Meet The Links Group Team

Paula graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, in 1992. She spent 11 years in general practice before moving into a technical role in the industry in 2003.

Paula joined Dogs Trust in 2010 and is now its Veterinary Director. Her responsibilities include veterinary matters, outreach work, and public affairs. Paula is regularly involved in undergraduate training on Non-Accidental Injury (NAI) within UK veterinary schools.

She is a founding member, past treasurer of the Association of Charity Vets, and board member of the Blue Dog Trust. She chairs the Pet Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG), is vice chair of the Canine and Feline Sector group, sits on the RSPCA’s Prosecutions Oversight Panel and is a member of the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission.

In 2017, Paula received BSAVA’s J A Wight Memorial Award for her contribution to the welfare of companion animals. In September 2023, Paula was awarded the WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) One Health Award in Lisbon; in November 2024, the BVA Outstanding Service Award (Chiron Award) in London.

Paula is a founding Trustee of the Links Group.

Vicki is Director of Global Impact at iCatCare, responsible for their international programmes and activities that make cat welfare science accessible to a wide range of audiences, as well as the development and delivery of global change programmes for owned and unowned cats.

Previously Communications Director at the British Veterinary Association (BVA), Vicki has spent the majority of her career working for veterinary not-for-profit organisations, including veterinary charity PDSA where she established their national youth, education and community programmes, and was responsible for developing their research, policy, public affairs and campaigning strategies.

Vicki continues to work with a number of government and sector working groups which tackle a wide range of animal welfare issues, including the link between animal abuse and family violence, for which she received BSAVA’s Ray Butcher Award in 2018. Vicki has been involved with the Links Group for over 15 years and is a founding Trustee of the charity.

Mike is the Links Group’s Treasurer and Operations Director at Cats Protection (CP), the UK’s largest feline welfare organisation.

As part of this role he is responsible for Cats Protection Lifeline, CP’s temporary fostering service for families fleeing domestic abuse, including its national expansion.

Prior to joining CP, Mike spent 20 years in various public and voluntary sector roles, most recently as Assistant Director of Volunteering and Community Involvement at the National Trust. He is passionate about developing the role the voluntary sector plays in society.

Mike is also a Trustee of the Association of Dogs and Cats Homes and a former member of the Canal and River Trust’s Volunteering Advisory Panel. He holds an MBA from the Open University Business School and is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.

Mike is a founding Trustee of the Links Group.

Dave is the Group Head of Animal Welfare at IVC Evidensia, the largest corporate veterinary group in Europe. His role is to put animal welfare at the heart of what the team do and to ensure that alongside providing world class veterinary care the team also help clients give their animals (pets, production animals or equines) the best life they can.

Dave is also a clinical director and veterinary surgeon for Brownlow Vet Group a part of IVC Evidensia where he acts as an experienced independent expert witness undertaking regular instructions in both criminal and civil fields involving animal welfare, animal husbandry and disease including human injuries sustained from animal interactions. Dave accepts instructions from a wide range of clients acting for both prosecution and defence and am also an experienced single joint expert.

In his spare time Dave is a veterinary consultant to Forensic Access supporting both the development of their veterinary training programmes but also undertaking expert and advisory work for them.

Dave became a Trustee of the Links Group in March 2022.

As a recent trustee of the Links Group, Rachel is a passionate advocate of the one health approach and raising awareness of the link between the abuse of people and animals.

A veterinary surgeon by training, Rachel spent 18 months working in small animal practice before diversifying into management consultancy within the NHS, working across the healthcare sector to broaden her perspective.

Rachel currently works as an International Programme Coordinator at the Veterinary Medicines Directorate as the co-lead for the UK FAO Reference Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance, bringing together her experience in both human and animal health.

Rachel is also a small animal locum veterinary surgeon, and an Age UK Call in Time volunteer. Rachel became a Trustee of the Links Group in November 2022.

Rebecca graduated from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in 2006 and worked as a small animal vet in private and charity practice for ten years before moving into veterinary communications.

Rebecca has worked for the UK’s leading veterinary charity, PDSA, since 2010 and currently leads the Veterinary Engagement and Communications team, encompassing Education, Evidence and Policy, and Veterinary Communications. She also has responsibility for producing the UK’s longest running and most comprehensive annual assessment of pet welfare – the PDSA Animal Wellbeing (PAW) Report.

Passionate about raising awareness about the link between the abuse of people and animals, Rebecca became a Trustee of the Links Group in November 2022.

Rebecca has 30 years’ experience within the social work profession.

She has worked as a front-line practitioner in areas including mental health, disability, domestic abuse and in hospital and community-based settings in Australia and England. She has provided consultancy and training to government and non-government organisations to progress workforce development initiatives.

She was the International Qualifications Advisor for the Australian Association of Social Workers and led the development of a globally trademarked supervision model for veterinary, social work and veterinary social work practitioners.

Rebecca currently works at the University of Sussex, Brighton, as a Senior Lecturer in Social Work and is a PhD candidate exploring how and where social workers and veterinarians can work together to promote the safeguarding of humans and animals.

Rebecca is the Director of Education with the International Association of Veterinary Social Work and is actively developing inter-disciplinary partnerships across social work, social care, veterinary and animal-welfare practice settings to promote knowledge exchange, skills development, education and training opportunities to support the development of Veterinary Social Work in the UK.

Rebecca became a Trustee of the Links Group in August 2024.

Andrea graduated from the University of Bristol Vet School in 2001 and worked in mixed practice for 3 years. She then worked as a locum in mixed, equine and small animal practices before returning to Bristol to complete her PhD in the Department of Infection & Immunity.

After 14 years in practice Andrea moved into the food industry.  She gained industry-recognised qualifications which allowed her to combine her drive to promote One Health, provenance and animal welfare with her veterinary background and experiences.

Andrea began volunteering for The Links Group in 2021, became event lead in September 2022 and a de facto Trustee in August 2023.  In June 2024, Andrea became responsible for strategic delivery at The Links Group.

Andrea is a survivor of domestic abuse who is passionate about education and research and raising awareness about the link between animal abuse and domestic and child abuse.  She volunteers for the NSPCC Schools Service, sits on the board of the Foyle Family Justice Centre, volunteers with the British Small Animal Veterinary Association and sits on the Audit & Risk Committee and the Academic Award Board in this role.

Mary has over 15 years practice experience working in the domestic abuse sector. She is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Refuge4Pets, a charity providing a specialist animal fostering service to victim-survivors of domestic abuse. The charity is one of the Links Group specialist animal fostering services.

Mary is an academic researcher with a specialism in the dynamics and implications of animal abuse in the context of domestic abuse.  In 2021 she completed her PhD in the Centre for Gender and Violence Research at the University of Bristol titled Animal Abuse as a Strategy of Coercive Control.  Mary has held a number of Research Associate and Research Fellow posts at the Universities of Bristol and Birmingham in the areas of gender-based violence and social work. 

Mary stepped down from being a Trustee of the Links Group in May 2024 to take up a Strategic Delivery Lead role within the team.