Calling all veterinary clinics!! Join the Canadian Pet Tick Survey!

On this snowy cold day, most of us are probably not thinking about ticks. But we're gearing up for another tick season - and starting a new research initiative - so we're sharing this with you today!

We are launching the Canadian Pet Tick Survey. Through this initiative, we want to recruit 90 veterinary clinics from all provinces in Canada to submit ticks from companion animals (dogs and cats) for an entire year. All of these ticks will be identified at the University of Guelph and tested for tick-borne pathogens. This is one of the largest systematic pet tick surveys to date in Canada and will provide much needed data on tick risks across space and time.

We're also really fortunate to collaborate with "Show Us Your Ticks". This program was launched by Dr. Susan Little at Oklahoma State University and is very similar to the Canadian Pet Tick Survey. This means that collectively we will generate data to assess risk across North America!

If you're at a veterinary clinic - we need you! Through the generous funding of Pet Trust at the Ontario Veterinary College, this initiative is fully funded and no costs are transferred to veterinary clinics for participation. Please consider enrolling in our study. Just email us at petsandticks@gmail.com or use the Contact Us form to express interest.

And just to note, the Pet Tick Tracker will continue on! We will still accept submissions from pet owners and non-participating clinics through the Pet Tick Tracker.

Stay warm and safe on this wintery day!

-KMC