A LARGE number of veterinary surgeons in the South West provide some of their time and veterinary expertise at a reduced rate, while two in five give their time unpaid to work with animal charities and shelters to treat thousands of animals, many abandoned, mistreated or injured, each year.

The charitable contributions that vets make to assist animals are highlighted with the release of results from the Voice of the Veterinary Profession survey by the British Veterinary Association (BVA), which asked vets about the arrangements they have with charities.

The results show that in the South West: 79 per cent have formal arrangements with charities to provide veterinary services at a reduced fee with the figure rising to 83 per cent when including less formal set-ups.

Of those surveyed 50 per cent of vets do unpaid work for animal charities or other animal welfare organisations.

Charitable activities vary from practice to practice and vets often work with local animal shelters and national animal charities to provide a range of pro bono or reduced fee services, such as health checking, medicating and treating, neutering and vaccinating.

Many vets give up their time providing veterinary care at animal shelters and rescue centres to improve the health and welfare of animals in need, ranging from treating injured wildlife to caring for abandoned and mistreated dogs and cats.

Many veterinary practices provide veterinary advice to homeless people and those in housing crisis, and care for their dogs as part of the Dogs Trust Hope Project.

Vets also support other projects, such as the Freedom Project, which temporarily fosters animals belonging to families fleeing domestic violence.

Overbreeding of cats and dogs contributes to thousands of unwanted and neglected pets each year.

Vets help reduce the numbers and help improve animal welfare by teaming up with charities, some of which provide neutering vouchers to owners on limited incomes. Vets helped neuter 158,000 cats and kittens with Cats Protection in 2014 alone.

More than 300 veterinary practices undertake work for the charity PDSA, providing treatment to animals of owners on means-tested benefits.

The scheme ensures some of the most disadvantaged people in society can