Burgess Excel Vet Awards announces new category for best Rabbit Awareness Week campaign
12 August 2020
To coincide with the launch of this year’s virtual Rabbit Awareness Week festival taking place Aug 10–23, the Burgess Excel Vet Awards has announced a new category for the best Rabbit Awareness Week campaign.
The Burgess Excel Vet Awards were created by Burgess Pet Care in conjunction with the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund to celebrate the hard work of the UK’s rabbit-friendly vets, vet nurses and veterinary practices.
The main nominations for the Awards have now closed following hundreds of applications from vets and vet nurses across the UK but anyone interested in nominating for the Best Rabbit Awareness Week category has until August 31 to get their application in.
Dr Suzanne Moyes MVB MRCVS, Veterinary Director at Burgess Pet Care and lead spokesperson for Rabbit Awareness Week said:
“As the main point of trusted information for many rabbit owners, veterinary practices have always played an incredibly important role in RAW by engaging with rabbit owners and helping them to better understand the high levels of care and attention that these amazing animals need. It’s been inspiring reading so many stories about how so many vets are going above and beyond for rabbit owners in the hundreds of nominations we’ve received so far.
“We’re incredibly grateful for the support from all of the veterinary practices that are taking part in this year’s campaign by educating rabbit owners on the importance of the correct hay-led diet, vital vaccinations to protect against deadly diseases such as RVHD2 and why rabbits should always be kept in suitably bonded pairs.”
RAW is the UK’s largest welfare campaign for rabbits and was created fourteen years ago to improve the lives of rabbits by raising awareness around their welfare needs. Thousands of veterinary practices usually take part in RAW every year, but this year’s campaign will take place as a two-week virtual festival due to the social distancing restrictions imposed by COVID-19.
While many veterinary practices won’t be enjoying the same face-to-face interaction with their rabbit-owning clients, hundreds of vets have already downloaded their free RAW vet packs from the RAW website to take part in this year’s campaign by hosting their own virtual events online.
The Burgess Excel Vet Awards were created by Burgess Pet Care in conjunction with the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund, featuring a judging panel of veterinary professionals, rabbit specialists and industry experts.
For the Best Rabbit Awareness Week category, judges will be looking for specific examples on how veterinary practices are utilising digital platforms to engage with rabbit owners online, and how they’re helping to educate animal owners on the welfare needs of rabbits with the regular provision of up-to-date, rabbit-specific materials.
Judges will be looking for exceptional knowledge of rabbit care and husbandry and evidence of continued commitment to educating the public on how to care for rabbits correctly.
One winner from each of the four categories in the Burgess Excel Vet Awards will receive a cash prize of £500. Nominations and self-nominations can be made now in the Best Rabbit Awareness Week campaign by visiting the website here.
Veterinary practices that haven’t yet downloaded their free RAW vet packs for information and advice on how to take part in this year’s campaign can do so by visiting here.