Sustainability Initiatives at VET.CT

At VET.CT we believe sustainability shouldn’t be part of what we do – it’s a guiding influence for everything we do.

We’re delighted to share some of the sustainability initiatives we’ve been working on at VET.CT.

Through an audit of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) areas that matter most to our team and colleagues, we have developed our priority list of sustainability topics. These include: health and wellbeing of people, diversity and inclusion, climate change, biodiversity, and animal health and welfare. We are taking action with the help of our sustainability working group and wider team in the following ways:

Partnerships:

Wildlife Vets International (WVI): This great charity provides vital veterinary expertise to conservation projects around the globe. By providing WVI veterinary professionals with free access to our expert team of radiologists and exotics specialists, we are always on hand to support with case advice. 

We’ve also partnered with WVI vets to host webinars of the important conservation work they’re involved with. From forest elephants and vultures to mangabey monkeys and tiger conservation, you can watch back these brilliant webinars and make a donation to WVI here. Our global team members are also exercising our way to collectively circumnavigate the globe and virtually ‘visit’ our remote working locations around the world, raising funds for WVI in the process. You can find out more and sponsor our team here.

Vet Sustain: We’re also excited to partner with Vet Sustain for the second year running, supporting their important work across the six areas: 

• Diverse and abundant wildlife
• Net Zero warming
  
• A no waste society
• A good life for animals 
• Health and wellbeing
• Enough clean water for all

Vet Times Sustainability Hub: We are delighted to sponsor the creation of this Hub with advice on how to build a more sustainable future, including advice on how remote veterinary services can improve practice sustainability and patient care. Find out more here.

Carbon emissions and waste

VET.CT is proud to go above and beyond statutory requirements for carbon emissions reporting, with our emissions report. We are also exploring emissions reduction targets and timeline, in addition to responsible and meaningful carbon offsetting projects.

We have instituted extensive recycling in our main UK office, and hugely reduced our landfill waste, and are developing a responsible purchasing policy for rollout in 2024. Our retired electronic devices are donated to the Turing Trust where they are refurbished and distributed to equip schools in need around the world.

Sea Turtle Support

We are proud to provide free specialist advice for rescued sea turtles! Our global team at VET.CT chose Sea Turtles as our company flagship species. These beautiful marine creatures are vital for maintaining the biodiversity and balance of marine ecosystems. By providing free advice and radiology reports from our team of exotics and radiology Diplomates, we hope to help with the rescue and rehabilitation of these endangered animals. Please contact us if you have Sea Turtle cases you think would benefit from specialist support.

• Read some lovely stories and follow the turtles we’ve helped that are now released back into the ocean HERE. 
• We also sign-up to the Marine Conservation Society July Plastic Challenge each year, raising awareness and encouraging our team to reduce use and increase recycling of plastics. You can find out how to get involved HERE.

People

The health and happiness of our team, clients and the wider veterinary industry is paramount. We have extensive support for our team through internal events, health awareness campaigns, regular check-ins and access to support services. We have also formed a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion working group.

Supporting the wellbeing of the wider veterinary industry is also incredibly important to us.  We’re exploring how our services can support the job satisfaction, motivation and wellbeing of veterinary teams. We also sponsor veterinary wellbeing initiatives, such as WellVet events and resources - including the free resources on the topic of menopause and veterinary teams.

Our specialist team also provides back-up advice to the Galaxy Vets Foundation, which is providing telemedicine support to the people and animals of Ukraine. We also provide free access to our education content for veterinary refugees registered with the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons refugee support programme.

Continuous Improvement

VET.CT is always exploring how we can improve sustainability and positively impact people in the veterinary community and beyond, animals including pet patients, livestock and wildlife, and the planet through initiatives around emissions, waste and water use.