Veterinary services have changed over the years with small independant vets fast becoming a thing of the past. These days most vets are part of franchises or groups of 3 or more practices. Due to my experience with many dogs over the years and using the services of a wide and diverse range of veterinary services I have noticed in recent years the massive increase in charges for medicines to treat our animals and practices of dispensing them. I have known mark ups of over 500% compared with buying online. 

Buying online seems to be the way to go and my own dog suffers with a thyroid issue which means he has lifelong drugs. Getting a prescription from your vet will cost anything from £12 to £20 on average and most vets used to seem to be happy to do this. However with the advent of franchises and groups of vets its not the vets themselves that make the policies, its managers and owners who only seem to be interested in profits. 

My present vet used to examine my dog and prescribe the tablets. Usually 250 at a time, enough for four and a half months. Buying 250 allowed me a discount from the online seller and with the prescription allowed me to make generous savings on the price given by the vet which was 3x the price. 

Now they have introduced a policy of only giving enough tablets for three months which means two prescriptions and I beleive a deliberate policy to encourage you to go back for yet another examination and also losing my online discount for buying less than 250. 

This is not the only example and I do not agree with the answer I received that vets have to pay a lot more for drugs because of their overheads which online companies do not have. These franchises and groups have powerful and lucrative funds so are quite capable of buying the drugs cheaper. 

I am standing up for the man on the street, the men, women, families and children who love their pets, who cherish their pets and are fed up with being ripped off and struggling to pay for these drugs, some of which are lifelong. Some people go without food to care for their pets who give them unconditional love and company to make their lives worthwhile and give meaning. Amongst pet owners are many emotional and financially fragile people but this is for everyone to have a fair price for the medicine to take care of our pets. 

If we win it can change the future of dispensing pet medicines in this country and may even lead to changes internationally. If we lose then these companies will continue to rip us off and thats why its so important to support this petition. 

We can change this and that is why I am asking for your support in this matter to get this changed and bring this to the awareness and attention of the relevant organisations. I have passionately loved and cared for pets all my life and if you are the same please help get this done by signing as soon as possible.