Professor Christianne Glossop, Chief Veterinary Officer to the Welsh Government, was yesterday (Friday 15 July 2011), presented as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.
Appointed to the role of Chief Veterinary Officer for the Welsh Government in 2005, Professor Glossop is responsible for developing and implementing the animal health and welfare policy and strategy for Wales.
Professor Glossop was appointed Honorary Professor at the Royal Veterinary College, London in 2007. Since her appointment as Chief Veterinary Office to the Welsh Government, the focus has inevitably shifted to teaching animal health and welfare policy development.
She has developed and implemented a number of policies that have put animal welfare within Wales ahead of the position in other regions of the UK, including the publication of dog, cat and rabbit welfare codes, the 2010 ban on the use of electronic (“shock”) collars in dogs and cats and on-going work revising puppy breeding legislation.
Her role in supporting the livestock industry has received particular recognition in recent years. Her vision is “to see bovine TB eradicated from Wales once and for all” and she has remained resolute in driving forward the bovine TB eradication strategy. For this, Christianne Glossop was awarded the Princess Royal Award by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers in 2009, and in the same year she and Elin Jones, the former Rural Affairs Minister, were also joint winners of the Farmers Weekly Farming Champion award.
Professor Will Haresign, Deputy Director of the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences said:
Christianne Glossop was appointed Chief Veterinary Officer to the Welsh Government in 2005, a post that she has fulfilled with distinction.
She was born and brought up in Devon and educated at Torquay Girls Grammar School. Although not born into a farming family, she decided, at the tender age of 13, that she wanted to become a vet and was very fortunate to be mentored in that quest by a local practitioner – Jim Goodwin. Her aspirations were realised and she entered the Royal Veterinary College, London, graduating with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree in 1979. Instead of entering practice she chose to remain at the RVC and was awarded a PhD degree for her research on bull reproduction in 1982.
Following a short period as a locum vet, she was appointed Veterinary Research Officer at the MAFF Cattle and Pig Breeding Centre at Shinfield, Reading where, as well as providing routine veterinary services to the Centre’s bull and boar studs, she undertook research into cattle and pig reproduction. It was here that she was instrumental in developing a commercial artificial insemination service for pigs, something that was to become the main focus of her activities over the next 13 years, operating globally for both commercial pig breeding companies and also as a veterinary consultant.
During this period Christianne Glossop established the UK Pig Reproduction Research Liaison Group, which brought together scientists, industry representatives and funding bodies. She was elected to the Executive Committee of the British Pig Veterinary Society, eventually holding the office of President between 1997/98. She also was appointed President of the 15th International Pig Veterinary Society Conference held in the UK in 1998 and Chairman of its Organising Committee.
How she also managed to find the time to bear and rear a family during this period remains a complete mystery to me! I understand that she is now looking forward to the birth of her first grandchild in November.
In the midst of the devastating Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak of 2001, a crisis that was to blight the lives of so many individuals from the rural sector, Christianne Glossop joined the Gloucester Division of the State Veterinary Service of Defra and played a full part in helping deal with the eradication of the disease. It was here that she also came face to face with the realities of bovine TB and its impact on the cattle industry, a challenge that she brought with her to Wales when appointed Chief Veterinary Officer of the Welsh Government in 2005.
As Chief Veterinary Officer, Christianne Glossop is responsible for developing and implementing the animal health and welfare policy and strategy for Wales. Indeed, she has developed and implemented a number of policies that have put animal welfare within Wales ahead of the position in other regions of the UK, specific examples being the publication of dog, cat and rabbit welfare codes, the 2010 ban on the use of electronic (“shock”) collars in dogs and cats and ongoing work revising puppy breeding legislation.
However, it is her role in supporting the livestock industry that Christianne Glossop has received particular recognition in recent years. Her vision is “to see bovine TB eradicated from Wales once and for all”.
In leading the fight against this disease she has gone back to first principles. The strategy she is attempting to put in place recognises the need to tackle all sources of infection, an approach that has worked very effectively in Australia and New Zealand.
For many of us in the UK, we cannot get beyond the “Wind in the Willows” vision of wild animals, even if the reality is quite different. It is inevitable, therefore, that this strategy has brought her into conflict with some in society. Indeed, in this and other areas of health and animal welfare policy she is no stranger to judicial review.
However, despite such challenges, she has remained resolute in driving forward the bovine TB eradication strategy. For this, Christianne Glossop was awarded the Princess Royal Award by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers in 2009, and in the same year she and Elin Jones, the former Rural Affairs Minister, were also joint winners of the Farmers Weekly Farming Champion award.
In addition, Christianne Glossop has shared her practical knowledge and experiences of large animal management and medicine with students at a number of Vet Schools within the UK, and was appointed Honorary Professor at the Royal Veterinary College, London in 2007. Since her appointment as Chief Veterinary Office to the Welsh Government, the focus has inevitably shifted to teaching animal health and welfare policy development.
President, I present Professor Christianne Glossop as a Fellow of Aberystwyth University.
