Chris Laurence qualified as a veterinary surgeon from Bristol University in 1968 and went into mixed practice in Somerset. A year later he moved to Chippenham in Wiltshire to take up purely small animal practice at the Hale Veterinary Group until 1998. Chris was subsequently Chief Veterinary Officer at the RSPCA and Veterinary Director of Dogs Trust. He retired in August 2011. He was awarded the MBE for services to animal welfare in 2007 and granted Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2017.
 
Chris is currently Chairman of the Canine and Feline Sector Group of the England Health and Welfare Board and Treasurer of the Central Veterinary Society. He is also involved in a number of charities. He is Chairman of the Animal Welfare Foundation and the British Veterinary Behaviour Association. He is also a Trustee of the Pet Blood Bank, the Bella Moss Foundation and North Wiltshire Branch of the RSPCA and Treasurer of the Animal Behaviour and Training Council. Outside the profession, he is Chairman of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Trust and the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars Association, a Director of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust Ltd and Treasurer of Tytherton Village Hall.
 
Chris had a lengthy career in the Royal Signals, Territorial Army, retiring with the rank of Colonel in 2002. He was awarded the Queen’s Volunteer Reserves Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2002. Chris has been married to Sheila since 1969 and has two children and four grandchildren. Sadly he currently has no pets.

Elle qualified as a veterinary nurse in 2017, following this she went on to complete her Graduate Diploma in Applied Animal Behaviour. From there she set up her own behaviour business called 'The Behaviour Nurse' and exclusively saw cats for behavioural consultations. Elle now works as the Regional Behaviour Officer for London and South East at Cats Protection, where she is involved in working with cats both in care and post adoption, developing behaviour learning materials and generally promoting cat behaviour and welfare at every opportunity. Alongside this, she is undertaking her Master of Science in Human Animal Interaction and Wellbeing and has a particular interest in the cat-human bond.  

Wendy has been a Veterinary Nurse since 1989. She was Head Nurse and Clinical coach of a small animal dermatology practice from 1989 to 2018 where due to a background in Competitive Obedience with her own dogs and a special interest in behaviour she began to see training and behaviour cases for the practice.

Since 2015 she has been working for Donaldsons Vets in West Yorkshire, a multi branch mixed practice, nursing, helping to train the student nurses and running a Behaviour and Training referral service. She is a full member of the Canine and Feline Behaviour Association and the Association of Pet Dog Trainers, having been awarded their Advanced Dog training Instructors certificate in 2018.

She is passionate about preventing behavioural problems in dogs and cats by educating clients and those working in veterinary practice.

Kevin qualified as a vet from Glasgow University in 2005 and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling from Southampton University in 2011. Following 6 years completing a PhD and residency in behavioural medicine at University of Lincoln, Kevin joined the R(D)SVS in 2021 where he is Lecturer in Clinical Animal Behaviour and head of the canine and feline behaviour referral clinic.

Caroline graduated as a Veterinary Surgeon at The Royal (Dick) Veterinary School in 1981 and after working for several years in mixed practice, joined the Veterinary Hospital Group in 1992, where she worked until retiring in July 2019. 

Clinically she treated a broad spectrum of small animal medical and surgical cases, but in addition treated small animal behaviour cases which were referred from within the practice  but also from other veterinary practices in Devon and Cornwall.  Caroline holds a postgraduate diploma in companion animal behaviour. She believes strongly that the veterinary team has an important part to play in prevention of behaviour problems, as well as identifying those problems which do arise and then ensuring that they receive the diagnosis and treatment they deserve. 

Hannah graduated with a 2.1 Bachelor of Science Honours degree (BSc (Hons)) in Animal Science from the University of Leeds, UK, in 2006. She then went on to study for her veterinary degree, Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery (BVM&S) at the University of Edinburgh, UK, and qualified as a vet in 2011. During her time at the University of Edinburgh, Hannah also obtained a Masters of Veterinary Science in Canine Behaviour Research (MVetSci). She then worked as a mixed vet in Lincolnshire and during this time, completed a Master of Science in Clinical Animal Behaviour (MSc) at the University of Lincoln, UK, she graduated with distinction in 2013.

Since then, Hannah has worked in small animal practices in Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire, she has also travelled and volunteered around the world in clinics and shelters, and spent some time working in a large RSPCA hospital and shelter in Sydney, Australia. Hannah has worked as a veterinary surgeon since 2011 and has been seeing behaviour referrals simultaneously since 2013. Hannah has enjoyed providing continued education for vets and vet staff around the world about animal behaviour and how to improve handling and understanding during veterinary visits, rehabilitation of rescued animals or teaching young animals and preventing behaviour issues. Hannah’s aim has always been to improve animals’ quality of life and welfare by continually learning herself and teaching veterinary and shelter staff.

