WildFish publishes new report on the emerging threat of veterinary medicines to UK rivers

WildFish has released a new report which evidences that veterinary medicines, especially those used in pet treatments, are contaminating UK rivers and are harmful to aquatic life. 

The report establishes that the problem of veterinary medicines in the aquatic environment is now emerging as a significant threat to freshwater ecosystems and the wild fish that live there. 

Freshwater ecosystems are already under intense pressure from pollution, climate change, habitat loss, and over-abstraction. Veterinary medicines add a systemic chemical stress that is largely invisible in policy and public debate. 

The report’s findings show major gaps in monitoring, weak environmental risk assessments (particularly for over-the-counter pet medicines), and a regulatory system that allows environmental harm if deemed outweighed by benefits. It concludes that current controls are inadequate and calls for stronger laws, better monitoring, greater transparency, and tougher environmental safeguards.

Follow the link below to read the report today.

What does the report call for?

As a result of the report’s findings, WildFish is urging the Government to:

• Strengthen the environmental duty within veterinary medicines legislation and authorisation decisions
• Require full environmental risk assessments for widely used companion animal parasiticides
• Establish routine national monitoring of veterinary medicine residues in surface waters
• Improve transparency of regulatory data and environmental assessments
• Introduce mechanisms for ongoing re-evaluation of authorised products in light of new environmental evidence
• Close regulatory gaps between veterinary medicines, pesticides, and environmental protection law