"Wealthy Barber" to Speak in Support of Pet Trust Fund of the Ontario Veterinary College

GUELPH, Ontario - February 05, 2013 - University of Guelph News Release - An author and TV personality will bring his entertaining “wealthy barber” alter ego to the University of Guelph in support of pets with cancer.

David Chilton, author of The Wealthy Barber, will speak at War Memorial Hall on Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. Proceeds will go to the Pet Trust Fund of the Ontario Veterinary College (OVC) to support various initiatives, such as equipment, at the Mona Campbell Centre for Animal Cancer. During the event, Chilton will share his recipes for personal financial success.

Since 1989, he has sold nearly three million copies of his book, including two million in Canada. The fictitious title character gives his customers often-humorous advice on how to achieve financial independence.

A sequel, The Wealthy Barber Returns, reached the best-seller list just two months after being published in 2011. Chilton has also published the Looneyspoons cookbook series, through Granet Publishing, which he founded with Looneyspoons sisters Janet and Greta Podleski.

Chilton started this season as a dragon on the CBC TV show Dragons’ Den, in which entrepreneurs seeking investment pitch their businesses to a panel. Now in its seventh season, it remains one of Canada’s top-rated shows.

The Mona Campbell Centre for Animal Cancer opened in September 2012. It offers investigational therapies and clinical trials using state-of-the-art technology, including a new linear accelerator whose radiation therapy targets cancer cells while limiting harm to healthy tissues. The centre also houses chemotherapy and oncology wards; a tumour tissue bank; examination, treatment and procedure rooms; and a family visiting area.

The Pet Trust Fund is a charitable fund within the OVC that helps pets live longer, healthier lives by raising funds for learning, health care and other initiatives at OVC. Recently, Pet Trust has raised more than $13 million to support OVC's animal cancer initiatives.

For tickets, call 1-888-266-3108 or visit alumni.uoguelph.ca/chilton. Tickets are $10 for students and $15 for adults.

Veterinary Study Shows Dramatic Increase in Deadly Parasitic Disease

TORONTO, May 3, 2011 /Canada NewsWire/ - A 2010 study published by the Ontario Veterinary College's Department of Pathobiology at the University of Guelph, has revealed a 60 per cent increase in the number of pets in Ontario carrying the potentially fatal heartworm parasite. The last study that reported the prevalence of heartworm in Canada was conducted in 2002.

The 2010 report showed that 564 dogs tested positive for heartworm in Canada in 2010. Of those dogs, 431 were located in Ontario, a significant increase in cases compared to the last study conducted in 2002, when there were 268 reported cases in the province. Also of concern is that 80 per cent of the dogs that were diagnosed with heartworm had not been on heartworm preventive medication.

Ontario Veterinary Medical Association President, Dr. Ted Kilpatrick, believes the results of this study support the importance of preventive veterinary treatments,

"In recent years there has been some skepticism about the need for veterinary preventive treatments, ironically, this is partly because these treatments have been so successful in preventing the spread of disease… but I think this study shows that prevention only works if we stick with it. Pet owners need to believe in the importance of periodic testing and regular preventive treatments in order to control the spread of disease in our pets."

Heartworm disease is a serious and potentially fatal condition cause by parasitic worms that live in the heart and blood vessels that supply blood to the lungs of infected animals. These worms can grow to a length of 15 to 30 centimeters, and in severe cases, can cause severe damage to internal organs. In Ontario, heartworm season runs from June to mid-October of each year, when mosquitoes are most active. Now is the time of year when pet owners need to be thinking about which preventive treatments to give their pets. Pets contract heartworm disease from mosquitoes that are infected with heartworm parasites. If an uninfected pet is bitten by an infected mosquito, immature worms are injected into the tissue and then travel to the heart, where they mature into adults and begin to reproduce. Although heartworm disease in cats is less common and less severe, cats are also susceptible to heartworm if exposed.

Pet owners should be preparing for heartworm season now, by speaking to their veterinarian about proper testing and protection against this serious but preventable disease.

For more information about heartworm visit: www.ovma.org

Founded in 1980, the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association represents more than 4,400 Ontario veterinarians in private practice, government, academia, industry and public service. Its mandate is to advance and promote excellence in the veterinary profession in Ontario, and contribute to the betterment of animal health and the protection of human health.