Authors

Zoë Monk is a freelance content writer from Dorset. After graduating with a degree in Journalism, she worked in marketing and PR before becoming a Mum and embarking on a freelance career. One of Zoë’s favourite things about freelancing is being able to work at home with her beloved tortoiseshell cat Bobby close by.

Ashley is a freelance writer based in Manchester. He grew up around pooches, but (unfortunately) he doesn't have the time or space for one of his own. So he volunteers with a local dog-walking agency in his spare time. It's definitely the best part of his week!

Justine Seraphin is Country Manager for Wamiz UK. After graduating from Anglia Ruskin University with an Animal Behaviour and Welfare degree, she went to save cheetahs in Namibia and then elephant seals in California. Now she likes to write stories about amazing animals with Elton, her Italian Greyhound, sitting on her lap.

Emilie Heyl was born in Southampton and studied communications and journalism in Paris. She has always loved dogs and cats and she knows she will have a dog one day, when the time is right. In the meantime she loves to take care of her colleagues' dogs and has been voted best pet-sitter at the office. She feels lucky to be able to write about pets all day and she never stops being amazed by these wonderful creatures.

Doggie-lover Joseph is our resident pet product expert, having graduated with a degree in French and Communications, Media & Culture from Oxford Brookes University before moving across the Channel to Paris. A freelance content writer, he specialises in consumer product comparisons to help you find the most suitable option and get the best value for money.

Nick John Whittle is an author and artist based in Birmingham, UK. He studied education at Gloucester University. Nick’s family has owned various breeds of dog since he was a child such as Poodles and Boxers. Although he has no pets at the moment, on occasion he dog-sits a happy 17-year-old Yorkshire Terrier. Nick is particularly interested in the history of canine domestication.

Alice is a Digital Media & Marketing graduate who lives in the beautiful area of North Wales. Since graduating, she's been working freelance as a copywriter and digital marketer. At the weekend, you'll find her taking and editing photographs, updating her blog or looking after her mischevious rescue cat, Mabel. She's loved animals for as long as she can remember. She's had pretty much every pet under the sun - cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, fish, stick insects - and has spent time volunteering at animal shelters in Asia.

Natasha is a writer, journalist and content creator hailing from the Midlands. After completing her degree in Liverpool, she moved to London to study for an MA and never left. She now lives in the capital with her dog Pablo who pwoofreads all of her work to give it the canine seal of approval.

John is a filmmaker and freelance writer. Specialising in the arts, digital media, and further education, his passions include world cinema and biscuits. He grew up with a Yellow Labrador named Abba (both of them were children of the '70s) and is nicknamed "G-Dog" for his dogly approach to life. He lives in London but is always on the move.

Pippa is a member of the ‘Barketing’ (marketing) team at BorrowMyDoggy, the UK’s largest dog sharing community. She graduated with a BSc in Photography and Digital Imaging back in 2016, and has now developed a great eye for dog photography - with her Cockapoo, Whinnie, being the subject of many photoshoots. At BorrowMyDoggy she’s responsible for social media, content and all things ‘barketing'.

Emily Keene is a freelance copywriter, journalist and translator born in England and based in Paris, France. In her spare time, when she's not running after her cheeky Beagle, she can be found co-running the arts association Paris Lit Up, and pedalling around the city on Gloria, her bicycle.

Lorraine is a freelance writer from Manchester. She loves making friends with new animals and is personally devoted to a darling Jack Russell called Digby and a gladiatorial Norwegian Forest Cat called Maximus Aurellius (or Maxipus). She also once rescued a pair of guinea pigs (one pregnant) from a beach, and ended up with a small herd of floofballs for a few years. Fortunately, Digby and Max weren't around at the time to enjoy 'playing' with them!

Daniel Gala lives in Edmonton, Canada. He is a home-based journalist. Even though writing is what he does for a living, it is one of his favourite hobbies right next to reading books by his favourite authors (John Grisham, Dan Brown, J.K Rowling), and taking pictures. He has been a dog lover since he was 5 years old when he got his first puppy: the cutest Husky in the whole earth called Shani.

