About us
Our purpose
To drive excellence in veterinary practice to improve the health and welfare of small animals.
Our mission
To fund vital clinical research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases of pets, so that vets always have the knowledge they need to counter the distress and pain caused by those diseases.
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“PetSavers funding was critical in allowing us to be the first to explore continuous glucose monitoring to help diabetic pets more than 15 years ago. This technology is now in widespread use.”
Professor Lucy Davison, Professor of Veterinary Clinical Genetics and MRC Clinician Scientist Fellow, RVC and University of Oxford
PetSavers provides the funding that researchers need to undertake vital research into the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in pets. Over the past 50 years, these research projects have led to some key breakthroughs in veterinary care.
But more than simply a funding pot, PetSavers is a supportive research community: our research alumni become mentors, student grants help the veterinary researchers of the future to build skills and experience, and our partners and donors support us through fundraising, donations, legacies and sponsorship.
Contemporary, ethical research is at the heart of everything we do: only studies involving naturally occurring diseases in small animals are considered, and we never fund research using experimental animals.
Meet the team
Meet the extended team behind BSAVA PetSavers: our volunteer committee members:
The BSAVA PetSavers’ Management Committee
Assisting with planning, expenditure and key fundraising strategies, the Management Committee supports our staff in the everyday running and organisation of PetSavers. Its members, including veterinary surgeons and nurses, bring unlimited value to PetSavers through their diverse professional knowledge and experiences.
• Rosie Godfrey, Chair
• Jeremy Kirk
• Jim Hughes, BSAVA Board representative
• Lyndsay Kennedy
• Samantha Adams
• Daisy Norgate
• Rebecca Lee
• Krishna Mistry
• Steven Wibberley
The BSAVA PetSavers’ Grant Awarding Committee
Key to upholding strong selection processes that ensure high quality research projects, is our Grant Awarding Committee. This committee comprises veterinary academics and practitioners who specialise in the field of companion animal diseases. They meet to select research proposals which are meticulously designed, offer strong scientific merit and deliver impact and relevance for veterinary professionals.
• Jeremy Kirk, Chair
• Rosie Godfrey
• Jim Hughes, BSAVA Board representative
• Chris Scudder
• Sarah Hayes
• Ian Mason
• An Vanhaesebrouck
• Lyndsay Kennedy
• Caroline Pellet-Many
• Ivette Hernandez Negrete
• Rose Perkins
Become a volunteer
PetSavers thrives on the joint expertise of our committee members – who are all volunteers. If you are already a BSAVA member, you can support us by volunteering with one of the BSAVA PetSavers’ committees. To find out more, please contact the volunteer manager on volunteer@bsava.com.
If you are a veterinary professional and are not a BSAVA member, learn more about becoming a member here.
Our history
PetSavers has been funding clinical veterinary research for over 50 years, with more than £2.7 million in grants awarded to over 300 research projects since 1974.
Originally called the Clinical Studies Trust Fund, PetSavers awarded its first grant to David Bennet at the University of Glasgow in 1975 for a study of immune-mediated joint diseases in dogs, which led to the first identification of a canine rheumatoid arthritis. Since then, our grants have supported veterinary researchers at every stage of their career to deliver research with real in-practice relevance for veterinary professionals.
Recognising our joint mission to improve the lives of companion animals, PetSavers became part of the BSAVA in 1994.
