ANOTHER Barrow veterinary centre will be ceasing out of hours care at the end of the month following a shortage of qualified staff.

Pet-owners were dealt a shock earlier this month after finding out a number of veterinary practices in Barrow were set to cut their emergency out of hours services.

IVC Evidensia, which operates Grove Veterinary Centre, Alexander and South Lakes vets, announced that, due to vet shortages, they can no longer provide the out of hours service at some of their South Cumbria practices.

The company has advised people to travel more than an hour to Carnforth for their nearest out of hours treatment option.

Alexander Vets were initially the only branch who announced that they were affected by the cuts.

However, in an email sent out to Grove Veterinary Centre customers - which was seen by The Mail - the Barrow practice revealed it will be passing overnight care to Carnforth Pet Care from March 31.

A spokesman for IVC said: "The huge increase in pet ownership in the UK has put unprecedented pressure on vets and nurses, and there is a global shortage of qualified veterinary surgeons. 

"This has put huge strain on our team, who continue to provide excellent care for local animals. We have tried for a year to recruit additional vets to our local practices, without success. 

"As such, we have made the difficult decision to move our Out of Hours service for the area to Carnforth, this decision will remain under constant review.”

Former Barrow vets, Simon Pudsey, previously told The Mail that he feared pet welfare in Furness will be ‘compromised significantly’ after veterinary practices cease their emergency out of hours services.

Mr Pudsey spent ten years working at Grove Veterinary Centre in Barrow before moving to Coventry in 2010.

The veterinary surgeon said it is ‘unreasonable’ to expect pet-owners to make a two hour round trip for out of hour emergency care.

“I don’t find it at all suitable that Carnforth is used as an alternative for Barrow,” Mr Pudsey, who now works for Medivet, said.

“Barrow is of a sufficient size to have enough demand to meet the needs of an out of hours service.

“If out of hours care is not provided properly, I think there’s a real risk that pet welfare in Furness could be compromised significantly."