In this week's podcast, Pete discusses the latest development sniffer dogs from Helsinki airport, where they are being used with 100% accuracy to screen incoming passengers for Covid19.

As the world adapts to changes to heading back to work after staying at home due to Covid-19, it's a time of change for our pets. This week's podcast discusses ways of making the transition easier for animals, going on to discuss the issues of dog theft and the boom in puppy prices.

A brief snippet explaining what to do with your pet if you are sick with COVID19

This podcast, recorded on 4th March, explains the basic facts of Coronavirus and pets. The context is that this was before the virus had become to dominate our lives in the way that it does today, just three weeks later, but the information is still pertinent. The podcast goes on to discuss rabies, indicating how low on our priorities the Coronavirus was just three weeks ago.

Many dog breeds have specific issues relating to their particular breed: this year, the overall winner at Crufts was a Dachshund, a breed which has a particularly high incidence of inter-vertebral disc disease because of their long backs. This week's podcast discusses this topic in more detail.

In this week's short podcast, Pete discusses the hectic schedule of farm vets, caused by the fact that most cattle and sheep give birth during the springtime. Pete then answered a listener's query about a condition called cherry eye in dogs.

Pete the vet is Scottish - but has been living in Ireland for nearly thirty years now. The separation of the UK - including Scotland- from the EU means that he will no longer be an EU citizen from the end of this year. East Coast FM's Declan Meehan quizzed Pete on whether or not he will become an Irish citizen, so that he can remain an EU citizen into the future. Then it was on to the usual animal topics: Pete discussed the importance of socialisation of young dogs, and what to do if your dog was poorly socialised, so that they are frightened of (or aggressive to) other dogs.

This week's podcast covers three topics: the seasonal dumping of unwanted pet dogs into animal rescue centres in Ireland, the issue of animal hoarding, and the situation in Australia where millions of native wildlife are dying.

Veterinarian Pete Wedderburn has written a book about his life as a vet in practice: you can buy this book on his website at www.petethevet.com. This podcasts explains more about what's in the book.

The message of this podcast is to think very carefully before taking on a pet: it is a decision for the entire lifetime of the animal, which means looking 10 - 15 years into the future. A dog can bring great pleasure to your life, but it's a serious responsibility that takes up time, money and energy.