The March issue of pbwnews has now been delivered to our readers by Royal Mail – and here is the digital version of the magazine, which you can read online or download. Thank you for your support in these difficult times; we hope you will also support our advertisers who have enabled us to continue publishing the UK’s leading pet trade magazine throughout the past year. Register now to receive your monthly copy – free to bona fide pet businesses.
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A clever cat has been assigned the role of a ‘postcat’ for his owners and their neighbours.Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov has designated the last Sunday in April as a national holiday to honor the Alabai, a local dog breed.
Swallowing a conker wasn’t one of Monty the Labrador’s best moves. It resulted in life-threatening internal complications but thanks to skilled teamwork at Davies Veterinary Specialists, the critically ill hound made a full recovery.
An Australian got a shock when he returned home to find two snakes had crashed through his ceiling and were slithering around his Queensland house.
A firefighter has been raising three blackbird chicks in lockdown after their mother was knocked out of her nest and killed.A three-year-old girl has stolen the hearts of many after a video of her expertly handling her large sheep went viral.
Jester the giant rabbit is so big he has his own bedroom in his owner’s home – and Lyn Hobson admits her 20lb pet is ‘spoiled rotten’.The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the state Department of Health are testing Burmese pythons for mercury to determine whether the invasive snakes are safe to eat.
Vets carefully amputated a hedgehog’s tiny toe and now, after a full recovery, he’s back in the wild where he belongs.
Leicester is home to the most species of spider in Britain, new research has found.
VetPartners has acquired online retailer VetUK, which supplies pet products, including toys, accessories, pet food, over-the-counter pet treatments, and veterinary prescription medicines.
David Shorthouse has been appointed business development manager at Northern Ireland-based Mackle Pet Foods.
Four-and-a-half thousand metric tonnes of sweet potato pellets from China have been discharged at the Port of Liverpool – the first time this product has been shipped to the UK in a bulk vessel.
Vicki Lister left a career in US politics to eventually settle in West Yorkshire with husband Tim. The pair set up The Barking Lot 11 years ago and, over the years, the shop has developed into a thriving business proudly supporting the ‘shop local’ campaignThe RSPCA has welcomed press reports that the UK Government is considering banning the use of ‘cruel and indiscriminate’ glue traps in England.
Luxury pet ‘lifestyle’ brand and grooming parlour Love My Human is set to open a second store at 330 King’s Road in upmarket Chelsea this summer.
TV and radio presenter Dermot O’Leary has joined Cats Protection for an exclusive video event to promote both his new book and the charity’s work.
UK pet insurers handled claims worth the equivalent of £2.2m every day in 2020, according to the Association of British Insurers. 
Thornberry Animal Sanctuary is building a new café at its main site in North Anston, Sheffield.
Snowflake equine bedding has increased its manufacturing capacity by 50%, with the installation of a new baler at its Manchester-based headquarters.
Cats Protection is celebrating the first anniversary of a pioneering online adoption process that was launched in response to the lockdown and has rehomed more than 20,000 cats around the UK cats to date.
Although bunnies are the third most popular pet in the UK, a review by Scotland’s Rural College suggests they are under represented in most legislation.
The UK’s largest dog welfare charity is demanding that the Government acts now to end the puppy smuggling trade as demand for dogs continues to soar.More than half of the UK population (56%) have treated their pets to premium or gourmet foods over the last three months, according to new research conducted by Product of the Year, the UK’s biggest survey of product innovation.
A new episode of ‘Made in Britain’ went behind the scenes at ACME Whistles to see how the Birmingham firm has been making whistles for the past 150 years.
Pooch & Mutt has teamed up with radio and TV presenter Jenni Falconer to help raise awareness of the mental health benefits of owning a dog.
Members of the Pet Brands team are running a half marathon to raise funds for their creative director, Carl Farraker.
Vital Pet Group is launching Vital Pet Club this month. The aim of the club is to become a destination for pet lovers, providing education about care and key brands available in the specialist sector.
Eurazeo Brands has signed an exclusivity agreement under which it will invest €68m in French pet food business Ultra Premium Direct as a majority shareholder.An air ambulance was called to Pets at Home on a Gloucester retail park after a medical emergency.
Naturo Natural Pet Food has launched its latest marketing campaign, which will be seen across TV and digital channels across the UK and Republic of Ireland and will last for 10 weeks.
Leading European online pet retailer zooplus has delivered a record 2020, with ‘an excellent performance’ across all relevant top and bottom line key profit indicators.
An initiative to bring buyers and suppliers together during a three-day virtual event has been launched by the organisers of BETA International.
Looking for new products or suppliers? Then look no further than our searchable classified pet trade directory with more than 1,000 listings.
If you would like to add your business to the directory free of charge or make your entry stand out from the rest, call Amanda Bridges on 01234 714404 or email us
If you would like to add your business to the directory free of charge or make your entry stand out from the rest, call Amanda Bridges on 01234 714404 or email us
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To help you get the most from our comprehensive pet trade news coverage and regular, targeted features, we have created a new business resource, the pbwnews digital magazines page. This will be updated every month to make sure you have the best, up-to-date news coverage available, when and where you want it and all at the click of a mouse.
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UK trade body OATA has responded to comments made by the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation, describing them as ‘unjustified and showing a lack of proper research’ into the way live ornamental fish are transported.
The WWF is warning that the UK is ‘no exception’ when it comes to the loss of freshwater fish species, as a new report exposes the dire outlook for populations across the world.
An International consortium of governments, universities and non-governmental organisations is studying great white shark behaviour in the northwest Atlantic ocean to prevent human-shark conflict and protect both species.
TV gardener David Domoney aims to encourage more people to add water features to their homes and gardens as he enters a new partnership with OASE.Vets at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine put a woman’s ailing pet seahorse into a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to cure him of gas bubble disease, which is similar to decompression sickness or ‘the bends’, a condition that occurs in scuba divers who surface too quickly.
The price of Hawaiian tropical fish is set to soar following a court ruling banning commercial marine aquarium fishing.
Aquaja – a Dutch specialist in pet and aquatic shop fitting – has fitted the first shop in the UK with its Economy Line Aquaria Stand system.The Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association (OATA) has sent a letter to government ministers seeking urgent action to resolve problems of importing livestock and products into the UK, which have arisen since the end of the Brexit transition period in January.
A new film exploring the artisanal fishing trade for the home aquarium industry in Brazil has been released on Vimeo.
Penguins at the London Aquarium have been enjoying festive films in a bid to help them prepare for visitors post-lockdown.BBC Radio 4 consumer programme ‘You and Yours’ featured the growing popularity of fish keeping in its early December programme. During lockdown many people took on a new pet – not just cats and dogs, fish found a new fan-base too.
Ibrahim Mefire Kouotou, MD of the aquatics group EHEIM, has been crowned manager of the year by a French trade publication.
It’s not often you get to share Sunday brunch with sharks and a turtle but that’s exactly what two divers did in an effort to raise money for cancer research.
The man behind a project to support Amazonian ornamental fisheries, Scott Dowd, has received a major award for his work.With less than a month to go until the end of the Transition Period, the government is urging businesses and consumers to check online guidance around importing and exporting products that are covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Aquatic retailers are being urged to check the credentials of courier companies if they have recently begun to use them to transport live fish.
Aquatic retailers and water garden centres are being urged to get behind the Be Plant Wise campaign this autumn, to help prevent the spread of invasive species.