BSAVA Conference, Birmingham, UK, April 3, 2013:

Six individuals have been announced as the winners of the second annual Ceva Animal Welfare Awards, honoured for their contributions to the prevention and reduction of animal welfare problems in the UK and abroad.

Ceva’s mission, “Together, beyond animal health” recognises that the health of animals, humans and the planet are inextricably linked, and the awards, set up in 2012, aim to celebrate the hard work and dedication of individuals in the veterinary and animal charity fields.

All winners were originally nominated by friends, colleagues or family, while the prestigious judging panel consisted of panel chairman and veterinary surgeon Chris Laurence MBE, who put his name to the Vet of the Year Award, Ross Tiffin of the Feline Advisory Bureau (FAB), Dennis Baker, OBE, Chief Executive at Wood Green, the Animal Charity and media vet, Joe Inglis. Marc Abraham also assisted in the Volunteer categories.

Dr. Pascal Raoul, Ceva's Head of Global Pharmaceuticals, said: "Ceva is delighted to host these Animal Welfare Awards as they help to highlight the incredible affection and care that people have for animals. With 6 billion people living in megacities in the future, companion animals will often be their major link to nature. The benefits that animals have on improving human health are well documented; in turn we all have a duty to protect them and this evening we have seen some of the best examples, from professionals, members of the public, young and old as to how that should be done."

The Winners

• Logan McKerrow, 6 years old, was awarded Young Person of the Year for his fundraising for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. Logan became a household name in 2012 after making his own Olympic torch and selling it on eBay. It went on to raise £28,000, resulting in the charity naming a hearing dog puppy after him.

• Timothy Phillips, a Plymouth-based vet from the Elm Veterinary Group, was awarded the Chris Laurence Vet of the Year Award for his 15 years of charitable work in the Greek Islands with Friends of the Strays of Greece. Tim performs surgeries and other treatments, helping to establish a re-homing system, with dogs fully vaccinated and declared healthy by the vets before being flown out of Greece.

• Scott Lee Parry of Bridge Veterinary Surgery was awarded Welfare Nurse of the Year for his work with the RSPCA’s Brent Knoll Animal Centre. Scott has spent hours of his own time raising funds and helping with the rehabilitation of a number of traumatised dogs. He also recently assisted in an RSPCA visit to a travellers’ camp to vaccinate more than 50 dogs following an outbreak of Parvo Virus on the site.

• Kim Taylor, co-founder of the charity Animal Care Egypt, was awarded the Charity Professional of the Year accolade for her tireless work setting up a large animal hospital helping more than 26,000 animals every year. Kim is also responsible for providing free education on important animal welfare issues to more than 800 children a month in Egypt.

• The UK Volunteer of the Year Award was given to Faye Stacey of People4Ponies in Devon. Faye played a large part in successfully stopping ear cutting, notching and tagging of equines in the UK and is currently campaigning for a ban on hot branding in England and Wales. As well as managing People4Ponies, she contributes to Animal Welfare committee meetings in the Houses of Parliament and trains organisations such as the Fire Service in how to deal with scared and traumatised horses.

• Jen White has been named International Volunteer of the Year for her work with the Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust. Jen has been volunteering for a year-and-a-half, running all overseas operations including an equine veterinary centre, a mobile veterinary clinic for rural villages and a number of educational welfare projects for farmers and children.