17 Aug 2023
Sean Wensley said he was “humbled and grateful” to be presented with an accolade commemorating one of the most important figures in the group’s history.
Allister Webb
Job Title
Sean Wensley, PDSA’s senior vet for animal welfare and professional engagement.
A well-known charity vet, and former BVA president, has been given his organisation’s most prestigious internal award.
Sean Wensley, PDSA’s senior vet for animal welfare and professional engagement, has received its Edward Bridges Webb Memorial Award for his contribution to both the organisation and the wider sector.
The award is named after a key figure in the charity’s history, who was a key player in promoting co-operation between it and the veterinary sector in the late 1930s.
Dr Wensley, who led the BVA in 2015-16 and was appointed as an RCVS fellow in 2018, has worked with PDSA since 2008.
He said: “To have been a part of PDSA, a veterinary charity that is admired by colleagues around the world, for 15 years, has been a privilege, and I am humbled and grateful for this recognition.
“While I’m fortunate to be able to advocate companion animal welfare to numerous external audiences, I do so with the support of, and on behalf of, the entire veterinary team across our 48 Pet Hospitals, and I accept it with recognition and gratitude to all of them.”
The announcement of the award comes after Dr Wensley received the JA Wight Memorial Award for an outstanding contribution to companion animal welfare at the BSAVA Congress earlier this year.
Richard Hooker, PDSA’s director of veterinary services, paid tribute to Dr Wensley’s contribution in what he described as one of the charity’s “most influential and ambassadorial” roles.
He added: “Through his work across the profession and wider animal welfare sector, he ensures that awareness of PDSA is raised among many audiences and that our impacts and achievements as an organisation are recognised and celebrated.
“He has inspired and motivated others, often bringing discussions back to the core purpose, with his own unique, unassuming and persuasive manner.
“He is always modest about the contribution he makes to PDSA, but makes this outstanding contribution in a quiet, but incredibly effective way.”
