Vets call for over-the-counter flea treatment ban
Eighty per cent of BVA members supported a ban on the general sale of spot-on treatments.
A group of veterinary professionals have advised a ban on the sale of over-the-counter as part of an ongoing inquiry into Pet Parasite Medications (PPMs).
Evidence was given at the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee on Wednesday, 10 June 2026.
The committee has been hearing how the two parasiticides commonly found in spot-on treatments, fipronil and imidacloprid, are causing environmental damage. Veterinary professionals giving evidence described moving away from using these treatments.
Among those speaking was Elizabeth Mullineaux, senior vice-president at the British Veterinary Association (BVA). Dr Mullineaux called for a ban on general sale of such spot-ons and suggested that blanket preventative treatment should stop.
She referenced recent surveys from the BVA, which revealed that 80 per cent of members supported a ban on the general sale of these treatments. More than 70 per cent said that blanket preventative treatment should stop.
Dr Mullineaux said: "We're using these products really routinely and I think if you ask most vets what they do with their own pets, we don't treat our own pets in the way some practices are selling these products."
Meanwhile Rose Perkins, a veterinary surgeon and visiting fellow at the Grantham Institute, recommended that flea treatments are only used in the case of infection. Even when treating her own pets for flea infestations, Dr Perkins said she had only used an isoxazoline tablet.
She added: "It's more in line with how we use antibiotics, it's much cheaper, you save a lot of money, and isoxazolines are incredibly effective."
Dr Perkins said that only one in 100 veterinary professionals she has surveyed reported using fipronil-based products on their own pets. She said: “They know it’s polluting and they know it’s ineffective.”
The veterinary panel followed a session the previous week where three environmental scientists presented their research.
Scientists told peers there was strong evidence that both chemicals easily transferred into water, where they killed off insects from the bottom of the food chain. They cited that fipronil and imidacloprid had been banned as agricultural pesticides in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Matthew Shardlow, ecological consultant, added: "We know enough to act, we don't need more information for fipronil and imidacloprid as we've got absolutely all the evidence we need.
"They've been banned in agriculture actually on probably less evidence than we've currently got for the flea treatment issue here at the moment."
The case will continue on Wednesday, 17 June, when the committee hears from Donal Murphy (NOAH) and Ian Wright (ESCCAP).
Image © Elen Nika/Shutterstock.com
Defra has published guidance for the vet sector ahead of a proposed UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary agreement.
