Celebrating 100 Positive Pawprint & Hoofprint Partners!

IVC Evidensia is thrilled to have reached 100 Positive Pawprint and Hoofprint Partner practices in the UK.

Over the past few years, our Positive Pawprint strategy has been a driving force behind our sustainability efforts, aiming to extend initiatives across patients, people, and the planet.  

Our practice teams have been central to implementing this strategy locally through our Positive Pawprint and Hoofprint Partner toolkits. In order to become a partner, each practice creates their own local action plan to improve the impact of their practice on the environment and community. 

We’re thrilled that ICR Vets, based in Edinburgh, Scotland, has become our milestone 100th Positive Pawprint Partner in the UK. They have told us how they used the pack as a blueprint to embed sustainable changes and make a real difference. 

The Positive Pawprint toolkit 

Practice Director Kayleigh Walsh, who helped implement the toolkit across ICR Vets, recognised its potential immediately:  

“The toolkit didn’t feel like a box-ticking exercise, it felt like a genuine opportunity to create meaningful, lasting change.  

“It offered a chance for us to do better together - not just for our teams, but for the patients we care for, their owners, our wider community, and of course, the environment.” 

Since integrating the toolkit, ICR Vets has driven many sustainable initiatives over the past two years in their journey to Positive Pawprint Partner status. 

Low flow anaesthesia and gas recapture projects 

The low-flow anaesthesia project has been an ongoing effort to reduce anaesthetic gas usage in practice theatres. So far, the team has enhanced colleague training, upgraded their equipment, reviewed premedication protocols and increased their use of local anaesthetic blocks to reduce reliance on volatile anaesthetic agents where appropriate.  

ICR Vets also took part in the gas recapture project, which delivered promising results. During the trial, the practice installed a device that catches sevoflurane, an anaesthetic waste agent, helping to cut greenhouse gas emissions. 

 

“The impact has been significant, and we’re now planning to expand the installation of recapture units across more of our sites,” Kayleigh shares. “Perhaps most rewarding of all is that, alongside reducing our environmental footprint, we’ve also enhanced patient safety by delivering an even higher standard of anaesthesia.” 

Water-saving measures 

Reducing water usage has been another simple yet effective sustainable change across all ICR sites. Each toilet flush typically uses 6-13 litres, but by installing toilet hippos (cistern displacement devices) the team have been able to cut their water usage by up to 3 litres per flush. This low-cost change expects to save thousands of litres of water by the end of this year alone. 

Bee-friendly spaces 

To support biodiversity, the ICR Green Team has created bee-friendly spaces outside their clinics.  

They’ve installed bee hotels, water stations and hides around their sites, as well as created flower arrangements to encourage pollination. To support community planting, the team has even put together wildflower seed packets for clients to take home. 

Fostering a sustainable future 

Looking ahead, the ICR Green Team is preparing for their next meeting in October, where members will review current progress and set focus areas for the coming year. 

Kayleigh also highlights plans for one of their biggest sustainability projects yet – relocation to a new purpose-built site. 

“This presents an exciting opportunity to embed sustainability into the very fabric of the building, from energy-efficient design and ventilation systems to sustainable materials.  

“I’m really looking forward to collaborating with the property team on how best to integrate our values into the new blueprints.” 

Find out more about our Positive Pawprint strategy and read our latest report.