Dawn lives in Durham, in the North East of England, and has been a freelance writer for several years. Her hobbies include travelling, gardening and spending time with her grandchildren. She believes that animal lovers are a special group of humans, full of empathy, big-hearted, rather prone to sentimentality and generous of spirit. No matter how few possessions or how little money you have, owning a pet makes you a rich person!

David Thomas is a professional writer at Trusted Astrology. With more than 10 years of experience with astrology, David is a trusted resource to help you with astrological analysis and interpretation.

Greta is a dog behaviour consultant and partnership manager for Wamiz’s adoption platform. Having completed her BSc. in applied animal behaviour, she worked with animal charities in Italy, before moving to Barcelona to study a Masters in animal law. Passionate about the welfare of dogs and cats in rescue, she is currently based in London with Teki, a grumpy but loveable Dachshund mix, and Leila, who arrived as a foster and never left.

Karen Wild is a Clinical Animal Behaviourist and Dog Trainer with over 20 years experience of working with family pets. She is a bestselling author of five books on pet behaviour and training, translated into eight languages worldwide, including ‘Being a Dog’, ‘What your Dog Wants’, ’21 Days to the Perfect Dog’ and ‘The Purrfect/Pawfect Guide to Thinking Like a Dog/Cat’ co-authored with well-known TV Vet Dr Emma Milne. Karen has featured on local and national media in the UK (BBC TV, Sky News, BBC Local Radio, Channel 5 and The Daily Mail). She is known for her kind, sensible, family-centred approach to dog and pet behaviour and care.

Dr Pete Wedderburn is a veterinary surgeon with more than 30 years of experience and a prolific writer on animal pet health. Better known as ‘Pete The Vet’, his work has been featured in both local and national media in the UK and Ireland (BBC, The Telegraph, The Evening Herald). He is the author of “Pet Subjects: Animal Tales from the Telegraph’s Resident Vet” (2017). Since 1991, he has run his own 4-veterinarian companion animal practice in County Wicklow, Ireland. Pete is one of the top three vet influencers in the UK.

Dr Holly Graham graduated from the University of Nottingham and has been working as a first opinion small animal veterinarian in the North of England for 3 years. She is a locum vet, which means that she works at a range of different practices, treating anything from dogs and cats to tiny hamsters and mice. She works both in routine practice - giving vaccinations and health checks, and busy hospitals often performing emergency surgery. She has special interests in imaging and small mammal medicine, so performs lots of ultrasound examinations and sees lots of rabbits and guinea pigs! Holly has two pets; a fluffy black cat called Boris with neurological problems, whom she adopted as a stray, and Fergie, who is a black house rabbit.

Dr Jo de Klerk is a veterinarian who graduated from the prestigious Royal Veterinary College in 2014. Alongside her clinical work, she enjoys writing animal and veterinary science-related articles and books. Her writing career started with her popular Harper Collins book series, 'Tales from a Young Vet' and 'Tales from a Wild Vet' which followed her television debut in BBC 2's 'Young Vets'. Since then, her writing has featured in scientific journals, popular pet-lover websites and a large book series 'The Complete Guide to...' based on dog breeds and dog care. She is also a regular contributor to Veterinary Practice Today.
Alongside her writing work, she runs her own veterinary business, specialising in Veterinary Pain Management and Rehabilitation for dogs and horses. Her home is always open to foster dogs, while they are looking for their forever home, and she also owns an elderly horse.

Katy graduated from the University of Cambridge veterinary school in 1999 and has over twenty years’ experience working in veterinary practice in the UK. She is a general practitioner and enjoys all aspects of veterinary medicine and surgery. The majority of her patients are dogs or cats but rabbits and other small mammals make up a proportion of her caseload. Katy writes on a wide range of veterinary topics and her articles are regularly published in local newspapers and regional magazines. She has shared her home with a number of pets over the years ranging from hamsters and chickens to dogs and is currently the owner of a young and very energetic black Labrador called Ferne.

Dr Kate Costaras is a veterinary surgeon with 8 years of experience working within companion animal veterinary practice. She has completed a further qualification in small animal medicine and has a particular interest in endocrinology and preventative health. Kate has written courses for new graduate veterinary surgeons and has helped as a technical advisor for veterinary education programs.

