A VETERINARY ophthalmologist who has performed surgery on a tiger, wallaby, birds and a donkey as well as thousands of dogs and cats at his Herefordshire clinic has received a lifetime achievement award after 47 years.

Paul Evans started his career as a country vet in North Herefordshire but decided to concentrate on eye problems along in 1989, founding the Eye Veterinary Clinic.

The site, in Eye, near Leominster, eventually became too small and in 2002, a new purpose-built clinic opened on a two-acre site at Marlbrook.

During his time at the helm of the business, Mr Evans' professional interests have included corneal and cataract surgery and, following a sabbatical in Canada and the United States, he pioneered canine retinal reattachment surgery in the UK.

He retired after 47 years in April and last weekend was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the British Association of Veterinary Ophthalmology (BrAVO), of which he was chairman in the late 1990s.

He said it was a 'great honour' to receive the award from his peers. In 1999 Mr Evans performed a sight-saving operation on Siberian Eagle Owl, Boris, and threw the Herefordshire clinic into the limelight as TV crews descended.

Mr Evans spent two and a half hours removing cataracts from the owl’s eyes and put Boris under general anaesthetic for the operation – a world first.

"We have been in the right place at the right time," said Mr Evans. "People in Leominster are proud that they have got this clinic here and people come here from all over the county."

Mr Evans, who also served a term as President of the European Society of Veterinary Ophthalmology (ESVO) in 2007/8 after 10 years on the ESVO Board, said his 'biggest achievement' was to find the right person to take the business on and he believes it is in safe hands with Christine Heinrich, who was previously part of the Willows Referral Service in Solihull

Speaking about her plans for the future, Ms Heinrich said: "It is just such a lovely site and such a lovely place. I am qualified to train people and I have already increased the team by another staff member and want the nurses to be really involved. I wants it to be a centre of excellence."

Mr Evans will stay on as vitreo-retinal consultant at the Eye Veterinary Clinic.