Animal advocate wins the Gatton Gold Medal

Efforts to improve the welfare of animals worldwide have netted The University of Queensland graduate, Dr Peter Thornber, the UQ Gatton Gold Medal.

The UQ Gatton Gold Medal is awarded each year at the Gatton graduation ceremony to a past student who has made an outstanding contribution to their field.

Dr Thornber has been instrumental in ensuring that Australia plays a pivotal role in animal welfare protection worldwide.

He helped establish the World Animal Health Organisation Collaborating Centre on Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics and developed the Australian Animal Welfare Strategy.

Dr Thornber’s initiatives have greatly assisted the delivery of a standard level of care that animals receive both on a local and a global level.

“The Australian Animal Welfare Strategy provided a positive way forward for addressing animal welfare issues, providing a framework to guide people working in the animal industries,” Dr Thornber said. 

“Our framework is unique in that the strategy was aimed at all animals, including livestock, aquatic animals, dogs, cats, animals in that work in entertainment and display, and animals involved in research and teaching.

“There were 160 stakeholders involved in developing the strategy, so it has extremely high ownership by people working in animal industries.” 

Dr Thornber graduated from the Queensland Agricultural College, now University of Queensland Gatton, in 1973 with a Bachelor of Applied Science majoring in Rural Technology.

He completed his Bachelor of Veterinary Science at UQ’s St Lucia campus in 1977.

“My time at Gatton gave me a solid foundation in agriculture, animal health and animal handling, particularly with livestock,” Dr Thornber said. 

“It gave me the breadth of knowledge and confidence to deal with many different situations that I encountered during my career, which helped me enormously in my subsequent veterinary studies and profession.”  

 “I am very humbled and extremely honoured to receive such a prestigious award and be among the other worthy recipients of this wonderful award,” he said.  

Dr Thornber will address the 2014 graduating class of Veterinary Science students at the Gatton graduation ceremony 2pm on 18 December 2014.

Media: Erin Pearl, UQ Gatton, 5460 1229 or e.pearl@uq.edu.au or Dr Peter Thornber, 0417 880 672, thornber@grapevine.com.au.