Prof Andrew Knight - Animal Welfare, Livestock Farming and Vegan Pet Diets


Professor Andrew Knight
BVMS BSc PhD PFHEA DipECAWBM DipACAW MANZCVS FRCVS
Welcome to the next episode of the Animal Welfare Conversation. And this week we caught up with Prof Andrew Knight, animal welfare advocate, researcher and campaigner. In this episode we about Andrew’s journey of campaigning for animal welfare. We hear about the impact of livestock farming on climate change, the future of vegan diets and how this relates to animal welfare. We also consider how the veterinary profession can play a pivotal role in advocating for systemic change beyond the clinic.
Andrew established and directed the Centre for Animal Welfare at the University of Winchester; is a Principal Fellow of Advance HE; EBVS European and RCVS Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law; American & New Zealand Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare and a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
In 2019 Andrew was awarded the Society for Veterinary Medical Ethics Shomer Award and also received the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association Humane Achievement Award
Andrew has published a wide range of academic papers and books on animal welfare including The Costs and Benefits of Animal Experiments and co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Animal Welfare.
Further Information
Sites
https://sustainablepetfood.info
https://animalexperiments.info
socials
https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-knight-409b7434/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100046421604769
https://www.youtube.com/c/andrewknight
Key infographics
Knight A (2023) The relative benefits for environmental sustainability of vegan diets for dogs, cats and people. PLoS ONE 18(10): e0291791. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0291791
Knight A, Bauer A, Brown H (2023) Vegan versus meat-based cat food: Guardian-reported health outcomes in 1,369 cats, after controlling for feline demographic factors. PLoS ONE 18(9): e0284132. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284132
Other Information:
http://aknight.info/articles/pet-food
And finally.........
Please follow us on social media, and if you haven’t yet nominated you Animal Welfare Hero, please take time to nominate them. Find out more here. Alex Fraser Medal for Animal Welfare | Girling & Fraser Ltd Closing date is 30th September.

Dr Mary Fraser
Vet, Medical Educator, Company Director
Dr Mary Fraser BVMS MRes PhD CertVD MAcadMEd MIoD PGCHE FHEA FRSB FRCVS
Mary has had a varied career, starting out in mixed practice, then focussing on veterinary dermatology, veterinary nursing, medical education, animal welfare, owner support and clinical decision making. She was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2017 for Meritorious Contributions to Practice and is a past Chair of the RCVS Fellowship Science Advisory Panel.
Working both as a clinician and academic, Mary has a PhD in immunological aspects of canine atopic dermatitis and the RCVS Certificate in Veterinary Dermatology, worked in referral practice, and also set up her own first opinion/referral small animal practice in rural Perthshire.
In between this, she had the opportunity to work in veterinary nursing at both FE and HE levels becoming a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and Member of the Academy of Medical Educators, and alongside Simon Girling, setting up the Advanced Programme in Veterinary Nursing of Exotics a postgraduate training programme for veterinary nurses that has now been running for over 20 years and trained over 1000 vet nurses.
She is a accomplished researcher and author, with over 100 published articles, book chapters, books and papers. Areas of work include veterinary dermatology, medical education, preparing students for practice, the challenges of clinical decision making, providing better support in practice for clients with sight loss, and the application of evidence based medicine in practice.
During her time as a vet…
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Professor Andrew Knight BVMS BSc PhD PFHEA DipECAWBM DipACAW MANZCVS FRCVS
Andrew established and directed the Centre for Animal Welfare at the University of Winchester; is a Principal Fellow of Advance HE; EBVS European and RCVS Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law; American & New Zealand Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare and a Fellow of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.
In 2019 Andrew was awarded the Society for Veterinary Medical Ethics Shomer Award and also received the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association Humane Achievement Award
Andrew has published a wide range of academic papers and books on animal welfare including The Costs and Benefits of Animal Experiments and co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Animal Welfare.