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Independent veterinary practices unite against IVC legal threats
IVC has extended the compliance deadline until the 31st December 2025.
Practice managers have received legal letters for using the phrase ‘Pet Health Club’

More than 150 veterinary professionals have joined forces against legal threats from IVC Evidensia over the use of the term ‘pet health club’.

Earlier this year, IVC sent out letters to a number of independent veterinary practices, claiming trademarks on two ‘Pet Health Club’ logos and the phrase ‘Pet Health Club’ — maintaining that it has been used as a trading name since 2015.

Since then, IVC has sent follow-up letters to a number of practices to offer a stay of execution and extended the compliance deadline until the 31st December 2025. The collective cost to rebrand so many ‘Pet Health Clubs’ is estimated to be between £250,000 and £350,000.

In response, a support group named ‘We are Spartacus’ was set up to unite all the affected practices, as well as the wider veterinary community. The group has since appointed an intellectual property lawyer to provide specialist advice on whether the term could be protected with a word mark.

Group member Alex Green of Broadway Vets said that while IVC has extended its compliance deadline, the group is still concerned with how the organisation has gone about contacting veterinary practices. He urged those who have not yet come forward to show their support for ‘We are Spartacus’.

“We’re also keen to hear from those that received initial letters and haven’t yet had a follow-up offering a stay of execution until the end of the year,” he said. “Whilst we’re delighted that IVC has extended their deadline, it does not resolve the fact that their threats are unacceptable when every practice in the country provides animal, or ‘pet’, healthcare, or ‘health’, in a community-based service, or ‘club’.

“They don’t need to fight or worry about this on their own and we’re stronger as a collective, especially when it comes to pooling resources and expertise. We’ve already appointed a specialist IP lawyer to advise us, and the view is that given the extensive prior use of ‘Pet Health Club,’ it would be crazy to allow this to escalate to court when it can be amicably resolved.”

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Practices urged to audit neutering data

News Story 1
 RCVS Knowledge has called on vet practices to audit their post-operative neutering outcomes.

It follows the release of the 2024 NASAN benchmarking report, which collates data from neutering procedures performed on dogs, cats and rabbits.

The benchmarking report enables practices in the UK and Ireland to compare their post-operative outcomes to the national average. This includes the rate of patients lost to follow-up, which in 2024 increased to 23 per cent.

Anyone from the practice can submit the data using a free template. The deadline for next report is February 2026.

Visit the RCVS Knowledge website to complete an audit. 

Click here for more...
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RCVS pays tribute to well-loved equine vet

The RCVS and the Riding Establishments Subcommittee has paid tribute to well-loved veterinary surgeon and riding establishment inspector, Rebecca Hamilton-Fletcher MRCVS.

Linda Belton MRCVS, RCVS President, said: "I, along with my colleagues on the RESC, RCVS Council, RCVS Standards Committee, as well as RCVS staff, was very saddened to hear of the sudden death of Rebecca, or Becca as we knew her, last week.

"She was a true advocate for equine welfare and in her many years on the RESC worked to continually improve the quality and consistency of riding establishment inspections, all in the interests of enhanced horse welfare and rider safety."