Press room

Highly-respected local vet, Keith Chandler from Kessock Veterinary Clinic in Drumsmittal, Inverness has been chosen as one of just three finalists for this year's Petplan Equine Vet of the Year Award. Now into its fifth year, the winner of this prestigious people's award, which is sponsored by the UK's specialist equine insurance provider, Petplan Equine in association with Horse & Rider magazine, will be announced at the annual Animal Health Trust (AHT) Equestrian Awards Ceremony on Thursday 1st November 2012 in London.

Keith Chandler is the senior partner at Kessock Equine Veterinary Clinic and his main areas of focus is equine internal medicine, stud medicine and care of the geriatric horse. He has also examined other vets sitting exams at the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in London and, from September, he will be the President of the British Equine Veterinary Association.

Keith received several nominations which credited, not only him personally for his dedication, knowledge, pragmatic, and caring approach, but also his practice for its outstanding customer service. Keith is widely praised for going beyond the call of duty, putting his clients' minds at rest and for his unwaivering professionalism.

Upon receiving news of his nomination, Keith was swift to praise the other vets with whom he works saying: "To be nominated for the Petplan Equine Vet of the Year Award is lovely and totally unexpected. I am very honoured and touched to receive this nomination which reflects the exceptional team I have around me. Together we strive to offer continuity, consistency and an extremely high minimum level of care to all our clients irrespective of which vet is in attendance."

To achieve this Keith has a team of seven full and part time vets who range from young, energetic recently qualified vets to an experienced professor, ensuring clients have access to the very best of care for their horses. A weekly team meeting is held to discuss all the practice's cases in progress and to draw upon this breadth of experience in determining the best courses of action for each.

Horse owners from all over the UK have been nominating vets who they feel are worthy of the prestigious title of Petplan Equine Vet of the Year. Once all the nominations were in, the difficult job of choosing three finalists took place, from whom the winner will be selected by an independent judging panel.

Isabella Von Mesterhazy, Head of Marketing for Petplan Equine commented: "Anyone motivated to nominate their vet for this award must hold them in extremely high regard so once again we were very impressed by both the quality and quantity of nominations we received. It is heartwarming and inspiring to read the submissions that describe the outstanding contributions made by all the nominees in keeping owners happy and horses healthy. It has not been easy to select just three from all the worthy nominees to go through to the final but Keith is clearly a most deserving finalist," she explained.

The winner will be posted on www.petplanequine.co.uk on Friday 2 of November 2012.

 

Back to Press Room

For more information please contact the Petplan press office on:

Name	Telephone	Email
Charlotte Collyer	0208 707 8335	[email protected]

Petplan Equine is the UK's leading horse insurance provider offering a wide variety of flexible horse insurance and rider insurance policies which cater for all levels of experience.

Established more than 20 years ago, Petplan Equine is part of Allianz Insurance, one of the largest general insurers in the world.

For more information about a Petplan Equine horse insurance policy, please visit:
petplanequine.co.uk/insurance/quote.asp

Note to editors:

• Petplan Equine was founded in 1988.
• It is part of Allianz Animal Health, the largest provider of animal health insurance in the world and part of Allianz – one of the largest general insurers in the UK.
• In addition to horse and pony insurance options, Petplan Equine provides dedicated products for veteran horses and rider only insurance cover.
• It is the sister brand of Petplan, the largest provider of small animal insurance in the UK.
• Petplan Equine believes in supporting the equine community and provides more financial support to equestrian sports and activities than any equine insurance provider in the UK.
• The Pet Plan Charitable Trust was founded in 1994 to raise much needed funds for animal welfare and veterinary projects. Money is raised by Petplan and Petplan Equine customers giving an optional £1.50 to the Trust when they take out or renew their policy. To date, almost £5 million has been awarded by the Trust.
• Petplan and Petplan Equine are specialist insurers. As such, the company employs more horse riders and owners than any other and more former veterinary practice staff than any other to ensure the provision of specialist knowledge.
• Petplan Equine is the only insurer to offer illness and accident cover for older horses, up to the age of 25 as long as the policy is taken before your horse reaches the age of 20.