What are your Pet Care Resolutions?

Ethical insurance policyholders have received a lot of advice from pet healthcare experts on what their New Year's resolutions should include. Which changes were the most widely recommended?

Ethical insurance policyholders may want to include their furry friend on their list of new year's resolutions but are unsure of what their priorities should be. They could be interested in the opinions of pet healthcare experts, who have been weighing in on what changes should be made in 2010.

Of all the different lists issued throughout this past week from animal welfare charities and veterinary specialists, certain themes have been recurring and so should have a top position on any owner's list.

People were urged to make changes regarding their dog or cat's health, which in many cases means watching their creature's weight. With nearly half of all the pets in the UK estimated to be at least slightly overweight, this sounds like advice many could be taking more seriously.

Diet is an important part of this and consulting with a vet could help establish a regimen that has the proper proportions, nutritional content, is age-appropriate and is suited to a dog or cat's individual needs. People must stop being lenient about snacks and the like - as one vet told us this week, even the food given to help a pill go down more easily could begin to add up after a while.

Getting enough exercise is also a key part of having a healthy animal. In the winter, however, owners must also comply with guidelines recommending creatures only be exposed to extreme cold for short times. To cover both bases, frequent and short walks should be the order of every day - an obligation that could have the added bonus of helping owners to keep a resolution that may be on the top of their list and slim down.

Another part of protecting a pet's wellbeing is routine and frequent visits to the vet. Experts have advised every six months to every year, but a veterinary specialist will be able to tell owners how often they should be bringing their pooch or moggy in. Sticking to those appointments should definitely be on the list.

Some experts also expressed their view this week that taking out ethical insurance should also be among pet owners' obligations, as a complement to preventative treatment.

Owners were advised to make 2010 the year they invest the time and effort - and possibly money - in professional help in proper dog training. Many weighed in to remind frustrated people there were no bad dogs, just flawed relationships that could be fixed. One cat health specialist even said felines could be trained and those who were up to the task could find the interaction strengthens the human-animal bond.

Finally, the animal welfare charities urged pet lovers everywhere to do their bit for the cause by not supporting puppy farms or unethical breeders by being a pro-active purchaser. Adopting a creature, getting it spayed or neutered and committing to caring for a chosen pet were all put forward as important new year's resolutions.

And for those who feel sure there is no room for improvement in their relationship with their furry friends, there still may be a resolution for them making the rounds in the animal advice columns and vet's blogs. Volunteering time at the local rescue centre was recommended as a way of spreading generosity and care to more creatures than just the ones lucky enough to have an ethical insurance shopper as an owner.

As one of the largest independent pet insurers in the UK, Animal Friends offers dog insurance, cat insurance and horse insurance to UK residents. You can get a quote and buy pet insurance quickly and easily online.

Press Release 12th January 2010

Local pet insurance company sponsors one lucky and endangered bear rescued from Vietnam's illegal bear bile farms

Pet insurance company, Animal Friends Insurance (AFI), are long-term and generous supporters of animal welfare charity Animals Asia Foundation which works towards ending cruelty and restoring respect for animals across many countries in Asia. However, the charity is best known for its work in China and Vietnam to end the barbaric practice of farming endangered Asiatic black bears for their bile, for use in traditional Chinese medicine. These majestic moon bears, nicknamed for the crescent of gold fur across their chests, are kept in tiny coffin-like cages, unable to turn around, for up to 25 years, repeatedly "milked" for their bile either through open and infected holes punched into their gall bladders or by being repeatedly sedated with unsterile needles and having their bile sucked out by a pump. The bears often die slow and agonising deaths through infection and liver tumours caused by the bile extraction methods. And all this suffering is rendered completely unneces sary by the easy availability of equally effective herbal and synthetic alternatives.

Whilst bear farming is still legal in China, it has been illegal in Vietnam since 2002, although still widespread due to poor enforcement laws.

AFI is the UK's only not-for-profit insurance business dedicated to helping animals worldwide and gives all its net profits to help animal charities. True to this ethos, the company has generously supported the work of Animals Asia since early 2005. Its founder and MD, Elaine Fairfax, says:

"It's been a pleasure to support Jill and her team who do such fantastic and groundbreaking work saving these lovely and gentle bears from the terrible conditions people have subjected them to."

