This session explores the complex realities behind wildlife rehabilitation, which is often perceived as an inherently compassionate act. In practice, welfare outcomes for individual animals, populations, and ecosystems are far from straightforward. Many centres operate with limited regulation, raising concerns about standards of care, drug use, and decision-making, while survival rates remain low and post-release outcomes poorly understood.
Experts will examine how species biases influence treatment decisions, why some animals struggle in captivity, and the wider ethical and conservation questions rehabilitation raises — from the stress of confinement to the ecological impact of interventions.
Discover how closer collaboration between veterinary professionals and rehabilitation centres could improve welfare outcomes, and why greater scrutiny of current practices is needed.
What to expect:
Chair: Justine Shotton (AWF Trustee, RSPCA Head Vet -Wildlife and Exotics)
Speaker: Liz Mullineux (AWF Trustee, BVA Senior President, wildlife specialist)
Speaker: Liam Reid (Senior wildlife vet at the Scottish SPCA)
Speaker: Paul Reynolds (Co-Manager New Arch Wildlife Rescue (Bsc (Hons), Msc)
Rewilding projects are often framed as ecological success stories, yet the welfare of the animals involved is frequently overlooked. Animals may be treated as tools for habitat management or ecosystem restoration, with relocation, abandonment, or release into unfamiliar environments potentially causing significant suffering. High-profile cases such as Oostvaardersplassen, where a large numbers of animals died, highlighting the risks of assuming welfare is automatically improved outside of farming systems.
Experts will examine how rewilding practices impact the welfare of grazing animals livestock and farmed animals, challenging the assumption that “wild” conditions are inherently better. Through real-world case studies, this session will explore where welfare has been compromised in the pursuit of ecological goals and the complexities of balancing animal welfare with sustainability and conservation priorities.
Discover why rewilding demands a more critical, welfare-focused approach — and how alternative strategies could better protect the animals it depends on.
What to expect:
Chair: Gwen Rees (AWF Trustee, BVA Junior Vice President)
Speaker: Ed Van Klink (Retired specialist in veterinary public health, with a career in animal health and welfare policy making, teaching and research at university and consultancy work)
Speaker: Sara King (Rewilding Manager, Rewilding Britain)
Speaker: Alex Tomlinson (Wildlife health and veterinary consultant)
Responsible pet ownership” is widely used but poorly defined. While it can unite owners and veterinary professionals around good welfare practices, it can also become a vague or judgmental label. Without clarity, it risks reinforcing biases about who is considered “fit” to own a pet often shaped by appearance, income, or lifestyle rather than focusing on behaviour and actual welfare outcomes.
Experts will critically examine theWhat does “responsible” really mean and who decides? This session digs into bias, access, and equity in the way we talk about pet care and ownership
“Responsible pet ownership” is widely used but poorly defined. While it can unite owners and veterinary professionals around good welfare practices, it can also become a vague or judgmental label. Without clarity, it risks reinforcing biases about who is considered “fit” to own a pet often shaped by appearance, income, or lifestyle rather than focusing on behaviour and actual welfare outcomes.
Experts will critically examine the meaning, usefulness, and limitations of this term, exploring how bias and judgement can influence both animal welfare and client relationships. The session will also address issues of equity and inclusion, challenging assumptions and considering whether more constructive, inclusive language is needed.
Join us to help discuss whether reframing this concept could lead to more effective, compassionate, and equitable approaches to animal care. And if so how we might go about it.
What to expect:
Chair: Caroline Allen (AWF Trustee and Director at Pet Lighthouse)
Speaker: Carri Westgarth (Chair in Human-Animal Interaction)
Speaker: Jenny Stavisky (Clinical Research Manager, Vet Partners)
Speaker: Nikki McLeod (Registered veterinary nurse and behaviourist)
Animals such as dogs, pigs, rats, horses, and parrots all demonstrate complex cognition, emotion, and social behaviour yet the ways in which society manages and cares for them vary widely. Practices considered unacceptable for one species may be routine for another, from confinement and physical modification to euthanasia, slaughter, or culling.
This session will explore how speciesism, anthropomorphism, and selective empathy shape these inconsistencies in welfare standards, law, and veterinary practice. Experts will examine how critical anthropomorphism using human analogy grounded in science can help us better understand animal experience without misinterpretation, and how both empathy and evidence can be used to create more consistent, ethical approaches.
Discover how challenging our assumptions and reframing our thinking could lead to fairer welfare outcomes across all species.
What to expect:
Chair: Charlotte Burn (Associate Professor (Reader) in Animal Welfare and Behaviour Science, The Royal Veterinary College)
Speaker: Mike Radford (OBE, Reader in Animal Welfare Law at the University of Aberdeen)
Speaker: Karen Hiestand (Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics & Law, Chair of AWSELFA)
