🐑 Why are the sheep circling?

Hi! 👋 

We have a lot of new members in the Obi community this week, so if you've just joined, welcome! If you are an OG Obivetter you can skip this little recap on what we are all about and scroll down to some quick hitting news stories from this week.

For our new members, here's a quick primer on what we're all about: we started Obi Veterinary Education in 2021 with quick on-demand lessons so that you never have to sit through another boring webinar again (you're welcome). In addition to RACE-approved CE, free resources, and a community for vets we also round up the latest and greatest from across veterinary medicine and deliver it your inbox every most Sundays. We try and keep Weekend Rounds uplifting, fun and informative. Sure, from time to time we will cover burnout, staff shortages, malpractice, and mental health but most of the time we're here to inform, educate and inspire. We usually try to share at least one big story that's making waves across veterinary medicine or the animal planet.

🐑 What is happening with those sheep in China?
🌳 A veterinary carbon footprint calculator
❄️ Clinic acquisitions begin to cool off
🦃 When Turkeys attack

Plus, as a reward for joining us here today: the cutest video on the short but vast history of the Internet.

Let's get to it.

🐑 What is happening with those sheep in China?

A video of sheep walking in circles for over 12 days on a farm in Baotou, China was posted on Twitter last week by the Chinese state-run outlet People’s Daily. The video has spread rapidly on social media and has stirred speculation as to the cause of the odd behavior. The more common hypotheses are that it is a case of pent of up energy or sheep just following the herd to nowhere. The less common idea is that they are summoning the devil. We'll let you decide.

🌳 A veterinary carbon footprint calculator

A carbon footprint tool, designed specifically for veterinary practices, debuted at the London Vet Show last week. The tool was developed by Vet Sustain - a volunteer organization that supports veterinary professionals to become leading forces for sustainability. The online calculator allows clinics to assess how many metric tons of carbon dioxide they generate based on energy usage, transportation, and waste.Anything that gets businesses thinking about their environmental impact is good in our books, especially inside the profession we love. However, the service currently costs £180 (US$214) per calculation and is only calibrated for usage in the UK. Hopefully assessing carbon footprints of veterinary clinics, and making meaningful change to improve sustainable practices will become more common in the coming years.

❄️ Clinic acquisitions begin to cool off

We've all seen the corporatization of vet clinics heat up over the past few years with big companies like Mars Veterinary Health, AmeriVet, VetStrategy and others snapping up vet clinics to expand their empire. But over the past two months, some veterinary consolidators have begun to slow their rate of acquisition, or stop altogether. The main culprit is rising interest rates and inflation, as anyone who has been to the grocery store recently can attest to... buying things is more expensive now than it was just a few months ago.

As the Globe and Mail reported this week, veterinary practices that were attracting offers of 15-20 times EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) a year ago are now getting offers of 7-10 times EBITDA.

🦃 When Turkeys attack

After a Thanksgiving where Americans murdered millions of turkeys, the turkeys are fighting back in Massachusetts. The turkeys, led by a male bird nicknamed Kevin, have been approaching residents, pecking at cars, stopping traffic and even going after kids on bikes. Very diabolical stuff, Kevin. MassWildlife has even posted guidelines on what to do, and how to avoid conflict with wild turkeys.Check out Kevin and his menacing turkeys in action via Twitter user @Meaghanneliza trapping her in her car and home.

🐼 The cutest video on the internet

Congrats! You made it to the bottom of the newsletter, and found your reward. It is perhaps the cutest video on all of the internet... a red panda eating grapes. I mean, just look at him standing there waiting for his next grape 🥺🥺🥺

@littlepanda6487

I'm very obedient. Please give me all the grapes.#fy #fyp #trending #redpanda #cute #grape #obedientchild