THOUSANDS of injured pets are set to benefit from a new venture in the region.
Veterinary Tissue Bank, is Europe’s first tissue bank for vets.

Based in offices at the Brynkinalt Estate near Chirk, their veterinary surgeons will process and bank bone and soft tissue for specialist practices to provide grafts for badly injured pets.

Increasing demand from veterinary specialists led to the formation of the organisation which was co-founded by veterinary surgeons Peter Myint and John Innes, who is Professor of Small Animal Surgery and head of hospitals at the University of Liverpool Veterinary School.

Vet Noel Walker said: “I do not understand why this has not been done before. With advances in veterinary medicine progressing rapidly, demand for complicated orthopaedic surgery from specialist centres is growing on a daily basis.

“This scheme is an excellent aid to the recovery of the many pets requiring these specialist treatments.”

The aim of Veterinary Tissue Bank is to improve the quality of lives of injured pets throughout Europe by providing bone and tissue grafts for orthopaedic veterinary surgeons to use during surgery. The bone and soft tissue will be sourced from donor pets.

Peter Myint said: “Some people find their loss slightly easier to bear in the knowledge that they have helped other pets in need.

“We hope owners will find comfort at their time of loss from the knowledge that they are able to help another in need through their gift of tissue donation.”

Gatehouse Veterinary Centre, which has practices at Lavister, Wrexham and Chester is one of the first practices to join the donor scheme.