Nominations Are Open for the 2025 Westminster Vet of the Year Award—Submit Your Hero Today

Our pets’ veterinarians are essentially part of our family—they help keep our fur babies in tip-top shape so we can enjoy as many years together as possible together. If you have an outstanding veterinarian, now’s the time to show them some love by nominating them for the 2025 Westminster Veterinarian of the Year award.

Learn more about this award and how to submit your nomination.

About the Vet of the Year Award

The Westminster Kennel Club was established in 1877 and is the oldest organization in the country dedicated to dog sports. The Club plays host to the famous Westminster Dog Show, the longest nationally televised live dog show, which recognizes the nation’s most impressive pups.

Since 2022, the Club has also recognized outstanding human veterinarians through its Veterinarian of the Year (VOTY) award, which was created in order to celebrate veterinarians who make a difference in the lives of our pets and to shine a light on the toll that practicing veterinary medicine can have on one’s mental health.

“The Westminster Kennel Club prides itself on being one of the oldest, mission-based organizations in the world dedicated to dogs,” Donald Sturz, DVM, president of The Westminster Kennel Club says. “We cannot fulfill our mission to create a better world for dogs without the unwavering support of our incredible veterinary professionals.”

Last year, over 200 veterinarians were nominated for VOTY, with Treyton Diggs, DVM, a veterinarian from Boutte, Louisiana, eventually claiming the title of 2024 VOTY. Diggs received his DVM from Tuskegee University in Alabama and is trained in several specialties, including small animal internal medicine, cardiology, emergency and critical care, neurology and more.

Diggs was also recently named Westminster’s inaugural resident veterinarian, “further exemplifying his unwavering values, dedication, and moral compass in animal care by providing virtual support and expert counsel to Westminster’s global community,” the Club said in a press release.

How to Nominate Your Vet

For those of us who know an exceptional veterinarian, now is the time to submit a nomination for the 2025 VOTY award. Here’s how.

1. Visit the Westminster Kennel Club’s VOTY page.
2. Fill out your name and email as well as your veterinarian’s information, including where they currently practice.
3. In 200 words, describe how your veterinarian has gone above and beyond for you and your pet.
4. Submit!

Four regional finalists will be chosen out of the pool of nominations, and an esteemed panel of fellow veterinarians will select the final winner. The winner will be recognized in person at the 2025 Westminster Dog Show. Westminster will also donate $10,000 in the winner’s name to Not One More Vet—an organization dedicated to supporting the mental health of veterinarians, students, and veterinary technicians.

Make sure to catch the 149th Westminster Dog Show beginning February 8, 2025, to see who is ultimately recognized as the 2025 Vet of the Year.