Pioneering veterinary surgeon with international reputation

Maurice Azzie

Robinstown

Maurice Anthony Joseph Azzie, De Verdon Place, Robinstown, who died on 22nd December last, was a pioneering veterinary surgeon who worked in his native South Africa, the UK, and Ireland, and Mauritius, as well as in Greece and Zimbabwe. Aged 87, he died at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.

A native of Johannesburg, Maurice qualified with a BVSc in December 1958 from the University of Pretoria (Onderstepoort) and after working for others in South Africa and in Ireland, gaining post-graduate experience, he set up his own private practice in Johannesburg in 1960, treating small animals and thoroughbred racehorses.

He married Bernadette Cole of Ardee, Co Louth, in December 1961, and they returned to South Africa, where they had six children.

In February 1966, he obtained his private pilot’s licence and flew a single-engine Mooney aircraft in support of his veterinary practice on remote stud farms.

Maurice founded the Equine Practitioners Group of the South African Veterinary Association in 1968. He also founded the Hawaii Foundation Equine Research Trust Fund in 1969, which funds all of the highly successful post graduate equine study courses held in South Africa.

In 1969, he co-founded the WARC School of Farriery in South Africa and went on to dedicate 31 years of service to training farriers. He promoted and convened the first International Equine Veterinary Conference in the Kruger National Park in August 1974. In 1974 he also completed a doctoral dissertation on 'Aortic Illiac Thrombosis in the Horse', for which he was awarded the Dr Med Vet qualification at the University of Zurich in Switzerland.

At its prime in the 1980s, his practice comprised six veterinary clinics and employed 42 members of staff. Many Irish veterinarians came to see practice with him. He also pioneered arthroscopic surgery in the knees of racehorses in South Africa during the 1980s in this practice.

He was licensed by the Horse Racing Authority of South Africa and did official racetrack veterinary service on most of the Witwatersrand racetracks from 1972 to 1985. He was also appointed to lead the informal quarantine control of the 1986 equine influenza epidemic in South Africa.

From 1990 to 1998, he was appointed by the Government Administrator of the Transvaal to supervise the Equine Research Grant from the Highveld Racing Authority in 1990.

Maurice was also appointed chief veterinarian of the Mauritius Turf Club from 1998 to 2001 where he acted as an advisor and member of the Board of Racing and Stipendiary Stewards. Maurice’s veterinary service was not limited to South Africa and Mauritius he also rendered professional services in Greece and Zimbabwe, as well as giving lectures around the world and attending conferences.

He maintained veterinary registrations in South Africa, the UK, and Ireland from 1958 to his death, and Mauritius from 1998 to 2002.

In December 2006, Maurice retired from private practice in South Africa and relocated to Ireland where he continued to do locums, before retiring completely in September 2016.

Due to his commitment and dedication, Maurice received numerous veterinary and other awards over his lifetime. These included a Meritorious Silver Medal from the Irish Veterinary Council for 50 years of service to the veterinary profession in February 2011.

Outside of his veterinary profession, he gave 23 years of community service to the Alberton Rotary Club where he was instrumental in setting up a Bursary Fund for Tertiary Education in 1984. He also sat on the board of management for the Grantley College in Parktown, Johannesburg during which time he acquired an invaluable premises for the school which taught children with learning disabilities.

He was particularly interested in wildlife and enjoyed many visits to the Kruger National Park and other wildlife reserves in Southern Africa. He also undertook many DIY projects and took great satisfaction from making and repairing things.

He was predeceased by son, Brendan, who died aged 19 in a car accident in March 1988, in South Africa. Maurice is survived by his wife, Bernadette; family, Kevin, Johannesburg, Maurice, Cape Town, David, Robinstown, Bernadette, Naas, Co Kildare; and Christopher, Navan; grandchildren; sisters; in-laws; nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

A funeral took place from the Church of the Assumption, Robinbstown, to Kilbroney Cemetery, Rostrevor, Co Down.