Wilson’s First Aid 4 Dogs event to offer tips on keeping dogs safe

KENT St Weir will be filled with enthusiastic dog owners and their four-legged friends on Saturday morning at the First Aid 4 Dogs event.

More than 50 people and their pampered pooches are set to attend the event, which aims to educate dog owners about how to keep their dogs safe.

Western Australian Veterinary Emergency and Specialty veterinarian Katrin Swindells will be a guest speaker at the event and said she often saw more dogs at her clinic in summer.

Dr Swindells said the most common injuries they dealt with were snake bites, heat stroke and dog bite wounds.

“We see many more patients and I think people are out and about with their dogs, doing more with them, it’s warmer, they’re not just curled up at home,” she said.

“Especially in the Canning area, along the river there’s a beautiful natural reserve, I’ve spoken to the local vets in that area and they do see snake bites coming in.”

“In our hospital, we would see about a quarter toxicities, of those we’d probably see a couple of snake bites a week coming through.

Dr Swindells said the best way for owners to protect their dogs was to ensure they did not wander off.

“Dogs are like little kids; if you wouldn’t let a three-year-old wander, you shouldn’t let a dog,” she said.