Page 15 - Animal Care Trust Annual Review 2018-2019

YOUR SUPPORT HAS IMPACT
We are very grateful to all of our wonderful supporters who continue to support the Animal Care Trust. As well as funding equipment and facilities for animal hospitals, your support also helps us run events, provide financial assistance to students, and fund ground-breaking animal research to improve animal health and care.
Research combatting deadly wildlife virus
Nobody could help but be moved by the tragic plight of the Saiga antelope as portrayed in David Attenborough’s Planet Earth II when 150,000 antelope died in front of the series’ TV crew across three devastating days. RVC researchers were presented with a £3,000 grant from the Animal Care Trust to research and eradicate the Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR) disease, more commonly known as goat plague.
Speaking about the research, Professor Richard Koch said: “The Animal Care Trust have kindly supported ongoing studies on a disease affecting critically- endangered saiga antelope. The research group has been a major player in developing guidelines on how to manage the wildlife disease in the context of the Global Eradication programme for this virus, initiated by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Organisation for Animal Health.”
Memory Tree
In 2018/19, our Memory Tree raised £7,230 to support teams across the RVC Small Animal Referrals Hospital, from blood transfusion to oncology, neurology to anaesthesia and most recently we were able to fund high flow oxygen therapy. The leaves on this tree are helping so many critically ill pets; thank you for your support.
Hardship funds
Many students face financial problems during their courses as they juggle rent, travel and general living costs on top of their full-time studies. Your donations are vital to students and hardship grants, scholarships and bursaries continue to provide financial assistance to RVC students in need. Legacies are also vital in helping us to support and educate future generations of veterinary professionals and ensuring the Royal Veterinary College remains a leader in veterinary and biomedical sciences, clinical practice and education. We are so grateful to our supporters who remember the RVC in their wills and support our work in this special way.
“My financial situation was a source of stress to me. Until this year, I spent the majority of my holidays from university in paid employment to ensure I was able to support myself. This limited the amount of time I could spend revising for exams. This grant has enabled me to commit more time
to revision during exam periods which has significantly reduced my stress levels and assisted my learning.” Freya Cooper, BVetMed Year 5
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