MANCHESTER, England, September 26 /PRNewswire/ --



- With Photo

The Co-operative Pharmacy has become the first nationwide pharmacy chain
to cater for pets as well as people - by launching medicines for cats and
dogs.

The pioneering move follows a change in rules governing sales of animal
medicines, which means a range of over-the-counter items can now be sold by
retailers, having previously only been available from vets.

Pet owners can now buy healthcare products for their animals in more than
380 Co-operative Pharmacies across the UK. Ultimately, the business plans to
extend the sales to its entire network of more than 700 branches.

The Co-operative Pharmacy, part of The Co-operative Group, has already
successfully tested sales of pet healthcare products in some of its branches.

Veterinary items now available in its pharmacies, for dogs and cats,
include flea, tick and worming medication, eye, ear and dental care products,
digestion aids and shampoos. They include leading brands such as Frontline,
Johnson's and Drontal.

Gordon Farquhar, The Co-operative Pharmacy's Director of Retail
Commercial, said: "We are making a range of essential animal healthcare
products more accessible and convenient for people, and at very competitive
prices.

"We are a community pharmacy business, and widening our service to cater
for customers' pets is a way improving the level of care and convenience we
offer our communities. Offering a range of products for people's pets is an
innovative but logical extension to what we do already."

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In 2005 the Office of Fair Trading ruled that vets should lose their
monopoly on the sale of a number of animal medicines, paving the way for
other retailers, including pharmacies, to sell them. The Co-operative
Pharmacy is the first UK-wide pharmacy chain to begin selling these products.

The Veterinary Regulations 2005 reclassified all animal medicines into
one of four categories:

POM-V (Prescription Only Medicine - Veterinarian) - must be prescribed by
a veterinary surgeon, can be dispensed by any veterinary surgeon or
pharmacist.

POM-VPS (Prescription Only Medicine - Veterinarian, Pharmacist, Suitably
Qualified Person) - must be prescribed by a veterinary surgeon, pharmacist or
SQP, can be dispensed by any of these.

NFA-VPS (Non-Food Animal medicine - Veterinarian, Pharmacist or SQP) -
must be supplied by a veterinary surgeon, pharmacist or SQP.

AVM-GSL (Authorised Veterinary Medicine - General Sales List) - can be
supplied by anyone.

The following animal healthcare products, including several in the
NFA-VPA category, are among those now available at more than 380 branches of
The Co-operative Pharmacy:

Flea/tick treatments

Frontline Spot-On Cat (0.5ml) - three or six pipettes

Frontline Spot-On Dog (2-10kg, 10-20kg, 20-40kg, 40-60kg) - three or six
pipettes

Worming

Drontal Cat - two tablets

Drontal Cat XL - two tablets

Drontal Plus (dogs) - two or eight tablets

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