Bring your Very Important Pet along to the CHARITY FUN PET SHOW (sponsored by, and prizes provided by, Milan Vets) in the Animal Magic Tent at the Southern Show on Sunday 31st July at Great Meadow from 11am - 4pm.
(All pets welcome except, regrettably, no dogs, as all pets have to be suitably caged and rabbits - please see note below).
Enter any number of fun classes for a one-off fee of ?3. All pets must be registered before 1pm and judging to take place at 1.30pm.
There will be many classes and prizes plus cups for the Best in Show and Most Knowledgeable Owner under 16.
There will also be stalls, games, cakes, a raffle and Second Chance Boutique. Come along and have fun while supporting the ManxSPCA.
N.B. Please note a late amendment to the rules of the V.I.P. Charity Pet Show as explained below.
Firstly we shall be going ahead with our planned event, however, quite sensibly all rabbits have be banned from the show field on both days. This is as a precaution due to unconfirmed (PM results still outstanding at time of writing) of a suspected outbreak of RHD at one site in the south of the island. It is suspected that this may be the type two strain which is fatal and spreads quickly, however, the lack of comprehensive research and evidence of confirmed methods of transmission means that the event organisers have no choice but to take these precautionary measures.
I have spoken at length to our small furies and exotics Vet, Catherine Vick, who recommends that we direct all interested parties to the following website for more information: www.harcourt-brown.co.uk/articles/infectious-disease. Frances Harcourt-Brown is at the top of her field in rabbit veterinary medicine, she is the author of the BSAVA manuals used for teaching the UK’s budding new veterinary surgeons. Another point of reference is the British Rabbit Council, Fact Sheet: RHD-2.
The disease cannot be contracted by any other small furies, however, owners of guinea pigs who co-habit with rabbits are not prohibited from entering competitions on either day but need to ensure robust preventative infection control measures are in place. I personally would not enter mine, if folk speak with you on a one to one basis before the show I would be encouraging them to leave them at home this year.