Hannah is an ASAB (the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour) accredited Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB), an ABTC (Animal Behaviour and Training Council) registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist and registered Veterinary Behaviourist, a Full Member of the APBC (Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors), a Committee Member of the FABC (Fellowship of Animal Behaviour Clinicians) and a Committee Member of the BVBA (British Veterinary Behaviour Association).

Des Thompson is a third generation retired veterinary surgeon and was in practice in Earlswood Veterinary Hospital Belfast from 1961 until 2010.

His primary interests in practice were in orthopaedics and spinal surgery.  He was a founder member of CABTSG before it changed its name to BVBA.  He is married to Rosalie and has 4 daughters and 8 grandchildren.

He has been involved with veterinary professional affairs most of his career and is a Past President of  RCVS, BSAVA, SPVS, NIVA and BVBA. He was awarded the OBE for services to the veterinary profession in 1991 and was the first winner of the RCVS Queen’s medal in 2014.

Des believes very strongly that the major strength of BVBA is the inclusivity of its multi disciplinary membership and is open to all those with an interest in companion animal behaviour. 

Rachel is the Scientific Officer for the PDSA and is also PhD student at the University of Surrey vet school developing the Animal Welfare Assessment Grid for companion dogs. She has both undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law. She is a clinical animal behaviourist and certificated member of the FABC. Research interests are canine behaviour and welfare, welfare assessment, laboratory animal welfare, and improving mental health in the veterinary profession.

Mandy is an associate professor at the University of Nottingham Vet School teaching anatomy and behaviour.  As a member of the School’s foundation team involved in the design of the Nottingham course, she has championed the inclusion of behaviour teaching throughout the curriculum.  Mandy completed an MSc in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling at the University of Southampton in 2011.  Her interests include an evidence based approach to developing the learning environment.

Nicky is a full member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC) and an Animal Behaviour & Training Council (ABTC) Registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist.

Nicky works in the Cats Protection’s Veterinary Department as Behaviour Manager, implementing the charity’s strategy to promote feline behaviour and welfare. Nicky is a registered veterinary nurse. She holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Animal Behaviour from Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge. She undertook a Postgraduate Diploma in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling from the University of Southampton. Nicky represents Cats Protection on the Animal Behaviour and Training Council. 

Lynn is a Practicing Clinical Animal Behaviourist registered with the ABTC. She runs a private behaviour consultancy business which supports clients in and around Lincolnshire who have pets with problematic behaviours. In addition, she is a partner in a business which offers mentoring and support to those working within the field of Clinical Animal Behaviour. She has been on the committee for a number of years and really enjoys being a part of the team. 

For the 10 years prior to running her own business Lynn worked in an academic setting where she taught companion animal behaviour at both undergraduate and postgraduate level whilst also consulting in a Behaviour referral practice. Here she worked primarily with owners and their dogs who presented with unwanted behaviours. However, she also mentored and supported students and interns who spent time in the clinic. In addition to a wealth of extensive practical experience working closely with clients to help change behaviours, teaching classes and working in a variety of settings, with both private clients, rescues and other professionals Lynn also has a BSc in Animal Behaviour Science and an MSc in Clinical Animal Behaviour.

Benjamin graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in 2019. He has since been working in small animal general practice and is currently undertaking a rotating internship. Benjamin’s love of animal behaviour was especially inspired by his dogs, who showed how great an impact positive training and understanding of behaviour can have. Meanwhile, he was seeing the positive impact a veterinarian knowledgeable in behaviour could have on patients and clients. Benjamin pursued further education on behaviour and training in addition to his veterinary studies. He is especially interested in preventive behavioural medicine and behaviour medicine applied in general practice.

Sue qualified as a Veterinary Nurse in 1988 and has worked in several small animal practices in West Yorkshire. She also worked for a small animal practice and dog breeder in Queensland, Australia for 6 years. Whilst working in Australia she gained a Certificate IV in Companion Animal Services (Training and Behaviour) and started her own dog training business alongside her Veterinary Nursing role.

On returning to England Sue continued to work as a Registered Veterinary Nurse and dog trainer before moving to Dogs Trust Dog School and now is a Registered Veterinary Nurse for Dogs Trust as well as running her own dog training business.

Sue is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers UK (#01196), a professional member of the Pet Professional Guild GB and is registered as an Animal Training Instructor with the ABTC. She is also studying towards a Level 5 diploma in Applied Animal Behaviour.

Amy graduated from the University of Edinburgh Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies (R(D)SVS) in 2006 and worked in mixed and small animal practice while undertaking an ESVPS certificate in Clinical Animal Behaviour. After completing her PhD in 2015 she helped to create the online MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour at the R(D)SVS and became the Programme Director in 2017. She is currently undertaking a part time residency with the European College of Veterinary Behavioural Medicine alongside her teaching role and is passionate about promoting behavioural awareness among the veterinary profession