We would like to wish all our friends, colleagues and supporters a very Happy New Year and every best wish for 2021. For all of us 2020 has been a very difficult and trying year, so we are delighted to be able to kick 2021 off with some fantastic news: Heather Bacon, who has been with JMICAWE from the very beginning in 2011, has been given an OBE (Officer of the order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s New Year Honours list, in recognition of her work in veterinary education, animal welfare and charity work in the UK and abroad.
This is one of the highest honours that can be bestowed on a UK citizen, and is a wonderful and very well deserved recognition of the enormous amount of work that Heather has done, and continues to do, in the service of animal welfare. There is not space here enough to do justice to everything that Heather has achieved, but this includes her work for the vet school in organising and delivering teaching to undergraduate veterinary students and postgraduate Masters
students in animal welfare in veterinary contexts, dog and cat behaviour and welfare, veterinary ethics and captive wild animal welfare. She has organised and delivered workshops and training in animal welfare, veterinary practice and ethics across Asia, including in China, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and elsewhere, and plays a pivotal role in the development of online training materials for veterinary education in animal welfare and dog population management.
students in animal welfare in veterinary contexts, dog and cat behaviour and welfare, veterinary ethics and captive wild animal welfare. She has organised and delivered workshops and training in animal welfare, veterinary practice and ethics across Asia, including in China, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and elsewhere, and plays a pivotal role in the development of online training materials for veterinary education in animal welfare and dog population management.
Heather contributes to the work of the British Veterinary Association, Federation of Vets of Europe, and the World Small Animal Veterinary Association, including leading conference sessions and contributing to animal welfare publications. She also works with many charities in the UK and overseas, including Animals Asia, Wild Welfare, DogStar, Fostering Compassion, the Bear Care Group, Dog’s Trust, and The Winton Foundation for the Welfare of Bears, often giving her specialist veterinary expertise in bear and zoo animal medicine and welfare for free.
If this was not enough Heather is also a Defra-certified zoo animal welfare inspector, and has worked closely with the charity Animals Asia for many years both as their previous veterinary director, and more recently to deliver collaborative veterinary and zoo animal welfare education in Asia.
We feel very honoured to have Heather as part of the JMICAWE team. She has already received many other awards and recognition from the veterinary community for her work in animal welfare and we are delighted with this recognition of her achievements from her Majesty.
