WHO could question the fact that as a business, TLC Pet Allergy Testing of Bishopthorpe, York, has been barking up the right tree?

Last year the firm that introduced the first-ever blood test which can prove or actively disprove that a dog has sensitivity to one or more of 16 different foods, was chosen as a finalist in the Evening Press Business of the Year.

Being an offshoot of York Nutritional Laboratory, which was the outright winner of the competition in 1999, it has a good pedigree!

Besides, TLC Pet Allergy has gained huge credibility at thousands of veterinary practices all over the UK, and with research into similar testing for cats and horses progressing apace, the impetus continues.

For example the number of tests it has completed has rocketed from 420 between February and June last year to 1,843 between July 2000 and June this year.

Last September, the firm negotiated a business link with IDEXX laboratories in Wetherby in order to include an inhalant/environmental test.

The existing test at the lab - for pollen, mites and insects - dovetailed perfectly with TLC's operations. It meant that vets were now being offered a complete allergy screening service for dogs.