Bryan Muskett from Jubilee Veterinary Centre in Newtownards has written about how pleased he was to have worked with Mount Stewart for their prize-winning National Pet Month event…………

“Jubilee Veterinary Centre (JVC) are still celebrating and enjoying the euphoria of winning the National Pet Month ‘Best Event’ Award for 2008, in association with Mount Stewart National Trust Property. To bring this award to Northern Ireland bears further significance, considering the foundation of National Pet Week (NPW) was the brainchild of Belfast vet Desmond Thompson, at Earlswood Veterinary Hospital.

Jubilee Veterinary Centre is a ten (10) vet General Practice servicing the North Down community and Belfast Zoo. In previous years we supported NPW - and latterly, National Pet Month as the event expanded in 2007 - with open days and various social functions. This obviously involved a lot of planning, staff team work and support from animal medicine companies and charities etc.

When the opportunity was proposed to us to link up with the National Trust and run a joint function at Mount Stewart we were very positive, as our aim was to involve a lot more people and throw the function open to the community in general. This would create a family day where the various activities would provide interest for all; including agility competitions, working dog demonstrations (gundogs, police & rescue), guess the breeds, organised dog walks through the gardens, around the lake and the estate.

The forecourt in front of the ‘big house’ formed the core for all the charity and trade exhibits. Everyone turned up including Northern Ireland’s first labradoodle guide dog!

Visitors could join the professional National Trust Team and have a grand tour of the house and grasp an insight into the life and history of the Stewart family. Lady Mairi Bury is the last surviving member of the Stewart family. She still lives in the house and JVC have looked after her exotic pets and estate stock for many years. It was Lady Bury herself who was keen to introduce dog walks and responsible pet ownership at Mount Stewart, and as a result of which a lot of new and regular pet owners enjoyed the peace and tranquillity of the National Trust property on their doorstep.

The facts and figures speak for themselves. On the day, which was Saturday 19th April 2008, we had between 800-900 guests through the main entrance, accompanied by approx 1000 dogs, what a sight! Every breed and every conceivable shape and size! On arrival each owner was given a Drontal poo dispenser and competition entry forms. Not one dog fight or incident was recorded. Poo bags and receptacles were the norm. The responsible attitude of all that attended was to be highly recommended.

The highlight of the day was the children’s quiz. Ten owners with selected breeds wore arm bands numbered 1 – 10. They were told to meander around the estate taking different routes. A claxton horn sounded the start and finish for children to spend 30mins to find the owners and name the breeds. The success of this quiz was further apparent from the number of parents and grandparents who did not want to be left out.

Thankfully the weather was in our favour in a province where it seems to never stop raining. This fun day could not have been such a success without the help and support of many people. All at JVC say a very big “Thank You!” and look forward to next year, a huge challenge, but we have already started our preparations. The proposed date is on a Sunday. This should significantly increase our gate numbers as Saturday has too many other draws in the calendar. Time will tell and we are enthused by the number of other parties eager to come on board.

This year has proved to us that linking JVC to the National Trust has been a huge success, bringing home to people the feeling of responsible pet ownership without any hard sell or tin shaking. We hope more practices will follow our guidelines, join up with compatible organisations and give back into their local communities health and responsible counselling during National Pet Month.”