Lottery boost for pet charity

THE Dundee branch of the UK’s leading vet charity has received a big boost from lottery funding.

The People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA) Pet Hospital in Hawkhill got a new electrolift table thanks to funds raised by players of the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Rebecca Ashman, PDSA v e t , s a i d : “We h a v e received fantastic support from players this year.

“This has helped t o secure a better future for thousands of pets in the city, as well as providing emergency care and lifesaving equipment.”

The national PDSA organisation received a cash windfall from players which helped them treat 71,000 pets in 2017 with emergency conditions requiring immediate veterinary help.

The PDSA was formed by animal welfare pioneer Maria Dickin and has been treating animals in Dundee since 1939.

The Dundee charity costs more than £678,000 a year to run and relies entirely on donations from the public.

The centre provides more than 28,000 treatments each year and sees about 61 pets on an average day.

Police issued CCTV images of the man on the bridge in a bid to identify him, amid fears he may have died.

The man is understood to have fallen into the water from the Fife end of the Tay Road Bridge at 3.40pm on January 1, having walked there from Dundee.

Police have described him as white, in his 50s, wearing a dark tammy-style hat, a large black winter coat over a dark green jumper or shirt, grey jeans and black shoes.

He was also seen to be smoking a cigarette taken from a tobacco pouch.

However, officers are still at a loss as to his identity, as they haven’t received any missing reports matching his description from the public.

A Tayside Division spokesman said that while no further update on the investigation was available, the force had received a “very good response” to the appeal issued yesterday.

He added that “a number of suggestions” regarding the man’s identity had been followed up – but as of yet he had not been identified.

In addition, Chief Inspector Nicky Russell has urged anyone with knowledge to come forward.

She said: “We need the assistance of the public to help us identify the man in the images.

“We have had nobody that matches the description reported as missing and we need to establish who this man is as soon as possible.

“Coastguard were contacted and carried out an extensive search of the river but to date there has been no sightings.”

Anyone who recognises the man is asked to get touch with Police Scotland

A PUBLIC appeal to identify a man who fell from the Tay Road Bridge on New Year’s Day has been met with a “very good response”.