Veterinary

There are several vets in the area. Ask your host family if there is one they would recommend. Alnorthumbria Vets is the only one based in Rothbury. It is at Front Street. It is open 8am - 5:30pm Monday to Friday. You can call 01669 620638 to book an appointment.

If you need a vet from this practice outside of these hours call the same number, and you will be put through to an emergency vet who is available 24hrs a day.

Pet Insurance

Petplan, a pet insurance company is offering free insurance to Ukrainian families bringing their pets to the UK via the Government's Homes for Ukraine scheme. Ukrainian families (or their English-speaking hosts) can find out more about the support available from Petplan by telephoning 0330 057 3662.

You will have to pay the first £85/£110 of any treatment for each illness. The amount you have to pay depends on whether it is a cat or dog and what breed it is. After the first payment all treatment for that illness for the rest of the year is free up to £4,000.

If a pet is taken into a UK veterinary practice by a Ukrainian refugee without Petplan insurance, the practice team should telephone Petplan's Vetline on 0330 102 1606 and financial support can retrospectively be provided.

Dogs

Rothbury is a very dog friendly place and there are lots of walks in our local area that you will enjoy.

There are some things you must do in this country if you own a dog : 

It must be microchipped and the details must be up to date for where it is in this country.

It must wear a collar with your address on it.

You must pick up its poo. You can be fined if you do not do so.

It must be on a lead if near livestock.

We ask that you always pick up your dogs waste (poo) using a poo bag (you can buy these in most shops) and dispose of it in a bin or take it home with you. We are very proud of the beautiful area we all live in and would really appreciate your help to keep it like this. 

There are lots of areas you can safely let your dog off their lead if they have good recall but you need to keep your dog on a lead if you are in a field with livestock (sheep, cows etc).

Lots of the public footpaths in our area go through private land. This means that you are allowed to walk through it but we ask you to respect the farmer/land owners and keep control of your dogs.

This is especially important during the Spring season (March - June) as this is 'lambing time' and pregnant sheep are either close to giving birth or have young lambs. Please note, even being chased by a dog can cause miscarriage for a sheep.

There are lots of dog friendly restaurants/pubs in the village and surrounding areas - The Turks Head, Newcastle House and Queens Head are dog friendly places where you can enjoy drinks and food in Rothbury.

You will find most shops are NOT dog friendly.