Leading vet charity, PDSA, is returning to Pembrokeshire to offer free health MOTs to dogs later this month, as part of its campaign mission for every pet to have a happy and healthy life.

A PDSA vet nurse will be on board one of the charity’s PetCheck vehicles, which travels across the UK every year providing free health checks and offering expert pet care advice.

The charity will be at the following locations:

Tuesday, September 19, 11 am - 6 pm, The Commons Car Park, Pembroke; Wednesday, September 20, 11am-6pm – Havens Head Car Park, Milford Haven; Thursday, September 21, 11 am - 6 pm – West Street Car Park, Fishguard; Friday, September 22, 9 am - 4 pm – Cricket Club, Haverfordwest.

Appointments should be booked in advance by calling 0800 917 2509.

PDSA Vet Nurse Jayne James will deliver PDSA’s specially developed ‘PetWise’ MOT for every dog, which assesses the five elements pets need to be healthy and happy, known as the welfare needs.

These are diet, environment, companionship, behaviour and health. A simple traffic light system gives each pet a score, and a personalised action plan to help owners improve their pet’s wellbeing.

Additional services including nail clipping and ear cleaning are also available free of charge although donations are welcome. Microchipping, which is now mandatory for all dogs in the UK, is also available at a small cost, and Cats Protection neutering vouchers are also available.

PDSA Vet Nurse Jayne said: “We would love to catch up on the progress of all the dogs we saw on our last visit, and meet any that didn’t manage to get to us. We expect to be busy, so we advise pet owners to call and make an appointment. By offering free, friendly advice and support, we can help owners make small changes that often make big differences to the wellbeing of pets in Pembrokeshire.”

More information on PDSA’s PetCheck tour is available on their website at www.pdsa.org.uk/petcheck.

PDSA is on a mission to improve the life of all pets through preventive care, emergency treatment and education. Last year more than 3,500 PetWise MOTs were completed, resulting in various improvements to local dogs’ health and welfare.

For instance, there was a 5 per cent increase in dogs that were neutered after PDSA’s first visit, which has important health benefits as well as preventing unwanted litters.

However, there is still room for improvement, as almost a third of dogs (31 per cent) who visited showed signs of behavioural problems.

Many owners are also not clear on their responsibilities as a pet owner, as three-in-five dogs seen during last year’s tour (61 per cent) were not wearing an ID tag, despite it being a legal requirement.

Worryingly, the charity’s annual PAW Report has found that awareness of the Animal Welfare Act is worryingly low, with only around a third of pet owners familiar with their legal responsibilities.

Millions of pets aren’t having their basic needs met, not through deliberate mistreatment, but because owners don’t always understand exactly what their pet’s needs are and how to meet them.

PDSA is the UK’s leading veterinary charity, providing more than 2.7 million treatments to around 470,000 pets every year.

PDSA’s two custom-designed PetCheck vehicles have been kindly donated to the charity by benefactors Julie and Robert Breckman.

The vehicles are named after Robert and his late wife Julie, whose love of animals and support of PDSA has helped the PetCheck tour to continue its vital work, helping to improve the lives of thousands of pets.