Rachel Wright, founder of the Tree of Life For Animals, has been named as the 'Vet Nurse of the Year' at the Ceva Animal Welfare Awards, held at BSAVA Congress last night.

The awards, which recognise the achievements of remarkable people from the veterinary, farming and charity industries, were hosted by TV presenter and animal lover, Matt Baker, and Chris Laurence MBE FRCVS, who was also chair of the judging panel.

Chris said: "Once again the breadth of nominations for the Welfare Awards has amazed and enthused the judging panel. The new categories this year have been well supported and widened the field of nominees as well as increasing the number of nominations. There have been some outstanding finalists and those who have won should be justifiably proud to have done so against some stiff competition.  Of course, the real winners in all this are the animals whose welfare has been improved and the message that has given about the importance of animal welfare to those who have come into contact with all the nominees."

The other award winners were: 

Chris Laurence Vet of the Year Award in association with Vet Record
Hannah Capon, Canine Arthritis Management

Charity Team of the Year Award in association with PDSA
Ebony Horse Club, Brixton

Charitable Contribution of the Year Award in association with Blue Cross 
Fiona Gammell, Wicklow Animal Welfare

Farmer of the Year Award in association with R.A.B.I.
David Finlay, Rainton Farm, Castle Douglas

Farm Educator of the Year in association with NADIS
James Griffiths from Taynton Court Farm, Gloucester

International Cat Care Welfare of the Year Award
Ian MacFarlaine, chief inspector of SPCA in Bermuda

Outstanding Contribution to Animal Welfare Award in association with Your Dog and Your Cat 
Professor Jacky Reid, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Glasgow and CEO of the research company, NewMetrica.

Cuneyt Seckin, managing director of Ceva Animal Health UK and Ireland said: "The vision, dedication and hard work demonstrated by each and every award winner is truly outstanding.  We had a brilliant evening celebrating our remarkable winners and would like to congratulate each and every one of them on their fantastic achievement."

Photo: Chris Laurence, Clara Nowak, Simon Wheeler, Wendy Wright, Matt Baker.jpg

PS: Whilst you're here, take a moment to see our latest job opportunities for vet nurses.