Providing Optimal Veterinary Care

Workshop Programme
(Jupiter III)

Chairperson biography: Dr Fiona Woodhouse (BA Hons , MA , VetMB, MRCVS), The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ( Hong Kong ).

Dr Woodhouse qualified as a veterinary surgeon from Cambridge University and has worked for the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ( Hong Kong ) for 16 years. She currently holds the position of Deputy Director (Welfare) and is responsible for the management and development of the Society's animal welfare programmes and initiatives.

The SPCA (HK) is dedicated to improving animal welfare. It aims to prevent cruelty through education and enforcement of laws and improve other aspects of animal welfare through humane education, animal birth control and adoption, provision of veterinary services and animal advocacy and lobbying.

Panellists biographies:

Dr. Kati Loeffler, IFAW.

Dr. Kati Loeffler completed a doctorate in veterinary medicine (DVM) in 1989 and a PhD in 1996, both in the United States . Her veterinary expertise includes a variety of companion animals and farm animals, as well as bears, red pandas and birds of prey. She has been working in China since 2002 as researcher with the Smithsonian Institution and the Chengdu Panda Base in diseases of giant pandas and red pandas, as veterinarian for the Animals Asia Foundation's sanctuary for bears rescued from the bear bile industry, and most recently as veterinary and scientific advisor for the International Fund for Animal Welfare in Beijing . Her work focuses on improving the welfare of domestic animals and captive wildlife, and in capacity building for local veterinary staff and animal caretakers.

Jane McNae BVSc MACVSc (Surg) MRCVS, Royal Veterinary College , University of London , Hong Kong.    

Jane graduated from the University of Queensland , Australia in 1997 . She worked for 7 years in small animal practice in Hong Kong, where, in 2002 , she attained Membership of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Small Animal Surgery, by examination. Jane has spent 3 years working in small animal practice in the United Kingdom and has worked in industry for 2 years as an International Technical Manager during which time she has lectured at numerous varied congresses throughout Asia and Europe on nutraceuticals in practice

Alessandro Grioni , Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Gardens, Hong Kong .

Alessandro Grioni (Alex) graduated in 1997 in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Milan, Italy. He worked for two years in Italy in a small animal practice. Alex then moved to Hong Kong where he was employed full time at a mixed small and exotic animal clinic. Here he gained most of his exotic animal experience through clinical cases and personal study. In 2006, Alex joined Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden (KFBG), where he is currently working at the Wild Animal Rescue Centre (WARC). KFBG is a conservation centre and it plays an active role in promoting the conservation of biodiversity in Hong Kong and South China , allied with sustainable agriculture and creative nature education. The WARC receives animals from the Hong Kong wild as well and from confiscations. Alex, during these years, also worked part-time for IFAW, working in the Moonbear project in China (Asiatic black bear, Ursus selenarctos thibetanus ), and since 2008 he has been involved in the management of the Yangtze giant soft-shell turtle ( Rafetus swinhoei ). Alex's main interests are exotic/wildlife medicine and conservation medicine in the broader term.

Sailasuta Achariya , The Thai Veterinary Medical Association under the Royal Patronage (TVMA).

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Achariya Sailasuta is the President of the Thai Veterinary Medical Association under the Royal Patronage (TVMA) for 2010-2012 and Genaral Secretary of the Federation of Asian Veterinary Associations (FAVA) from 2008 until 2010. Her academic career is as an Associate Professor and Chair of the Pathobiology Graduate Program, Department of Pathology, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University , Bangkok , Thailand . She got her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine ( Hons ) from Chulalongkorn University in 1979, F. R.V.C.S. (Vet. Pathology), Uppsala , Sweden in 1984, Cert. in Vet. Path. Miyazaki U. , Japan in 1987 and Ph.D. (Agriculture - Vet Pathology ) , Kagoshima U. , Japan in 1991. She is interested in research into diagnostic cytology, cytochemistry , and veterinary oncology. With regard to her public services and animal welfare, she is the founder of the Veterinary Volunteer Center (VVC) since 1998 until present. She was honoured with the Outstanding Veterinarian Award of the year in Academic Service of the Thai Veterinary Medical Association under royal patronage November, 1999; Outstanding Organization award for the Veterinary Volunteer Center by Charity foundation and Asian Development Bank March, 2004; an Outstanding alumni of the Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University April, 2005 and Distinguished Professor Award, The Asian Foundation for the Advancement of Veterinary and Animal Science (AFAVAS), Korea, April 2008.