Speaker bio page for Gilly Mendes Ferreira

Bio

After completing a BSc Honours Zoology degree at the University of Aberdeen, Gilly moved to Edinburgh to complete an MSc by Research degree focusing on captive primate welfare and behaviour at the University of Edinburgh RDSVS. Following her masters Gilly took up an education resources officer post at the Scottish SPCA and over the last 14 years has progressed to the post of head of education and policy. Gilly’s core activities within the society involves managing the ‘Prevention through Education’ programme which now reaches over 250,000 children annually and implementing new initiatives such as the Animal Guardians programme and the use of robotics to teach animal welfare education. She also runs collaborative research projects predominantly with the University of Edinburgh, University of Stirling and the University of Glasgow that focus on the impact of animal welfare education, the links between animal cruelty and human abuse, and also the enrichment of animals in the Scottish SPCA’s care (i.e. playing music to kennelled dogs as a way of decreasing their stress levels). By being involved in animal welfare education and research and working with the Scottish SPCA’s Chief Superintendent Mike Flynn, Gilly is able to assess and respond to any proposed legislative changes so that we can ensure current animal welfare legislation meets modern day issues.