STAFF at a veterinary surgery can now avoid the stress of leaving their beloved pooches at home all day.

Atherton Veterinary Surgery, which has a large exercise yard outside its practice on Bolton Road, is allowing staff to bring their dogs to work with them.

Surgery owner Jonathon Hart started to bring his German shepherd puppies to work when they moved to bigger premises.

He said: “The staff can work very long shifts and leaving a dog on its own all day can cause issues. The dogs love it, they run around the yard and it is a great way to socialise the puppies.

“The most important thing is it does not affect the surgery as the poorly animals are in a different area, especially the cats. We are very lucky in that respect.”