Livestock Health News

Updated Nov 5, 2020:

Small animal update
Further to the announcement from the Government on October 31 and following guidance from our governing bodies, we would like to reassure our clients that we will remain open at all 3 of our branches, Sturminster Newton, Shaftesbury and Blandford, to ensure essential animal health and welfare services. Members of the public are permitted to leave their homes to access veterinary care in line with veterinary advice. You may find some of our services have to be postponed in the coming weeks and we would ask you to respect the professional judgement of the Friars Moor team.

We will continue with our good biosecurity, strict social distancing and no face to face communication with our clients and colleagues to ensure the safety of everyone during this difficult time and we ask you to adhere to our protocols in place at each branch.

We would like to let you know that we won’t be booking the following appointments from Thursday November 5th until December 2nd 2020:

• Weight checks
• Lifetime care club 6 months checks
• Free flea and worm check ups
• Nail Clips (unless causing distress)

Once assessed by our clinical team, neutering and other operations will take place at all branches. We ask for your patience if operations have to be moved or postponed if there are unforeseen staffing or branch disruptions due to Covid-19.

Could we also remind you of the following guidelines which will enable us to keep both our clients and staff safe:

If possible
• order your prescriptions online (including flea and worm treatment)
• book your routine vaccinations online
• if you’re are having difficulty with the online booking or ordering systems please call the branches or our main branch 01258 472314 for assistance.

• Please do not attend the branch if you have any symptoms of Covid-19
• Wear facial covering if you are coming into the practice to pick up prescriptions or speak to reception
• Kindly maintain social distancing

Unfortunately, due to social distancing, we still cannot allow our clients access to the clinical areas of the practice.

Livestock Health Update
Considering the current national restrictions, we would like to reassure all our farm clients that under guidance from our regulatory body we are able to remain open. We can continue to provide the essential care that is required to maintain animal health and welfare. We have also been advised that the ‘non-urgent’ veterinary, vet technician and foot trimming services we currently offer can also continue, providing social distancing measures can be maintained. To maintain the safety of clients and staff a 2-metre distance should be kept, and where not possible we would encourage the use of facial coverings.

We are also able to conduct phone consultations and dispense medication without physically examining the animal so please do let the office team know if you would like to talk to a Vet.
TB testing is set to continue as normal and there are no extensions in place. However, where calves under 180 days of age cannot be safely tested, they remain exempt. If a TB test must be cancelled due to Covid-19 reasons, and the test goes overdue, APHA will assess circumstances on an individual basis.

We are aware that the lockdown restrictions may have an impact on your own farm businesses and staffing levels, and we would therefore like to reassure you that we continue to offer our support at this time and would urge you to get in contact if you have any concerns.

Thank you for your continued understanding and cooperation in these challenging times.

Stay safe

The Team at Friars Moor Vets

More Covid information & Updates

[to close: click the (X) above, or anywhere outside this box, or press the [ESC] key]