VPHA & AGV Conference 2025
The annual VPHA/ AGV Conference took place in the 65th year of the VPHA on 26th and 27th September 2025.
The venue, as last year was at Eastwood Hall Nottingham which proved once again to have a convivial atmosphere with good food and accommodation at a reasonable price.
The theme of the conference was Ethics and Us: “Tools to make sense of veterinary dilemmas”
The Conference was very well attended with over 90 delegates present and 20 virtual attendees, including a number of undergraduate students who introduced the speakers and led the round table themed discussions on the Friday afternoon before the Conference on the Saturday. At the Conference dinner on the Friday night, a presentation on past VPHA Study Tours was given by Dr Lewis Grant and details of the proposed Study Tour to Romania next spring outlined to the delegates.
An address was given at the Conference by Dr Rob Williams, the newly elected President of BVA.
The five main speakers were all highly respected experts in the field of veterinary Ethics and animal welfare, and highlighted the dilemmas we all face as veterinarians in dealing with with issues that arise across the whole spectrum of how we regard the animal kingdom as well as treating their health related problems.
The Annual Andrew Storrar Memorial Lecture was on the theme of “Why ethics should matter to vets and what should we know” .The lecture was jointly delivered by David Morton CBE of the University of Birmingham and Peter Fordyce of the University of Cambridge, both highly respected in the field of Ethics.
Animal Welfare presentations were given by Sean Wensley FRCVS and Sarah Wolfensohn OBE FRCVS who explained the use of the Animal Welfare assessment Grid (AWAG). Both speakers are recognised as leaders in animal welfare issues.
Professor Madeleine Campbell FRCVS delivered a fascinating and thought provoking presentation on “Current debates concerning performance animals.”
Following the presentations, the undergraduate students gave feedback on the round table themed discussions they led on the Friday afternoon as well as feedback on the VPH Masterclass held at the Nottingham School of Veterinary Medicine. This Masterclass report was given by Nicholas Hywood and Helena Ivey.
To finish the Conference day a joint Q & A Session was held by four of the Ethics and welfare presenters.
The Conference theme proved to be both very challenging and informative providing excellent and affordable CPD for the delegates and we look forward to the next VPHA Conference in September 2026.
Dr Lewis G. Grant BVM&S MRCVS MBE.
