Animal Welfare Conversations

What makes a good life? Part 2 In this episode of the Animal Welfare Conversation, we continue the conversation with Dr Dan O’Neill of the RVC. Dan is well known in the veterinary profession for his work with VetCompass and animal welfare. Dan is a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, and has received many awards in recent years from BSAVA, Kennel Club Charitable Trust, and was awarded the RCVS Impact Award in 2025. In this 2 part podcast episode we examine an animal’s capacity for a good life and the opportunities they get to fulfil that. In this eye-opening episode, Dr. O'Neill challenges traditional veterinary approaches, arguing that good animal welfare extends far beyond the absence of disease. He presents a groundbreaking framework based on two key elements: an animal's capacity for a good life and their opportunity to fulfil that capacity. Through compelling examples, including the concerning rise of brachycephalic breeds in the UK we see how human choices can significantly impact animals' ability to live naturally and happily. BIOGRAPHY Dr Dan O’Neill , Associate Professor Companion Animal Epidemiology, RVCMVB BSc(hons) GPCert(SAP) GPCert(FelP) GPCert(Derm) GPCert(B&PS) PGCertVetEd FHEA MSc(VetEpi) PhD FRCVS Following 22 years in general veterinary practice, Dan moved to academia to gain a PhD and now co-leads the RVC VetCompass™ Programme. With over 170 papers, he also co-authored the books ‘Breed Predispositions to Disease in Dogs and Cats’ and ‘Health and Welfare of Brachycephalic (Flat-faced) Companion Animals’. He is a founding member of the UK Brachycephalic Working Group, the UK Legal Advisory Group on Extreme Conformation in Dogs and the International Collaborative on Extreme Conformation in Dogs. Dan was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2018, the BSAVA Blaine Award for Advancement of Small Animal Science in 2019, the International Canine Health Award from the Kennel Club Charitable Trust in 2021, the UK All Party Parliamentary Group ‘Phillippa Robinson Dog Welfare Award’ in 2024 and the RCVS Impact Award in 2025. Dan is currently developing his Innate Health Concept as an application for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) that aims to shift the UK dog demographic progressively away from extreme conformation over the coming decade.

Welcome back! In this episode we catch up with Dr Toby Trimble, the founder of Trimble Group, a film production company, reinventing education for animal health. Listeners to the podcast will know that education features a lot in conversations about animal welfare, so, in this episode we get the chance to look at this in more detail and discover just why education is so important. You can find out more about Toby's work at Trimble Group or find Toby on LinkedIn Biography Toby is an RCVS Specialist in Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia and the founder of Trimble Group, a film production company reinventing education for animal health, making it less like PowerPoint and more like Netflix. He focuses on making education engaging, visual, and memorable. With his team, Toby has created over one thousand CPD videos and live broadcasts in the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia.

It’s the end of the year, so we took the chance to review the podcast. I still can’t believe that we’ve being doing this for a year now and had the chance to talk to so many people, about the great work they’re doing in relation to animal welfare. It would be great, if you get a chance to go through the back catalogue and listen to some of the older episodes, but we wanted to highlight a few different things. Education – this has been discussed in every single episode – in relation to the veterinary profession, owners, the public, government and just about everyone! Charities are essential for animal welfare – we caught up with Dogs Trust, SSPCA, USPCA and Humanimal Trust and found out more about the scope of work that they undertake People – animal welfare is inextricably linked to the welfare of people. Where there are problems with society, then there are problems with animal welfare. You can find out more about some of our guests at: Dogs Rehoming & Dog Rescue Charity | Dogs Trust Home | Humanimal Trust | One Medicine for Humans and Animals Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals | SSPCA USPCA | Protecting All Animals The Leading UK Dog Magazine - Dogs Today Magazine Saving Wildcats | Scottish wildcat conservation and recovery | Saving Wildcats Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance – Providing information and education to veterinary professionals in the field of osteoarthritis All-party Parliamentary Dog Advisory Welfare Group University of Glasgow - Postgraduate study - Taught degree programmes A‑Z - Advanced Practice in Veterinary Nursing Vet Sustain BVA policy - Animal welfare strategy Books by our guests: One Welfare in Practice: The Role of the Veterinarian - 1st Edition – Dr Matt Morgan Through A Vet’s Eyes by Dr Sean Wensley | The home of non-fiction publishing Thank you to everyone for taking part in the podcast, and for listening - and we're looking forward to more conversations in 2025.

