UFAW Young Animal Welfare Scientist of the Year
2017 Award Winner
Dr Pol Llonch
Dr Pol Llonch, a Researcher with the School of Veterinary Science at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain has been awarded the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) Young Animal Welfare Scientist of the Year Award in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the field of animal welfare.
Dr Llonch was nominated for the award by his supervisor, Professor Xavier Manteca, who said: “Pol’s work has not only been innovative but also very practical. He is full of new ideas and has both a wide and deep knowledge of the field of animal welfare as well as a genuine interest to make a real difference to the welfare of animals.”
Dr Llonch has an impressive track record of more than 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals. He began his career working on the welfare of pigs being stunned using gas mixtures and he has since worked on a range of animal welfare topics affecting a variety of species, including the electrical stunning of mammals and fish and indicators of welfare in sheep. He has also shown enthusiasm and skill at teaching animal welfare science, and it is a credit to him that he has excelled at this already.
Amongst the letters of recommendation which accompanied his nomination by Professor Manteca was one from Professor Laura Green of the University of Warwick who said: “Pol is committed to animal welfare and is developing a suite of scientific expertise to address several key aspects of farm animal welfare. I have no doubt he is a future leader in his field.”
Dr Llonch was presented with his award at UFAW’s 2017 International Symposium which was held at Royal Holloway, University of London, from 27th-29th of June.
Dr Robert Hubrecht, UFAW’s Chief Executive who presented the award said: ”Dr Llonch has made an excellent start to his career, working on the welfare of animals at slaughter, an area of animal welfare that often does not attract enough attention.”
