Ceva Animal Welfare Awards 2017 – winners announced
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The winners of the Ceva Animal Welfare Awards 2017 have been announced in a glittering ceremony at the Burlington Hotel in Birmingham, following the most successful awards’ nominations’ process to date, which has seen record nominations of the highest calibre.
The awards recognise the achievements of remarkable people from the farming, veterinary and charity industries, who go beyond the call of duty to better the lives of animals around the world including veterinary and charity professionals, researchers and volunteers.
The awards’ ceremony on 5 April in the run up to BSAVA (British Small Animal Veterinary Association) Congress saw praise bestowed on all the shortlisted nominees and winners were announced across seven categories.
Once again, an esteemed panel of industry professionals chaired by Chris Laurence MBE MRCVS were challenged with selecting the worthy shortlisted individuals and groups and the ultimate winners.
Speaking at the ceremony, chair of the judging panel, Chris Laurence, said: “Judging the huge number of nominations gets more difficult year on year as the numbers increase. It is stunning to see how many people give their lives to the welfare of animals and it makes us feel very humble to see the lengths to which many people go. The fact that we have found winners amongst so many deserving people and organisations was really hard work.”
Winners of the Ceva Animal Welfare Awards 2017 by category, are:
Chris Laurence Vet of the Year Award in association with Veterinary Times
Jenny Stavisky from the University of Nottingham
Jenny is a senior lecturer in shelter medicine at the University of Nottingham. In addition to her teaching and research, Jenny founded the charity Vets in the Community (ViC) in 2012 to provide free veterinary care to the pets of the homeless and vulnerably housed people in Nottingham. The charity is based in the Big Issue office in Nottingham City Centre and has helped improve the lives of hundreds of pets owned by those of no fixed abode, who are often vulnerable.
Welfare Nurse of the Year Award in association with VN Times
Samantha Shand from Quarrington Veterinary Surgery in Sleaford
Samantha works at Quarrington Veterinary Surgery in Sleaford, Lincolnshire. Every year Samantha comes up with exciting ideas to raise funds for charity. These include producing a calendar comprising of photographs and stories of memorable practice patients in order to raise funds for Hounds for Heroes and co-ordinating a children’s book entitled ‘Nine Tails of Quarrington’ whereby local primary school children illustrated stories about pets that had visited the practice with funds going to Cats Protection and NSPCC.
Farm Animal Welfare Award in association with R.A.B.I and N.A.D.I.S
Katrine Bazeley, a retired veterinary surgeon from Dorset, and Graham Duncanson, a retired veterinary surgeon from Norfolk (joint winners)
Katrine is a retired veterinary surgeon from Blackdown in Dorset. She is well-respected within the industry and held a variety of roles in both veterinary practice and academia before she retired; she still continues to be involved in young stock research and maintains a clinical involvement with Synergy Farm Health. She was also a committee member of the Goat Veterinary Society for many years, of which she is now an Honorary Life Member. Her legacy includes significant welfare work in both cattle and small ruminants and she has written several books.
Graham Duncanson is a retired veterinary surgeon from Crostwick near Norwich. Graham worked at Westover Veterinary Centre in Norfolk for 40 years. He has just returned from a marathon two year, 8,000km cycling challenge from Norfolk to Cape Town in South Africa to raise funds for the Animal Welfare Foundation (AWF) of which he is a trustee. With the aim of raising more than £10,000, Graham’s route took him through Western Europe and into Greece before flying to Ethiopia and cycling through Kenya, where Graham spent eight years as a Government veterinary officer in his early career. He then followed the Indian Ocean down the African continent’s east coast to Cape Town.
Charity Professional of the Year in association with PDSA
Lesley Winton, founder of the Winton Foundation for the Welfare of Bears and Fostering Compassion
Lesley Winton from Tranent, East Lothian is founder of The Winton Foundation for the Welfare of Bears and Fostering Compassion. She runs both charities, while also working as a driving instructor.
Charity Team of the Year in association with Your Cat Magazine and Your Dog Magazine
Dogstar Foundation, Sri Lanka
Dogstar Foundation is at the forefront of improving dog and cat health and welfare in Sri Lanka. Founded in 2006, the charity provides high standard veterinary care for free roaming dogs and cats in the Nagombo region of Sri Lanka. Dogstar focuses not just on neutering large numbers of dogs, but also on individual patient welfare. All dogs receive a standard of care equivalent to, if not exceeding, a UK veterinary clinic, something which is highly unusual in a dog population programme focused on largescale neutering. The Dogstar team understands its role in safeguarding humans from zoonotic diseases such as rabies, alongside educating local people in concepts of responsible pet ownership, as well as being completely committed to the welfare of the dogs and cats they vaccinate, spay and neuter.
Volunteer of the Year Welfare Award in association with Blue Cross
Dean Bland from Well Equine in Yorkshire
Dean Bland is a farrier from Silkstone Common in Barnsley, Yorkshire. He has worked tirelessly to volunteer and support equine welfare organisations and he has volunteered at all nine of the British Horse Society’s castration clinics to educate horse owners who have had no previous experience with a professional farrier on the importance of hoof care. Dean was also chosen as one of the farriers to support the Olympians at the Rio Olympics 2016.
International Cat Care Welfare Award in association with Agria Pet Insurance
Pei Su from ActAsia
Pei Su founded ActAsia in 2006. ActAsia is a registered non-profit organisation with staff and volunteers working from offices in China and other parts of the world. Many of its staff, advisors and volunteers have extensive knowledge and experience in the field of animal welfare and humane education, and benefit from training by leading international animal advocacy organisations.
This year also saw an additional award for GSPCA (Guernsey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals), in special recognition of the charity’s hard work in helping to raise animal welfare standards in Guernsey.
The winners were presented with their coveted awards on stage by the judges, alongside a representative from each of the category sponsors, which this year included: Blue Cross, PDSA, International Cat Care with Agria Pet Insurance, N.A.D.I.S and R.A.B.I, and media titles, Veterinary Times, VN Times and Your Dog and Your Cat magazines.
For further information on the Ceva Animal Welfare Awards visit www.cevawelfareawards.com.
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