We are delighted to welcome Chris Laurence as the SCAS 2019 Conference Chair.

Chris qualified as a veterinary surgeon from Bristol University in 1968 and went into mixed practice in Somerset.  A year later he moved to Chippenham in Wiltshire to take up purely small animal practice at the Hale Veterinary Group until 1998.  Chris was subsequently Chief Veterinary Officer at the RSPCA and Veterinary Director of Dogs Trust.  He retired in August 2011.  He was awarded the MBE for services to animal welfare in 2007 and granted Fellowship of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in 2017.

Chris is currently Chairman of the Canine and Feline Sector Group of the England Health and Welfare Board and Treasurer of the Central Veterinary Society.  He is also involved in a number of charities.  He is Chairman of the Animal Welfare Foundation and the British Veterinary Behaviour Association.  He is also a Trustee of the Pet Blood Bank, the Bella Moss Foundation and North Wiltshire Branch of the RSPCA and Treasurer of the Animal Behaviour and Training Council.  Outside the profession he is Chairman of the Oxfordshire Yeomanry Trust and the Queen’s Own Oxfordshire Hussars Association, a Director of the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Trust Ltd and Treasurer of Tytherton Village Hall.

Chris had a lengthy career in the Royal Signals, Territorial Army, retiring with the rank of Colonel in 2002.  He was awarded the Queen’s Volunteer Reserves Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2002.

Chris has been married to Sheila since 1969 and has two children and four grandchildren.  Sadly he currently has no pets.