REGIONAL TV news presenter Joanne Malin and her dog Maisy were special guests at the opening of the new £1.8 million PDSA pet hospital in Oldbury.

The purpose-built hospital in St Matthew’s Road replaces the charity’s old site in Hagley Road West, Quinton.

PDSA director general Jan McLoughlin and chairman John Smith joined the hospital’s vet team and pet patients to cut the ribbon on the facility, which will treat thousands of sick and injured pets from across Birmingham and the Black Country.

Mrs McLoughlin said: “The PDSA has been treating poorly pets in Birmingham and the Black Country since 1936 and today is a true milestone for us. Our vital services are a real lifeline to thousands of local pets and their owners, and with the opening of the new hospital, we now have the capacity to treat even more pets in a modern, purpose-built environment.”

The new hospital is called The Marian and Christina Ionescu Centre of Surgical Excellence, following a large donation towards the building costs, including a state-of-the-art operating theatre. The hospital is also home to a critical care ward and the latest diagnostic and surgical equipment.

PDSA vets and nurses have been providing more than 90,000 treatments a year, seeing up to 190 pet patients every single day. The new hospital will allow staff to increase these numbers by around 25 per cent to provide in excess of 112,000 treatments annually.

PDSA client services manager Sue Hanke said: “It’s been a long road but the team and I are completely bowled over by our new home. We have lots more space to treat our pet patients and room to increase the number of pets we can help. It’s very exciting and humbling and we can’t wait to get started.”

Donations from members of the public added to the total and supporters can still donate to the new hospital’s appeal by texting ‘BUILD’ to 70099 to donate £2, or texting ‘BUILD’ to 70800 to donate £5 (standard network charges apply).

They can also contact PDSA’s fundraising team on 0800 0199 004 to find out how to support the appeal.