BEVA appoints new president
“I am both proud and delighted to take up the mantle of presidency” – Bruce Bladon.
Bruce Bladon has been appointed as president of the British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) for 2024/25. He takes over from Roger Smith.
Imogen Burrows has been appointed president elect and Kate Blakeman as junior vice-president. Jenny Hindmarsh, Rebekah Sullivan and Jo Suthers have joined BEVA Council, and Ian Beamish and Gemma Dransfield have been re-elected.
Dr Bladon is principal equine surgeon at Donnington Grove Equine Vets where he has worked since 1998. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh, he worked as an equine surgeon at the Rio 2016 Olympics. That same year, he was awarded an RCVS fellowship for meritorious contributions to clinical practice.
The theme for Dr Bladon’s presidency will be ‘Use it Wisely or Lose it Forever’, looking at areas including antibiotic usage, potentially unnecessary surgical procedures, and the possible over-treatment and over-medication of horses in sport.
As part of the theme, he hopes to launch a national antibiotic monitoring programme so that antibiotic usage in equine practice can be published in Veterinary Antimicrobial Resistance and Sales Surveillance reports alongside farm animal data.
Dr Bladon said: “BEVA has been a huge part of my career, since I was taken to a meeting when I was a student seeing practice at Rossdales.”
“So, I was keen to be part of Council once my time commitments at Donnington were reasonably under control. I am both proud and delighted to take up the mantle of presidency.”
Image © BEVA
Veterinary practices are being urged to help owners safely dispose of any unused and expired pet medicines - not just antibiotics - during November's Animal Medicines Amnesty. 
