23 Nov 2023
Paws to Protect initiative aims to raise awareness of the importance of following packing information.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
The organisation representing animal health firms has launched a campaign to improve awareness of product packaging information among pet owners.
NOAH has launched the Paws to Protect initiative featuring resources veterinary practices and retailers can use to support their existing information and advice.
Resources include a poster with simple advice and links via a QR code to more details about why information is important to protect them, their pet and the environment.
NOAH chief executive Dawn Howard said: “We want to ensure all veterinary medicines are used correctly and responsibly in accordance with their marketing authorisation to protect human, animal and environmental health.
“Around two-thirds of new pet owners are aged 16-34. While, encouragingly, our recent NOAH survey shows 78% of pet owners overall were aware of and followed the instructions provided with their pet’s medicine, our survey identified this age group as the least likely to be aware of, or only sometimes adhere to, the product information and instructions provided.”
Ms Howard added: “This highlights a gap in understanding about the need to always use veterinary medicines appropriately. It risks the medicine not working properly, resulting in implications to animal health and welfare, and could even mean specific advice and instructions are ignored that could harm the animal, the person giving the medicine or the environment.
“To reach this group, we are reaching out on our social media using #Paws2Protect, and we need help from those that prescribe and sell veterinary medicines to help us spread the word. We hope our new resources will provide them with additional support to ensure this important message is understood.”
Full details are available from the NOAH website.
