A County Durham vet has been honoured with a prestigious award for their care of dogs.

Wear Referrals in Bradbury has been awarded the Dog-Friendly Clinic accreditation by Dogs Trust and the British Veterinary Behaviour Association (BVBA).

Darren Stubbs, hospital director at Wear Referrals, said the clinic’s new status reflects their team’s commitment to ensuring a positive experience for clients and their dogs.

He said: “By becoming a dog-friendly clinic our team are committed to optimising our knowledge, skills and resources to ensure visits to us are positive for both dogs and clients.

“Our team will also benefit from a better understanding of dog behaviour, helping them prevent the development of problems, spot issues as early as possible, help owners with up-to-date advice and provide a safer working environment.”

Dr Rachel Casey, director of strategy and transformation at Dogs Trust, said: “Veterinary care is an essential part of dogs’ lives, but some find visits to the vets stressful.

“We are very pleased to collaborate with the BVBA to create the Dog-Friendly Clinic scheme to help veterinary practices embed the principles of behavioural medicine into clinic life.

“Vet clinics are at the forefront of recognising and preventing the development of problem behaviours in dogs, and this scheme will help them develop the skills and knowledge to optimise the wellbeing of the dogs in their care.”

Chris Laurence, chair of BVBA, said: “Encouraging welfare-friendly treatment of dogs in veterinary practices is one of our primary objectives so every additional practice means many more dogs will benefit.

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“We’re delighted Wear Referrals has joined our dog-friendly community. By doing so, they are helping ensure every dog has as positive an experience as possible within their clinic.”

Wear specialises in providing expert multidisciplinary care, including anaesthesia, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, intensive care, internal medicine, neurology, OOH emergency and critical care, oncology, orthopaedics and soft tissue.  

For more information of Wear Referrals, visit here.