Plans for a ground-breaking Pet Wellbeing Centre in Manchester to treat pets in need have been unveiled by PDSA. The charity is celebrating its centenary year, and has been caring for Manchester pets since 1925, when the first PDSA dispensary opened in the city.The current PDSA Pet Hospital location in Old Trafford has been the charity’s home for over 40 years. Today, its vets and nurses treat nearly 12,000 pets every year, providing around 78,000 treatments, ranging from emergency life-saving surgery to routine vaccinations and dental operations. But after years of treating sick and injured pets, the much-loved hospital, on Warwick Road South, has now reached breaking point and desperately needs replacing.
For more information about the Pet Wellbeing Centre and how to get involved visit
www.pdsa.org.uk/Manchester
or call
0808 1645004
The £2.4 million ‘Wellbeing Centre’ will ensure PDSA can help the pets of Manchester residents for many years to come.
24 Hours in Manchester’s Pet Hospital
PDSA vet, Fiona Buchan, said:
“Our Pet Hospital is a vital lifeline for local owners struggling to provide vet care for their pets. For many of the people we help their pet is their only companion: we help keep these families together.
Much as we love it, this building is too old. It’s been patched up over the years but now struggles to cope with the number of pet patients who need us. It desperately needs replacing, and to do that we need your help.
It will enable us to provide the best treatment possible to pet patients, in state-of the-art surroundings, long into the future.
It will give us more consulting rooms, two operating theatres and a specialist dental theatre, meaning we have more capacity to help pets in need.
It will also allow us to do more than just treat animals – we want it to become the heart of the Manchester pet community. Somewhere people can get advice and guidance on how to keep their best friends happy and healthy.”
Located in Gorton, the new Manchester PDSA Pet Wellbeing Centre will replace the current outdated facility within 18 months.
The facility will feature a bigger, brighter waiting area, with separate areas for cats and dogs, reducing the stress a visit to the vet can cause. It will also house improved kennel facilities to allow pets to recover quicker from surgery and treatment in a better environment, a diagnostic room, digital x-ray facilities, and more car parking.
PDSA is hoping the Wellbeing facilities will enable greater engagement with schoolchildren and the local community so we can contribute on them becoming responsible pet owners of the future. The charity is hoping to begin building work on the new facility by the end of 2018 and open doors to pet patients by summer 2019.
Three well-known north-west figures have already pledged their support for PDSA’s new Centre:
Hollyoaks actress, Sarah Jayne Dunne
“I’ve supported PDSA for many years – they are a charity very close to my heart. My Manchester roots make this all the more important to me. The charity does a fantastic job treating thousands of sick and injured pets every year, and with our support, PDSA can be there for Manchester’s pets and their owners when they need us most.”
Coronation Street actress, Lisa George:
“I’m a pet lover and having grown up with dogs, I understand the incredibly important and enriching role that pets play in our lives. They are more than animals, they are members of the family and everyone deserves to experience the love a pet can bring. This is why I’m excited to be supporting PDSA with their Manchester appeal.
I’m calling on the people of Manchester to support PDSA, and fundraise to help as many sick and injured pets as we can. The charity’s current hospital is outdated and no longer able to cope with the number of pets it helps, and they desperately need our help. With everyone’s support, we can help the pets and people of Manchester who need us most.”
Actress, Lesley Nicol:
“I’ve supported PDSA for many years – they are a charity very close to my heart. My Manchester roots make this all the more important to me. The charity does a fantastic job treating thousands of sick and injured pets every year, and with our support, PDSA can be there for Manchester’s pets and their owners when they need us most.”
Manchester was the first city outside of London to host a permanent PDSA dispensary when it opened at 58 Chaney Street, Salford, in September, 1925. Just two years later, a second dispensary opened its doors in Charles Street, together with a horse-drawn ambulance service which also operated from the site.
Today, the service in Manchester costs PDSA over £1.3 million to deliver annually and the charity relies entirely on generous public support for funding.
