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Bristol Zoo Gardens Appoints New Head Vet
Bristol Zoo head vet Michelle Barrows
Michelle Barrows, who spent seven years working at Johannesburg Zoo in South Africa, has been appointed the new head of Bristol Zoo’s veterinary department.

Michelle will now lead Bristol Zoo’s team of three vets and two vet nurses, treating over 400 different animal species, from lions, gorillas and okapi, to penguins, iguanas and stick insects.
 
Dr Bryan Carroll, Director of Bristol Zoo, added: “We are really pleased to welcome Michelle to the team here at Bristol Zoo. She brings a wealth of experience and will continue to develop our high standards of vet care and enhance our status and reputation as a centre for excellence for exotic veterinary medicine.”
 
Michelle has now been joined by a new veterinary nurse at Bristol Zoo, Celine Campana. Bristol Zoo’s vet service was established in 1999 and is now a RCVS “Approved Centre for Zoological Medicine”, one of just three zoos with such status in the world.
 

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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...
News Shorts
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."