Trustees

Mike graduated from Liverpool University and is now Emeritus Professor of Small Animal Medicine at the University of Cambridge and a Life Fellow of St. Edmund's College, Cambridge. He is a former Dean of the Cambridge Veterinary School and was in charge of the small animal medicine and diagnostic imaging services at the Queen's Veterinary School Hospital.

He was awarded the British Small Animal Veterinary Association Woodrow Award in 1986 for outstanding contributions in the field of small animal veterinary medicine and the B.S.A.V.A. Blaine Award for outstanding contributions to the advancement of small animal medicine in 2000. In 2014, he was awarded the World Small Animal Veterinary Association International Award for Scientific Achievement for outstanding contributions by a veterinarian, who has had a significant impact on the advancement of knowledge concerning the cause, detection, cure and/or control of disorders of companion animals. In 2016, he received the Kennel Club International Canine Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of a career dedicated to improving canine health and welfare. He was voted Webinar Vet Speaker of the Year in 2015 and 2016 at the Annual Webinar Vet Veterinary Trust Awards. In 2019, he was awarded the B.S.A.V.A Bourgelat Award for really outstanding international contributions to the fields of small animal practice or science in their widest context by a qualified veterinarian.

He has been President of the British Veterinary Radiology Association, President of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association, President of the European Society of Veterinary Internal Medicine and President of the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation. He is a Diplomate of both the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and of the European College of Veterinary Diagnostic Imaging and was until recently President of the European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. He was awarded the European Board of Veterinary Specialisation Award In 2018, for ‘outstanding contributions to the course of Veterinary Specialisation in Europe’ and has published over 200 articles in journals.

Andrew was Scientific Director and Chief Executive of the Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, from 1988-1999. He was Editor-in-Chief of The Veterinary Journal from 1991-2016 and is now the journal’s Honorary Editor-in-Chief. He served on the Ethics and Welfare Committees of the Zoological Society of London for 20 years and was a consultant for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. He was Chair of Trustees of the Retired Greyhound Trust from 2008-2015, and has been a trustee of Dogs Trust, SPANA, the Pet Plan Charitable Trust and World Horse Welfare. He is particularly proud to have been a trustee for the iconic Animals in War Memorial in London’s Park Lane.

Andrew was Honorary President of the Anglo-Italian Society for the Protection of Animals from 2017-2022, is Chair of Trustees of the Southern Thailand Elephant Foundation (STEF), and Honorary Scientific Adviser to World Horse Welfare. In 2020, he was elected as a Fellow of the RCVS for meritorious contributions to the veterinary profession.

Graham has been involved with dogs and all things canine throughout his life, being raised in rural Wales where dogs were part of the family.

Graham trained and qualified in construction rising to be a Construction Director of a National Construction Company. In 1990 his entrepreneurial qualities encouraged him to start his own development/construction company which, during the past 30 + years has grown to a multi-million-pound turnover business.

He started breeding and showing dogs in 1965 with interest across many breeds and to date has bred and exhibited many champions.

Graham has combined his dog and business experience to contribute to the canine world in general, being President of the Gundog Society of Wales, the Rottweiler Club of Wales and the Working & Pastoral Breeds of Wales. He is Joint Secretary of The Welsh Kennel Club.

He has served on several Kennel Club Committees including the Crufts Committee, Breed Standards & Stud Book Committee, Disciplinary Committee. He is currently serving on the Show Executive Committee, Judges Committee, and continues to serve as a Kennel Club Board member.

Bills early career was in the specialised IT and print industries where he ran a successful printing business for a number of years as well as being employed within the advertising industry where he was responsible for the production and delivery of advertisements for the world’s largest newspaper advertising campaign.

He was a regional coordinator of the Bull Terrier Club Welfare (UK) breed rescue scheme for a number of years, which was one of the first dedicated breed rescue schemes to operate in the UK, and he assisted the club in gaining charitable status for the scheme in the 1980’s

He is an experienced breeder of Bull Terriers and also Burmese Cats and he has exhibited dogs successfully both nationally and internationally for more than 45 years. His successes including winning best of breed at Crufts on 3 occasions. He is an acknowledged authority on the Bull Terrier breed and is an internationally recognised Judge having officiated in more than a dozen countries around the world including at Crufts. He has taken up positions on a number of committees, is a former vice-chairman of the Bull Terrier Club and wrote a weekly column in the Canine Press for a number of years.

He joined the Kennel Club in 1995, where he was responsible for the development of the Kennel Club’s Assured Breeder Scheme, which gained UKAS accreditation in 2013, setting the benchmark  for quality standards in Dog Breeding.

He is currently Health, Welfare and Breeder Services Executive at the Kennel Club where he heads up a team of around 20 individuals dedicated to improving the health and welfare of dogs. Amongst his responsibilities are the numerous breeding and health initiatives that the KC is involved in, as well as Kennel Club Breed Rescue. His team are responsible for developing maintaining all the Kennel  Club’s health and welfare initiatives including the KC/BVA Hip and Elbow Scheme, The KC/ISDS/BVA scheme and the KC BAER Programme as well as developing new schemes and initiatives such as the KC/University of Cambridge Vet School Respiratory Function Grading Scheme.

He is also Chief Kennel Club spokesman representing the organisation in Parliament, Broadcasting and Media and on external groups and with NGO’s and is also currently Vice Chair of the International Partnership For Dogs.

Nick Blayney qualified as a veterinary surgeon in 1980 and has worked in full time veterinary practice for some 35 years most of it as principal his own five vet practice in and around Stratford-upon-Avon.

He also served on various veterinary professional associations including the FVE the Federation of European Veterinary Surgeons and then as a director officer and then President of the British Veterinary Association and a trustee of the BVA Animal Welfare Foundation.

In these roles he came to work closely with the Royal Kennel Club. For some ten years he was veterinary adviser to Channel 4 at Crufts and a regular presenter on the TV coverage.

Nick has been a member of the Dog Health Group since its founding and its chair for some ten years and has been proud to be involved in the health schemes that have been developed.His only foray into dog breeding was jointly with his wife as brood bitch holders for the GDBA.

He is currently on his seventh labrador.