As we come to the end of the decade, we also come to the end of an era as UFAW says farewell to its Chief Executive and Scientific Director, Dr Robert Hubrecht OBE. Robert will be retiring at the end of this month, having brought immense scientific expertise to the role and leading the charity with a calm, rational approach over the past five years.
Robert first came to UFAW’s attention in 1989 when he began a three-year project on the behavioural responses of domestic dogs kept in confined conditions in long-stay kennels. Before becoming Chief Executive in 2014, he was UFAW’s deputy director for 18 years where he made many major contributions to animal welfare science including his research on dog welfare and his book on the Welfare of Animals used in Research published as part of the UFAW/Wiley-Blackwell Animal Welfare series.
Under Robert’s stewardship, UFAW has continued to make meaningful advances in the welfare of animals, extending its global outreach work through its LINK scheme and its acclaimed programme of meetings and symposia and developing a valuable resource on genetic conditions affecting the welfare of companion animals. Through Robert’s guidance, UFAW’s work to find new and better ways of assessing welfare has grown, with major strides forward in our understanding of what really matters to animals - a truly exceptional legacy which the charity will continue.
We would like to thank Robert for his outstanding contribution to animal welfare and his dedication to UFAW. We will miss him and wish him the very best in his retirement.
