RVN bites back with adder pack project

A Cornwall-based RVN is making it her mission to help educate the public about the dangers dogs can face from adder bites and has launched an online fund-raiser to help make it a reality.

Catherine Hall has been in practice since 1997 and in that time has helped treat numerous adder bites, which require prompt treatment, and good outcomes are often impacted by the speed and quality of first aid care given to dogs affected.

In an effort to improve first aid care, Ms Hall has now created Adder Packs – compact and comprehensive kits to carry with dog walkers in the event of an incident. The packs, which fit into a rucksack, include emergency contact details, a snake ID card, bells and an instant ice pack, along with other aids.

‘Increase awareness’

While she has built a website, social media platform and resources, Miss Hall is asking the veterinary and dog-walking community to get behind the project with crowdfunding to help promote the project and potentially save more dogs.

She said: “I wanted to create Adder Packs to help not only increase awareness to owners of the fact that these cases are indeed in need of urgent attention, but also in the hope that as many patients as possible get to go home to their families as soon as they can.

“I feel that along with awareness and the application of the correct first aid, these cases may suffer less severe symptoms and achieve a hastier return to normal health”

More information about the project is available online.