Rebecca Swan (Chair)

Rebecca is a first-opinion companion animal veterinarian with a passion for ethical practice and animal welfare. She holds a Master's in Medical Ethics and Law from King's College London, where her thesis explored conflicts within the veterinary tripartite relationship, examining the veterinary industry's historical and current landscape alongside legal frameworks, moral theories, and veterinary ethics.

Currently pursuing a PhD in Veterinary Ethics at Brighton University, Rebecca is an active member of the Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics (CAPPE). She has taught veterinary students, designing and delivering comprehensive training sessions on contextualised care and veterinary ethics to support their professional development.

Driven by a commitment to making veterinary ethics accessible and practical, Rebecca works to empower veterinarians while advancing animal welfare and supporting all those involved in animal care.

Hazel Bentall

Hazel has had a long career in companion animal primary care, including racing greyhounds. She was veterinary adviser to the regulator of licensed greyhound racing for 10 years, in the last two as chair of the NGRC Board (- 2010). She was responsible for commissioning research on drug testing, track surfaces and education initiatives on hot weather, nutrition, injury detection and welfare for trainers and vets, and chaired the Veterinary and Welfare committee. She also took part in the development of secondary regulations for greyhounds under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, and of a publicly agreed standard for trainers' kennels. She is currently a member of Policy Committee’s Animals In Performance Sport Working Group. Hazel is currently working towards an MA in Biomedical and Healthcare Ethics.

Katie Byam-Cook

Katie is a veterinary surgeon with more than 20 years’ experience in clinical practice, research, welfare governance and ethical review. She is a Veterinary Officer at the British Horseracing Authority and chairs the Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body for the BHA Centre for Racehorse Studies. Her work spans welfare surveillance, injury prevention, mortality review, post-mortem investigation and evidence-based policy development. Katie has advanced equine clinical training, a Certificate in Equine Orthopaedics and peer-reviewed research experience. She has particular interests in equine mental welfare, ethical oversight, objective gait analysis and the development of non-animal research methodologies.

Ruth Clements

Ruth has a particular interest in food production and land system regeneration, with a strong focus on farmed animal health, welfare and ecosystem restoration. She has held roles heading up animal ethics, sustainability, vaccine development and medicine safety departments which has given her extensive scientific and data skills along with experience with a range of species from sheep, cattle and pigs to Atlantic salmon. Ruth also has extensive practical experience of on-farm research and development aiming to develop programmes which are balanced in their ethical, welfare and environmental outcomes. She is Chair of the food and farming working group for Vet Sustain aiming to inspire and enable veterinary professionals at this time of pressing socio-political and environmental challenge.

Samantha Gaines (non-vet)

Sam has over 20 years’ experience in the animal welfare field and holds an MSc from the University of Edinburgh in applied animal behaviour and welfare as well as a PhD from the University of Bristol in dog behaviour and welfare. She currently leads a team of science and policy specialists at the RSPCA who use science and other robust evidence to advocate for good lives for companion, working and sporting animals through corporate and Government policy change and human behaviour change.

Colin Gilbert

Colin has devoted his career to promoting the interests of animals in the complex ethical context of their use in bioscientific research, and to increasing understanding of what good welfare means. Having published a number of papers on aspects of animal behaviour and welfare, Colin also co-authored a book chapter entitled "Veterinary ethics and the use of animals in research: are they compatible?" Having spent 30 years as a Named Veterinary Surgeon Colin also served a term as President of the Laboratory Animals Veterinary Association (LAVA).

Sophie Hill

Sophie is a Global Animal Welfare Advisor at Brooke where she leads Brooke’s Compassionate Handling for Life global programme, supporting teams across multiple countries to embed ethical, human-animal welfare practices. She also co-developed Brooke’s new animal welfare assessment tool, as well as being a member of Brooke’s Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body. Having also worked at Cambridge vet school where she jointly founded and co-led an Animals & Ethics elective, Sophie brings a unique combination of practical, academic, and international experience to the BVA Ethics and Welfare Advisory Panel.

Safiyyah Kader

Safiyyah is a recent graduate vet. Her first undergraduate degree was at the RVC in Biological Sciences with Animal Behaviour, Welfare and Ethics, and she continued as a Research Technician with the Animal Welfare Science and Ethics department for a year after. She ran research projects producing high-quality research, to influence policy on humane methods of slaughter for poultry and continues to remain aware of the political and cultural impacts of her work in her role as a vet. During her time as a student at the University of Bristol, she actively contributed to fostering an inclusive and equitable environment where students from diverse backgrounds could feel safe and respected.

Fritha Langford (non-vet)

Fritha started her career as a research scientist, concentrating on the welfare of farmed ruminants. In 2011 she turned her attention to education and has been running the world’s largest online MSc covering welfare sciences, ethics and law in all animal spheres. In 2016 she decided to study for a PG qualification in Human Behaviour Change, and currently supervises multiple MSc projects and four PhD students in the human behaviour and animal welfare education research area.

Denise Laughlin

Denise is a Registered Veterinary Nurse with 25 years of experience across charity practice, private veterinary partnerships, zoo and wildlife work, academia, and clinical governance. Having worked in the UK and internationally, Denise holds an MSc in International Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law and currently works in charity senior leadership, using evidence and data-driven methods to direct the operational and strategic delivery of animal welfare programs both onsite and through community outreach.
She brings extensive expertise in policy development, ethical decision-making, strategic leadership, and committee work, including service on animal and human ethics panels.

Rebecca Lee

Rebecca holds a Post Graduate Certificate in International Animal Welfare, Ethics and Law, which has equipped her with the skills to carry out evidence-based animal welfare assessments using validated tools across a range of species. Having passed her Expert Witness Certificate (Criminal Law) with Cardiff University, Rebecca writes court compliant reports on cases where there has been suspected animal cruelty or neglect. With a demonstrable commitment to improving animal welfare and advocating for animals in need through her RSPCA case work, Rebecca has the professional attributes and experience to make a valuable contribution to the work of the Panel.