Meet the Team
We are an experienced team of British qualified vets and nurses led by Dr Sara Elliott, a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) signifying a very high level of expertise.
Dr Sara Elliott
BA MA Cantab VetMB M
Dr Sara is the founder and veterinary director of British Veterinary Hospital. She was Cambridge University’s youngest ever veterinary student at age 17. Graduating in 1998 she now has 22 years of experience working initially in the UK and for the past 16 years in Dubai. She worked initially in an established Dubai practice and then became a partner in another, before realising her ambition and founding BRITISH veterinary hospital, which was the first veterinary facility in Dubai licensed as a hospital rather than a clinic.
A member of the prestigious Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Sara has extensive post graduate qualifications and holds a Membership in small animal medicine. She is committed to raising the standard of veterinary care available in Dubai. She believes in continuous education and professional development combined with investment in the latest technology.
She leads a team of British trained professional staff focused 100% on the needs of the animals under their care, whilst working closely with the owners.
Sara is a member of the British Business Group in Dubai.
Sara can be heard regularly on Dubai Eye 103.8 Pets and Vets show answering listeners questions. She has contributed to media articles and is regularly interviewed on veterinary issues by The National, Gulf News and Khaleej Times newspapers.
Dr Leanne Cameron
Dr Leanne graduated in 2012 from the University of Glasgow Veterinary School.
Dr Andre van der Bank
Dr. Andre graduated in 2012 from the University of Pretoria. He believes in the great joy, benefit and far-reaching advantages of the human-animal bond. He believes in protecting, honoring and strengthening the human-animal bond by means of a holistic approach to meet the immediate and long-term needs of every animal and owner.
Dr. Andre worked in Cape Town, South Africa, for two years when he decided to join a renowned western hospital group in Qatar for over 6 years. After a short while back in South Africa, where he worked on the lush green coast of the Eastern-Cape, he missed the diversity of the middle-east too much and headed back to join the exceptional team at British Veterinary Hospital.
Dr. Andre gets energised by love for animals and humans alike, and only wants to give them the best of care and attention. He also loves birds and has a special interest in working with parrots and other pet birds. When not working, Dr. Andre loves to spend time with the loves of his life, his beautiful wife, his Cockatoo, Beam, and his little four-legged friend, Fleet. He loves running (and so does Fleet), cooking (especially the eating part), reading, travelling and camping, art, and keeping plants and aquariums.
Dr. Andre loves being part of the exceptional team at British Veterinary Hospital, and is looking forward to meeting you and your beloved pet.
Dr Blessing Chiriseri
Dr Blessing was born and raised in the township of Highfields, Harare, Zimbabwe. His first pets were tadpoles, which his mom was grossed out by but was gracious enough to allow me to keep until they were too big for my tiny kitchen countertank. Upon discussing this with him he reflects fondly on this as it was an incredible act of love and quite progressive since this is not deemed culturally normal, at least not at the time. He later graduated to fish and Guinea pigs. He fondly remember a childhood full of love and dusty township street playtime. He attended boarding school for my GCSE’s and A Levels and got admitted into Vet School in 2007; He went through the gruelling process and graduated with a BVSc degree from the University of Zimbabwe in 2013. After completion, he moved to South Africa to be closer to some of my family.
In 2022, he obtained his MBA Essentials Certificate from the University of Stellenbosch. He feels that being a Vet has been a wholesome experience; and feels lucky to have chosen this career path. Over the years, he has had the privilege to share in the emotions and connections between owners and their pets; He loves that has had an opportunity to educate and to be educated in the process. The UAE has afforded him the privilege to delve into his love for travel and photography, meeting new people, and what better setting than a consultation room to experience that. He is slowly discovering his love for food and art so make sure to share any tips with him during your consultations.
Dr Gareth Enslin
BA MA Cantab VetMB M
Dr Gareth Enslin is a South African vet who qualified from the University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort in 2012. He worked as a mixed animal vet for 11 years so he is comfortable treating all animals except humans. "The best part of being a vet is the variety and chaos that can walk through the door any moment."
Gareth is lucky enough to be married to a vet (because vets make the best partners) and is always willing to talk about his two cats and his dog. When Gareth is not in scrubs, he enjoys playing golf, generally being outdoors, and watching sport, particularly rugby (Four Times Rugby World Champions!).
Dr Sofia Moniz
MRCVS, DVM
Dr. Sofia graduated from Portugal. She has been in Dubai for 12 years before she moved to this beautiful city that she calls home, she worked in Portugal and the UK. Dr. Sofia joined BVH in 2014, her main interest are internal medicine and infectious diseases. She loves taking care of hospitalised patients She is currently pursuing a small animal medicine certificate with Improve international.
In her spare time Dr. Sofia likes going to the gym and reading a good novel. She recently adopted a mischievous puppy beagle named Jack Jack.
Reviews
"The Best Veterinary Hospital In UAE! THANK YOU... It took me 21 months to be able to write this message. Throughout the past 11 years, I have been to so many vet clinics in Dubai and I have not seen the professionalism provided to our loved ones, not even close to what I have witnessed at British Veterinary Hospital. The amount of care, love and attention to details the clinic offers is amazing. They consider every little aspect for the comfort of our little beautiful souls while they are hospitalized or boarded while we are away on a trip."
Habib Akel
"We took our kitty boy today and we were very happy with Dr. Hana because of her and her assistant's professional handling of our often difficult to handle cat. Our kitty boy came home and was back to normal right away. Usually, he is disturbed for hours after such tense and traumatic ordeals, like visiting a vet. Thank you Dr. Hana."
Edward Da Kunha
"Great relocation service! We moved our two cats from Dubai to Phoenix, Arizona in the US using British Veterinary Hospital. Kirsty, Beth and the whole staff took great care of our fur babies and allowed us to travel to our new home worry-free! They took care of everything for us, all we had to do was show up and fly over! Taking pets abroad can feel overwhelming and seems like a very daunting task but the staff really go out of their way to make everything easy for you and the pets. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again in the future!"
Mélodie Morales Tesure
"Best VET ever. Caring, understanding, clean, trustworthy and take initiative. Simsum loves you like a family!"
Nazek Fawaz
"Best vet in Dubai. Possibly best vet in the world."
Jo Clark
"Without a doubt, our cats have had consistent EXCELLENT treatment at the British Veterinary Hospital."
Claude Hammond