgery at the Animal Medical Center in New York, one of the largest and busiest veterinary hospitals in the world. She is renowned globally for her experience in minimally invasive surgery, where advanced technology minimises the size of incisions required, along with decreasing wound-healing time, associated pain and risk of infection.

Dr Maja Drozdzynska (DVM MVetMed MRCVS) is a highly-experienced consultant in all areas of anaesthesia and analgesia, with a special interest in mechanical ventilation. Dr Adam Mugford (BVetMed MVetMed DACVECC MRCVS) leads LVS’s emergency and intensive care department and is group head of emergency and intensive care at Vet24, which provides advice to veterinary practices and hospitals across London, St Albans and Cambridge. A board-certified specialist, he is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care and an honorary lecturer at the School of Veterinary Science, University of Liverpool.

Dr McClaran will be on hand between 2pm and 4pm at the Village Vet/LVS stand to answer pet owners’ questions. The Village Vet team will also provide free-of-charge microchipping for new pups and be available to provide advice to pet owners throughout the day.