Laura graduated from the Royal Veterinary College, London, in 2010. Since then she has worked in small animal practice in the UK. Laura’s main interests are pain management and surgery; she has completed her GP Certificate in Western Veterinary Acupuncture and chronic pain management and studied towards her Pg Certificate in small animal surgery. Outside of work, Laura enjoys spending time with family and friends, as well as exploring the outdoors, especially the coast.

Dr. Helen Donald is a small animal and wildlife veterinarian who began her working career as a management consultant, freelance writer and habitual adopter of rescued dogs before retraining as a veterinarian in 2008. Since then Helen has worked in small animal practice with particular interests in feline medicine, pet behaviour and wildlife. She has worked for ZSL London Zoo since 2017 as a part time vet advising on wildlife reintroductions and has authored papers across a wide variety of native wildlife species while also continuing to work in small animal and wildlife rehabilitation. Her current roster of pets includes Myrtle, an agorophobic cat who is scared of grass and birds and a pair of flame crested geckos called Spark and Ember. Helen is currently using her spare time to make her garden more wildlife-friendly.

Dr Karen Ingleby is a veterinary surgeon with more than 15 years of experience. She has worked in the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand covering all different species including buffalo and giraffe! 
She lives in England with her two dogs, a huntaway and a bull mastiff that were brought back from NZ with her and her Ragdoll cat Sidney. 
She has recently been working in the pharmaceutical industry providing training and help to owners and vets and now is an independent consultant working with all areas of the veterinary industry.

Dr. Stephanie Holmes qualified from the Royal Veterinary College, University of London in 2006. Initially spending time in mixed animal practice in Kent, she decided to concentrate her work on small animal medicine and surgery in 2008 and has worked in first opinion practice in and around Yorkshire, England since. In 2017 she was awarded a post graduate certificate in small animal emergency and critical care with distinction from the British Small Animal Veterinary Association. Out of work she has a Labrador called Slug and enjoys horse riding and travel.

Hetty is a vet and science writer. She qualified from the University of Cambridge in 2017, and also has a 1 st class degree in Natural Sciences (Zoology and Human Psychology). Hetty has worked in practice – performing surgery and treating pets as well as sheep, goats and even alpacas. She is passionate about science education and currently works in a communications role that includes campaign work and writing articles. She loves animals and has volunteered on rhino and whale conservation projects.

Dr. Liz Barton qualified in 2004 from the University of Cambridge. She has a varied career treating all creatures great and small in the Lake District. She did an internship at a specialist centre, emergency night shifts and shelter medicine. Her clinical passion is diagnostics and getting to the bottom of an animal’s illness, in order to help them get better as soon as possible. Dr. Barton is also passionate about supporting the people in this caring profession, and has written extensively wellbeing and supporting families. She was elected onto the board of the Society of Practicing Veterinary Surgeons in 2019 to co-ordinate the national vet wellbeing awards. She has two dogs and a rescue cat with no tail.

Dr. Laura Waring has been in clinical practice for over 10 years. She started in mixed practice dealing with farm equine and small animal patients, however the last 6 years of her career she focused on small animals. She particularly enjoys surgery, and the variety that each day brings. She has published research on wildlife during the course of her studies and won the Morris animal foundation wildlife second prize and the Royal Veterinary college prize for epidemiology. She has also written articles regarding hamster husbandry for the fancy. She has a loyal Labrador who is a fantastic companion.

Dr Alice Watson graduated from the University of Cambridge in 2017 and has 3 years of experience as a veterinary surgeon treating small animals (dogs, cats and other domestic pets). Alice has authored three scientific papers. She enjoys all aspect of general practice but has a particular interest in geriatric cats. At home Alice has a one-eyed cat called Gus, and enjoys horse riding and triathlon in her spare time.

After his service in the Army, Steve pursued a career in Law Enforcement, earning honors as the head trainer of his Police Department’s K9 Unit. Steve’s real-world police K9 experience is what sets Scott’s Police K9 apart from other protection dog companies. You will be able to find out more information on K9 Police dogs on his website.

This article has been written by Jonathan David, a fourth generation reptile keeper, wildlife biologist and editor in Chief for Everything Reptiles.