Sandy Urquhart, a former President of the British Veterinary Hospitals Association, died on 13th December 2020 after a short illness.
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A proud Scot, Sandy was born
and bred in Glasgow on 7th May 1943. By the age of 8 he’d decided to
become a vet – and began breeding white mice in his parents’ garden shed. He
would cycle two miles with his surplus mice in a box in his saddlebag, to sell
his mice for ninepence each to a Glasgow pet shop.
Sandy became a popular, eager
and fastidious student at the University of Glasgow’s Vet School. One of his
fellow students recalls the day Sandy “volunteered” for a physiology practical
which involved drinking several litres of water. He undertook the appropriate
measuring of kidney function, but then ran into problems: “Sandy’s wonderful dissertation described in detail his individual short bus journeys,
as he had to get off the bus at every public toilet on his way home...”
After graduating in 1966,
Sandy moved to Cumberland to embark on his professional career. Within months
he was in the Midlands dealing with the foot-and-mouth outbreak, before
returning to Cumberland where he spent the majority of his career as a partner
with Rowcliffe House Vets in Penrith.
Sandy loved being a vet. Aside
from caring for pets and farm animals in equal measure, he gave many talks
about the role, answered listeners’ veterinary queries on local radio, and was part
of Glasgow Vet School’s selection panel for prospective students. He was also a
hospital inspector; another of his old pals describes how “…our friendship was always put to one side as Sandy performed his
inspection. He was meticulous in the task and indeed I expected him to be just
that. If repairs or alterations were needed I was told very clearly and
precisely. After the inspection, old friendship returned, and we usually went
for a meal and a few drinks…”
Sandy
was an active BVHA member. For several years he edited the Association’s
bulletin /newsletter, then in 1990 he became Junior Vice
President, visiting Moscow with the Association in February of that year,
before leading the 1991 study trip to Washington DC as BVHA President. Back home in the
Lake District a few weeks later, Sandy and his wife Joan hosted his fellow 1966
Glasgow graduates’ 25th anniversary reunion (those reunions are held
every five years, and Sandy never missed one).
Like most vets, Sandy experienced a few knocks along the way. One
visit to a remote hill farm to castrate calves resulted
in a kick to the head, requiring hospital treatment; the following year he
returned to the same farm, only this time to be kicked by a cow and have his
leg broken (he found this coincidence very amusing!) On another occasion, part
of his lip was bitten off by a dog: “PENRITH VET SAVAGED BY HOUND” screamed the
local newspaper billboard. This wasn’t Sandy’s only brush with fame: the story
of him repairing a parrot’s beak with superglue, after it had been in a fight,
made the national press.
Away from work, Sandy loved reading, music, photography, his
beloved Scotland… and he loved his family. So much so, that he would sometimes
take us into work with him. My brother Alistair reminds me of a night when we
were very young, Dad needed to attend to a dog but he and our Mum (who had
worked as a veterinary nurse) couldn’t get a babysitter. So they hauled us out
of bed, took us into the surgery in our pyjamas, and plonked us in a large
animal cage on freshly laundered dog beds, whilst they performed the operation!
Sandy retired from practice in 2001 – narrowly avoiding the next
major foot-and-mouth outbreak – then worked for several years as a meat hygiene
inspector, before retiring altogether in 2009. Right up until his death he
remained as enthusiastic about his profession as he was when he’d started
breeding his white mice. Indeed, he’d already secured his place for the next
BVHA virtual AGM…
The news of his passing has brought many fond memories and
stories from colleagues, clients and friends far and wide. Sandy Urquhart was
hugely respected, dearly loved, and we’ll miss him very much.
(Stephen Urquhart, January 2021