In this episode we were lucky enough to catch up, earlier this year, with Mike Flynn MBE, Chief Superintendent of the Scottish SPCA, and we caught up just before he retired, to find out more about his 37-year career protecting animals both across Scotland and further afield. We consider the achievements of this career and challenges of working in animal welfare, including organising the largest dog-fighting capture in Europe, in 1991, that resulted in 31 arrests and convictions. We highlight the work of the Scottish SPCA, and how they work within current legislation. We look at the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act of 2006, which granted Scottish SPCA inspectors statutory powers, and we also look at more recent achievements in relation to animal welfare, including a ban on snaring, which has been effective in Scotland from November 2024. Mike advocates for better enforcement of animal welfare laws, including a national register for animal abusers and stronger penalties. And on a lighter note, we also share memorable cases, such as transporting a crocodile to Spain and rescuing an ostrich in Leith Walk, Edinburgh. On thing that we hope everyone takes away from this conversation is the urgent need for Government to update the Veterinary Surgeons Act of 1966 - a lot has changed over the last 58 years and this really is something that needs to be considered. We hope you will join the animal welfare conversation. Links for further information: Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals | SSPCA SSPCA 2024 Winter Appeal TV advert Home - Safeguarding People And Animals - The Links Group Animal Welfare Act 2006 Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act 2006 Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966 Biography: Mike Flynn MBE Mike recently retired as Chief Superintendent of the Scottish SPCA, having started working for them in 1987. Mike set up the Scottish SPCA undercover unit, tackling areas of cruelty including organised dog fighting, badger baiting and puppy farming, and also wrote the first Inspectors’ Instruction manual approved by the Crown Office. Within the Scottish SPCA Mike was responsible for all uniformed staff of the society; all Parliamentary issues relating to animal welfare for both devolved and reserved issues; and dealing with all animal welfare related Government consultations, including the provision of oral evidence to both Scottish and Westminster Committees. He has assisted in the implementation of animal welfare legislation around the world including Jersey, North and Southern Ireland, Canada and Catalonia. Mike is a founder member of the original Links Group (exploring the link between animal and human abuse), is an independent external animal welfare advisor and was awarded an MBE in the Queens 80th birthday honours list for services to animal welfare in Scotland. He is an Honorary associate of the BVA (British Veterinary Association) and RCVS (Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons) and advises Scottish Government through membership of the Scottish Government’s Animal Welfare Commission.

In this episode we catch up with Dr Paula Boyden, Veterinary Director at Dogs Trust, to find out more about their work. Dogs Trust is the largest dog welfare organisation in the UK, rehoming 14,000 dogs a year and many of you will be familiar with their work. Alongside their rehoming work, they work across public affairs, outreach, and dog behaviour. A current focus for them is the push for stronger legislation to address puppy smuggling, a topic which we find out more about, as well as discussing the current challenges of dangerous dogs legislation. But their work doesn’t just focus on dogs – a large part of their work is about people. And so we decided to split this interview into 2 parts, with part 1 focussing on Dogs Trust, and part of 2 focussing on their work around domestic abuse, through key projects like Freedom for domestic abuse survivors, and Paula’s work with The Links Group. 25th November to 10th December marks 16 days of activism against gender based violence; and it will be no surprise there is a spike in domestic abuse incidents around Christmas. The work of the Freedom project and The Links Group is important all year, but particularly around Christmas, and so we wanted to highlight this. So, there will be another special episode of the podcast released on Monday. Further information Dogs Rehoming & Dog Rescue Charity | Dogs Trust The Links Group Freedom (fostering for dogs belonging to people fleeing domestic abuse) Puppy Smuggling – Westminster - recent news Biography Paula Boyden graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London in 1992. She spent 11 years in general practice, before moving into a technical role in industry in 2003. Paula joined Dogs Trust in 2010, where she is now Veterinary Director. Her responsibilities include oversight of Dogs Trust’s veterinary matters, outreach and public affairs work. Paula has a particular interest in the link between abuse of animals and abuse of people and is current Chair of the Links Group. She also chairs the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG), is vice chair of the Canine and Feline Sector Group, sits on the RSPCA’s Prosecutions Oversight Panel and is a member of the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission. Paula is a founder member of the Association of Charity Vets. In 2017, Paula received BSAVA’s J A Wight Memorial Award for her contribution to the welfare of companion animals, and in 2023 the WSAVA’s Global One Health Award.

