Port Talbot has a new vet, and the woman running it spends her spare time answering 999 calls.
Rebecca Madge, who lives in the Afan Valley, opened the Vets for Pets practice on Pentwyn Baglan Road in Baglan on Friday. Its community open day is today, from 9am to 3pm.
Alongside more than a decade treating pets, she has spent two and a half years as an on-call firefighter, the practice says, going out to fires, floods, road crashes, cardiac arrests and a landslide.
Port Talbot’s firefighting vet and the flooded dog sanctuary rescue
It says she was also involved in the rescue of 37 dogs from a flooded animal rescue centre.
When floodwater swamped Glanrhyd Dog Sanctuary near Trimsaran last November, its owner was caring for 37 dogs. Crews from Cymmer and Gorseinon brought 34 of them to safety on rescue sleds.
Madge said: “I’m incredibly excited to open the doors to our new practice and begin welcoming pets and their owners from across Port Talbot and the surrounding area.”
She qualified from the Royal Veterinary College in 2014, spent five years at Vets for Pets in Bridgend, and joined the PDSA Pet Hospital in Cardiff last October.
What the new Baglan vets offers: surgery, X-rays, dentistry and its own lab
The practice has four consulting rooms, an operating theatre, a dental suite and its own laboratory, with separate wards for dogs and cats and an isolation ward.
As well as check-ups, vaccinations, microchipping and neutering, it will do X-rays and ultrasound scans, dental work and the health certificates pets need to travel abroad. Out-of-hours advice goes through The Vet Connection.
Madge said: “My aim is to bring high-quality veterinary care together under one roof, so clients can access appointments, imaging, dentistry and surgery in the same familiar practice without needing to travel between different branches.”
She starts with three registered veterinary nurses and two receptionists, and a second vet joins in November.
She added: “I want clients to have the familiarity of seeing a regular vet who knows them and their pet.”
She also wants to bring schools and local groups into the practice, and to work with the council on giving young people a taste of veterinary careers.
After the opening weekend, it will be open from 9am to 6pm on weekdays and 9am to midday on Saturdays.
Vets for Pets is part of the Pets at Home group, which says it has more than 460 vet practices across the UK, each run by a partner such as Madge.
Discover more from Swansea Bay News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
