The Pet Health Council (PHC), originally established in 1969, are an amalgamation of ten dedicated Associate Organizations, who together seek to inform and offer advice regarding the spread of disease between animals and humans.

Their website is a comprehensive, one stop shop whereby pet owners can search for information relating to practically any pet concern, whether it’s with regards to their pet’s health or the effects their pets may have on members of the family.



The website is a delight to browse around, with its clear and easy to navigate links, well set out tabs and copious amounts of white space. This gives the entire site a spacious and uncluttered feel, especially as there are none of the usual advertisements squeezed into every spare space vying for your attention. Possibly the most attractive theme throughout the site are the endearing photographs of cute pets and other animals which are to be found on most pages.

It costs absolutely nothing to retrieve information from the site and there is plenty to choose from. There are several down-loadable leaflets in the form of PDFs as well as fact sheets covering topics such as ‘Choosing a Pet’, ‘Pet Health’, ‘Human Health’, ‘Responsible Pet Ownership’ and ‘Fitness’.

Among some of the information to be found within the media section are a few downloadable Word files providing advice such as the ‘Top 5 tips for families with pets’, ‘Training your dog’, and ‘Keeping your pets safe during the firework season’. There is also an entire section of common pet-related questions which are listed under the section ‘FAQ’.

For those interested in research and statistics, there are a number of interesting reports on the benefits of the human-animal bond. For example, one report outlines the effects dogs have on human health while another shows clear links between cats and the positive effects they appear to have on children and the elderly. And then there are some more obscure findings including one that seems to indicate that prisoners may be less likely to re-offend if they own a pet.

There is an abundance of helpful advice on caring for your pets, including lots of nutritional guidelines for feeding them from their early years through to old age. And for those pet owners lacking in motivation to exercise, they have created a ‘Petsercise’ program which provides all sort of activities that pet owners, in particular those owning dogs, can take part in with their animals. Some of the suggested activities include volleyball, swimming, hiking and cycling.

One feature the site appears to have omitted, however, is a search option. This would be helpful for those hoping to quickly find advice on a particular subject area rather than having to search through several tabs or sections looking for the required information. However, they are quite happy for people to contact them and provide a telephone number as well as email and postal addresses.

Overall, pethealthcouncil.co.uk is an interesting, helpful and well laid- out website. It covers a wide range of topics concerning the effects of pets and humans and how they can live happily and healthily together. This is definitely a website that any discerning pet owner should keep bookmarked for future reference.