In this episode we focus on the work of the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, otherwise known as the USPCA. Established in 1836, the USPCA is the second oldest animal welfare charity in the world, and we were delighted to have the chance to talk to Nora Smith, Chief Executive. The USPCA work across many different areas of animal welfare including rehoming, working with wildlife, providing veterinary care, animal cruelty investigations, community support and campaigning, particularly around the illegal puppy trade and badger baiting, amongst other things. There are lots of challenges in animal welfare, but you'll hear many examples of how the USPCA is influencing, supporting, campaigning and improving the lives of animals and people across Northern Ireland. Find out more about the work of the USPCA here Speaker Biography Nora Smith, is the Chief Executive of the USPCA, she has been in post since January 2023. As CEO her role is to lead the staff team to grow and extend the charity’s services across Northern Ireland. Prior to working with the USPCA, Nora was the Chief Executive of a membership-based charity providing leadership support for Charity Chief Executives, a post she held for eight years. She has experience of working across the public, private and third sectors, leading change and growth strategies. Advocacy and campaigning have been a central function of her experience. Nora lives with her partner Michael, alongside their eight-year old cat called Eamonn and Cooper a three-year energetic Labrador.

Welcome to the latest collection of conversations, focussing on the world of animal welfare. We’re going to start this season by considering pain, analgesia and arthritis, with Professor Stuart Carmichael. Did you know that 40% of all dogs, across all ages, have pathological osteoarthritis? And that the condition can be detected in dogs as young as 6 months of age. Or that 80% of cats over 10 years old with have arthritis? In this episode we consider osteoarthritis, consider how this can affect young and older animals, and the challenges associated with recognising chronic pain. We look at the long term management, rather than acute relief of chronic pain, including monoclonal antibodies, regenerative techniques using stem cells and owner education. One of the main themes from this conversation is the team approach to this condition and we look at how the traditional 10-15 minute veterinary consultation needs to change to provide animals and their owners with a more rounded approach to pain management. We discuss the Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance initiatives including the Blue Paw Award and practice accreditation scheme. We also discover some of the surprising similarities between the management of osteoarthritis and dermatology cases! Prof Carmichael has a wide experience as a specialist clinician in orthopaedics and in veterinary business management. He is Diplomate, a past Specialist and current Fellow of the RCVS. He has been Director of both Queen Mother Hospital and Small Animal Hospital at Glasgow and Professor of Clinical Studies and Associate Dean for Clinical Services at Glasgow University. He has also been National Referrals Director at Vets Now Ltd, a Director at Fitzpatrick Referrals Ltd. and visiting Professor at University of Surrey. Charity roles have included acting as Board member and Chair of International Cat Care and as a trustee and Board member of Blue Cross. He is currently running a veterinary consultancy business, Joint Adventures Ltd., is a Co-Founder and Board member of the Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance and is also Director and Co-founder of Aim-OA Ltd., providing a web-based Disease Management System for chronic osteoarthritis in dogs. Further information: Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance – Providing information and education to veterinary professionals in the field of osteoarthritis Blue Paw – Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance Practice Accreditation Scheme – Veterinary Osteoarthritis Alliance Treated Like Animals - Simmons - 9781784273415 – Pelagic Publishing Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are?