Teagasc’s senior research officer Dr Laura Boyle has been announced as the recipient of the 2019 British Society of Animal Science (BSAS) and Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) award for Innovative Development in Animal Welfare.
The award, introduced jointly by the BSAS and the RSPCA, has been presented to Dr Boyle in recognition of her long-standing research into the welfare of dairy cattle and pigs and her contribution to developing carcass lesions as indicators of pig welfare.
Dr Boyle has been a passionate researcher and advocate for livestock welfare for almost 25 years, focusing her efforts on the welfare of dairy cows and pigs in particular as well as on ethics in animal research. She organised the successful ‘Challenges in Scientific Research with Large Animals’ session at the 2018 Dublin BSAS Annual Conference and will be co-hosting a forthcoming international conference on animal welfare in Ireland in 2020.
Speaking about her award, Dr Boyle said: “I am honoured and humbled to receive this prestigious award. I hope to use the recognition it affords me to progress both the science and the cause of animal welfare in Ireland and abroad. In an era of increasingly polarised views about animal production I’m particularly keen to use my background in agriculture and animal welfare to bridge the gap between farmers and society.”
