Director focuses on animal welfare as strategic priority
Newly appointed Centre lead aims to establish animal welfare as core tenet throughout School.
Dr Rebecca Doyle, newly appointed Director of the Animal Welfare Centre within the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, aims to work with colleagues across the School to further embed animal welfare teaching and practice.
The new Director, who joined the University of Edinburgh in 2021, held the post of Deputy Director of the Animal Welfare Centre until recently being named Interim Director, before being appointed to her current post.
Dr Doyle holds a joint appointment at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), where she integrates animal welfare into programmes aimed to improve the livelihoods of farming families.
She is also a member of the Global Agenda for Sustainable Livestock (GASL), where she coordinates the Animal Welfare Action Network..
Dr Doyle brings broad experience to her role in animal welfare. Photo: University of Edinburgh
On taking up her post, Dr Doyle said she welcomed the opportunity to develop animal welfare as a cluster of the Dick Vet strategy, by bringing together people with relevant expertise from across the School, working with companion, wildlife and livestock animals.
She hopes to harness the recognition of the importance of animal welfare among students, staff and partners, to bring together technical knowledge, research experience, and teaching capability to embed animal welfare into the work of the School at all levels.
Dr Doyle also aims to position animal welfare as a key element of efforts to address global challenges such as sustainability in animal systems, and in One Health – the collective health of animals, people and the environment, which is a key focus in the veterinary welfare sector.
“The challenges for animal welfare are vast and systemic, but progress has been made. Animal welfare is recognised as an area of action more than ever before. The School, and the Animal Welfare Centre, are in a strong position to contribute to this.
We train graduates as experts in our specialised animal welfare programmes, and we also make sure that animal welfare forms a part of all our graduates’ experiences.
The Dick Vet can show all our students that they can take action to improve the lives of animals, from the welfare of an individual animal receiving veterinary care, through to advocating for better lives for animals in global policy. ”
For further information, please contact:
The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies,
The University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush Campus, Midlothian EH25 9RG
Deputy Head of School - Operations:
Cat Eastwood