School now has 650 students undertaking veterinary training at the £45 million state-of-the-art facility.

It is hoped the ban will improve animal welfare conditions and help the public to make more informed choices when buying a pet.

Figures fall according to Home Office statistics, but there were still more than 3.52 million scientific procedures involving animals last year.

Postmortem provides answer to animal’s death and prompts countryside warning.

The VMD has confirmed a number of product shortages in the UK and, in each case, suggested non-UK alternatives being accepted for importation.

A similar number of veterinarians in equine practice (65%) and mixed practice (66%) were also injured by animals in the course of their work.

The ongoing problem of tackling bovine viral diarrhoea across the UK was discussed at a single-day BVDZero Congress, where delegates were told challenges remain.