Crowning NZ’s best dogs, cats and vets. Judging in progress!
Pawsies nominations have now closed – here’s what happens next
Welcome to the inaugural year of the Southern Cross Pet Insurance Pawsies Awards, our celebration of the joy our cats and dogs bring to our lives, and of the mahi that Aotearoa’s vet clinics do to keep our pets healthy.
Competition for the Cat of the Year, Dog of the Year and Vet Clinic Team of the Year has been fierce, with over 2,500 nominations across all three categories over the past 4 weeks.
Our judges now have the mighty task of considering all the nominations and delivering their verdict – they’ll pick 5 of the most pawsome pooches and 5 of the most fabulous felines for our public voting from 14 May. They’ll also decide the Vet Clinic Team of the Year from over 1,000 nominations we’ve received.
Don't forget to come back and vote for your favourite pets between 14 May and 28 May 2025.
Sign up for a reminder here.
Meet our judges
Mark Vette
Animal Psychologist and Brand Partner
Renowned animal behaviourist and trainer Mark Vette has spent over 40 years helping pets and their owners build unbreakable bonds. Since founding Dog Zen, he’s trained thousands of dogs and even made headlines with world-first animal feats. As a brand partner of Southern Cross Pet Insurance, Mark provides a wealth of knowledge to both cat and dog pet parents, and is excited to be a Pawsies judge.
Lana Cochrane-Searle
More FM radio host
Lana is the wife of Katie and ‘cool step mum' to young school kid, Jay. Originally from Dargaville, she's a down-to-earth Kiwi chick who'll always be wearing shorts no matter the weather! Lana is an animal fanatic who offers to walk everyone’s dogs and has two cats of her own (‘Muffy’ and ‘Teaspoon’ respectively). Lana says being a judge in the Pawsies awards for 2025 will definitely be a career highlight.
Grant Sanders
Head of Claims, Southern Cross Pet Insurance
Grant Sanders has been part of the Southern Cross Pet Insurance story for 25 years, so he's uniquely qualified to be a Pawsies judge - he's seen a lot of pets in his time! As his profile pic suggests, he tends towards Team Cat, but Grant's never one to play favourites and he's a huge fan of dogs too. We're thrilled to have Grant representing our team of pet lovers here at Southern Cross Pet Insurance.
Our Pawsies Categories
Judging in progress for
Cat of the Year
Judging in progress for
Dog of the Year
Judging in progress for
Vet Clinic Team of the Year
Don’t forget to come back and vote for Cat of the Year and Dog of the Year between 14 May and 28 May 2025.
Sign up for a reminder See terms and conditions here.Cat and Dog of the Year win top prizes
The winners in each pet category win:
- A starring role in their very own billboard
- A pet store voucher worth $500
- A stunning Pawsies trophy
- A Pawsies collar tag for bragging rights out and about
- A Pickles Pawtrait to capture their star quality (worth $110)
- Training with Mark Vette (worth $750)
Vet Clinic Team of the Year win prizes too
The winning vet clinic team win:
- A stunning Pawsies trophy
- Pawsies pins for the whole team
- And $1000 shopping spree for their staff kitchen!
How it works
Follow us on social for Pawsies highlights and updates