Last September, Animals Asia's Vietnam office was contacted by the forestry protection department of Ha Nam province regarding two bears that they had kept for several years in their holding station located 100 km southwest of Hanoi and about 4 hours away from Animals Asia's moon bear sanctuary in Tam Dao National Park.

The original history of the bears, though doubtless tragic, is not known. The Forestry Department had confiscated the two bears in 2004 and had kept them together in the same cage ever since, until a change in personnel and a raised awareness of Animals Asia's work led them to ask whether they could be transferred to the charity's bear sanctuary.

Thanks to their generosity Animals Asia invited AFI to name one of the newly arrived bears. They chose to name her "Gemma" in honour of one of their employees, Gemma Wickstead, who left the company on maternity leave around the same time as Gemma bear was rescued.

Gemma says:

"I couldn't believe Animal Friends offered to name the bear after me, I couldn't stop crying for ages! It's such an honour; I know what good work Animals Asia do and the fact that AFI have supported them for a long time."

When the two bears were delivered, Gemma was found to be very thin and very submissive to the other bear, BB, leading to the assumption that she had not received her fair share of food over the intervening years. She was also filthy dirty with a very thin coat and was missing the toes and half her left foot.

Not surprisingly, Gemma was very aggressive on arrival and fearful whenever anyone approached her. However, after her initial medical examination, she was put in a much larger recovery cage, by herself, and moved to the sanctuary's quarantine building where she will stay for a few months. Already she is benefitting greatly, putting on weight fast thanks to a balanced diet and medicines skilfully concealed in delicious treats, hand fed to her by the veterinary team and local bear workers. Her trust in humans is fast increasing and her stereotypic behaviour is decreasing. By the end of her quarantine period, she will be ready for transfer to her own large den in one of the bear houses where she will begin the integration process with some of the sanctuary's other residents before finally being allowed to walk out into the semi wild enclosures. There she will be free to feel the sun on her back, the grass under her paws and revel in her natural instincts to climb trees a nd swim in cool water. Her days of darkness and fear will be finally over forever.

As Gemma Wickstead concluded: "I take so much pleasure in knowing that Gemma Bear is now going to have some dignity and love in her life and I can't wait to get back to work after my baby is born so I can help AFI do good for more animals around the world."

About Animals Asia Foundation:

Animals Asia Foundation was set up in 1998 by British-born Jill Robinson MBE. Its two main projects are the Moon Bear Rescue and the Friends . not Food campaign which aims to end dog and cat eating across Asia and change local attitudes to companion animals.

There are over 11,000 endangered Asiatic black bears held in tiny cages on bile farms in China and Vietnam. The bears usually have no free access to water and, because hungry bears produce more bile, the farmers often deliberately deny them adequate food. This is the farmed bear's 'life' for 20 years or more, or until it dies of disease, which is the only escape from this torment for many.

Bear bile is still used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to 'treat' anything from hangovers to haemorrhoids, but today many TCM doctors agree that bear bile can be easily replaced with herbs; in fact, there are more than 50 herbal alternatives. The prized ingredient in bear bile (UDCA) can also be produced synthetically which is both cheaper and equally effective.

Animals Asia Foundation is working with the Chinese and Vietnamese governments to close down bear bile farms and compensate the farmers. Since October 2000, over 265 bears have been released into the care of Animals Asia at its rescue centre in Sichuan, southwest China and a further 200 are promised for the brand new sanctuary, outside Tam Dao National Park in Vietnam.

For further information about the work of Animals Asia Foundation or about Gemma bear, please contact Nicky Vyvyan-Robinson, AAF UK PR Manager. Tel: 07778 313250 or Email: nvyvyanrobinson@animalsasia.org or visit the website http://www.animalsasia.org/

About Animal Friends Insurance:

Animal Friends Insurance was founded in 1998 and offers competitively priced dog, cat and horse insurance products. It is an ethical company using profits to help fund animal welfare projects worldwide. In 2005 Animal Friends Insurance's managing director, Elaine Fairfax, won the NatWest Everywoman Award for achieving the most outstanding success in business.

You can get a quick quote and buy pet insurance online - they have a range of policies to suit your needs and budget.

Information Supplied by Animal Friends Insurance 13th January 2010

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