David Dugdale of Greenwood Ellis and Partners was inaugurated as the new BEVA President at the BEVA AGM at Chesford Grange, Warwickshire on 13th December.  HRH The Princess Royal chaired part of the clinical workshop session on Ophthalmology and the PPE Exam and was also present for the BEVA AGM.

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH
DAVID DUGDALE

Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentleman, it is a great honour to stand here as the President of the British Equine Veterinary Association in its 46th Year.

Forty-six years ago, in 1961, 5 men of great vision met in Newmarket for the first meeting of the Steering Committee of the British Equine Veterinary Association.  Later on that year the inaugural meeting of the British Equine Veterinary Association took place at the Royal Veterinary College in Camden Town.  The true extent of their vision is evident today by the fact that the Association continues to grow and prosper on many fronts. However, to continue to thrive and evolve the Association must respond and adapt to serve the changing demands of its membership. This is the continuing challenge that faces the Association.

46 years ago another notable event occurred, at least as far as I was concerned, because BEVA and I share a birthday. However, it was to be a number of years before BEVA and I became acquainted. My first association with BEVA came as a student steward in 1985. Brian Eagles was the President, the Congress was held at the University of Brighton, and John Parker, who you heard from earlier, was the president elect. My imagination was fired by that Congress all those years ago and I have remained an active member of the association ever since.

There are several strands which have run through the Association since those early days.  One strand is that of Royal Patronage.  In 1968 the very young Association received a great honour when Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother graciously consented to become the Patron of the Association. Her Majesty took a great interest in all the activities of the Association.  I am delighted to say that this Royal Patronage continues to this day and we are extremely proud that your Royal Highness continues to act as the Patron of the Association in such an active and interested fashion. 

A second strand which stretches from the inception of the Association to the present day is the provision of continuing education and professional development.  Equine veterinary surgeons are by their very nature immensely curious and inquisitive individuals.   They are constantly looking critically at the way we care for and treat horses and are always looking for new ideas and how new scientific advances can be applied to the field of equine medicine and surgery.  The thirst for information and education is greater than ever and the core function of BEVA remains the provision of high quality education, scientific information and the ability to develop professionally.  At BEVA we will continue to strive and find new and imaginative ways to share information.  To this end we are in the process of addressing our website to act as a portal for the dissemination of information.  The innovation of a members’ only area on the website and the posting of Pod casts of sessions from Congress has proved very successful and we hope to embrace new technologies and develop these ideas further. This is alongside the tried and tested BEVA courses, regional meetings, clinical workshops and of course the annual Congress. We have restructured the traditional day meetings into Clinical Workshops as you have experienced today, to make the learning experience more interactive and concentrating on practical situations and developing practical skills. The highly regarded scientific journals, The Equine Veterinary Journal and Equine Veterinary Education continue to provide the highest quality of scientific information for members of the equine veterinary profession and the wider scientific community.
We are very proud of the fact that BEVA is the largest provider of high quality CPD in Europe and we will continue to develop links with other European equine associations to consolidate this position.

A third strand which runs through BEVA is leadership for the Equine Veterinary Profession and the broader equine industry. We will continue to promote all aspects of the health and welfare of the horse, working in collaboration with the government, the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and the British Veterinary Association to meet the challenges of a changing society and the changing role of the horse in society. Not least we will continue to press for continued surveillance for new and emerging equine diseases and work with DEFRA to have in place robust contingency plans to deal with diseases previously considered as exotic diseases, but now as a result of climate change, these are diseases which could be seen within the UK. I refer to diseases such as West Nile Disease, Equine Infectious Anaemia and African Horse Sickness.

A fourth strand which runs through BEVA from that very first meeting is that of fellowship.  The equine sector is a small part of the whole veterinary profession, but it is a sector where collaboration, communication and sharing of ideas have thrived.  We hope to continue to be a friendly, welcoming Association who makes members new and old feel valued. Together we can identify the areas of change affecting the equine veterinary surgeon and tackle them in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration.
So finally, I would like to acknowledge the ideals that those men of vision lay down 46 years ago and pledge all my efforts and energies to maintaining and developing the traditions and values of the Association during my year of stewardship.

Your Royal Highness, ladies and gentlemen

Thank you