Dr Geoff Startup

MANY BREEDERS and exhibitors will be saddened to learn of the death of Dr Geoff Startup on Sunday 29th July 2001.

Dr Startup qualified from the Royal Veterinary College, London in 1946. Together with his first wife, who also qualified from the Royal Veterinary College, he started a small animal practice in Worthing. In 1957 he was one of the founder members of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association, of which he was elected president in 1968.

While running the increasingly busy practice in 1964 he gained a PhD on the subject of eye surgery, a truly outstanding achievement for someone in full time general practice. In 1965 he received the prestigious Blane Award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of small animal veterinary surgery. In 1986 he received the Dunkin Award presented for the outstanding article published in the Journal of Small Animal Practice.

The Worthing practice was one of the first to gain official recognition by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons as an approved veterinary hospital and subsequently became famous as Grove Lodge Veterinary Hospital.

In 1969 he published a textbook, Eye Diseases of the Dog, which was one of the first on this subject and became a standard textbook for many generations of veterinary students.

His interest in dogs - for many years he owned Poodles as well as Irish Wolfhounds, led to him acting as honorary veterinary surgeon at many shows, in particular Crufts and Richmond Championship dog show. At the latter for many years he also conducted eye testing sessions, being one of the first eye panellists.

All who knew him will recall his quiet, gentle and confident approach, ensuring that as much time as needed was spent investigating any problem. Owner concerns were always fully explored and discussed. Geoff was never too busy to explain.

Veterinary ophthalmology, not to mention, dogs, cats and their owners, not to mention countless vets and students benefited much from the expertise of Geoff Startup.

Trevor Turner

Mrs Joan Nicholson

IT WAS with great sadness that Charles Thomas gave me the news that his beloved grandmother Mrs Joan Nicholson had passed peacefully away on Friday August 31st.

I first met Joan when I was still at school and she brought her young family round to buy her first Great Dane from my mother, just after the war in the mid-forties. That was the beginning, for Joan to become one of our best dog breeders and judge. Under the Hatchmead prefix/affix, she had a number of good Great Danes, one Ch. Hatchmead Pericles of Nightsgift, was a very big winner, but it was a miniature Smooth haired Dachshund that she particularly distinguished herself, and there were many top class specimens that carried the Hatchmead name.

Only a few weeks ago, on a visit to her lovely home in the New Forest, I admired a ten year old miniature looking half his age and we discussed how good he was and could have won against the best, had he been shown.

Joan judged a number of times at Crufts and her greatest pride was when she judged the Hound group a few years ago. She had long links with the Bournemouth Canine Association, having been Chairman, President and latterly its Patron.

A contemporary of Sir Dudley Forwood and like him, one of the ‘old school’, it is sad that dogdom has lost these two stalwarts in such a short space of time. Our thoughts at this time are with her sons, Michael, David, Christopher, her grandchildren and great grand children.

The funeral will take place at 2pm on Friday 14th September, at St John The Baptist Church, Burley, Hants. The family requests that cut flowers if wished should be sent to the undertakers, Barrow Brothers and Tapper, 29A Southampton Rd, Ringwood, Hants BH24 1HB, or donations made to the RSPCA.

Jean Lanning