Castleford canine wellness consultant Yaz Porritt, who manages dogs’ pain, wins Animal Therapist of the Year at Animal Star Awards

Yaz Porritt, who runs Yorkshire Pooches Therapies in Castleford, has won the Animal Star Award for the Animal Therapist of the Year category at the Northern Region awards ceremony in Nottingham on November 9.

Yaz, who also won Pet Service Business of the Year at the Pet Industry Federation awards, said: “I have dedicated my life to canine welfare and my work at Yorkshire Pooches Therapies. I'm truly honoured to bring these awards home and advocate for painful dogs.

"Every dog deserves the opportunity to reconnect with themselves and receive pain management treatment, that's why Yorkshire Pooches Therapies exists.

"A huge heartfelt thanks to my wonderful customers, locally and globally who have always been such huge supporters, these awards are dedicated to all our dogs.”

This was the third year Yaz had been nominated for an Animal Star Award, which this year saw over 800 nominations, according to ASA. Her Yorkshire Pooches Therapies clinic, on Leeds Road in Castleford, provides services for dogs including massage, gait analysis and nutritional support.

The canine massage therapist and wellness consultant had previously spoken about her passion for pain management: “I feel like I have found my life's calling: to advocate for them, to help better manage their pain.

“Every dog deserves to live a life pain free – pain is something that we should be looking at.”

Yaz decided to leave her corporate job in 2017 and move into dog walking. From there she trained in canine Merishia massage, biomechanics, reflexology, and neurophysiology, setting up her Castleford clinic to provide therapies for dogs struggling with pain management.

Nominees for the awards went through a judging process by a panel of judges before progressing to the final in their respective categories. ASA was set up in 2016 and aims to give recognition “to animals and humans alike for the extraordinary things that they do for one another.” More information about ASA can be found on its website.