We are just so lucky to have Alex Thiemann, MA, Vet MB, Cert AVP EP, MSc, AFHEA, MRCVS, speak at the Donkey Welfare Symposium again this year! Alex’s erudite, cheerful, and delightfully British presentations are always a favorite, regardless of which side of “The Pond”. However, to encapsulate her qualifications in reasonable space is difficult. In her 15 years on the staff of The Donkey Sanctuary (TDS), Sidmouth, UK, where she was the Lead Veterinarian for Education, Alex was engaged in doing research that resulted in countless scientific papers on donkey health, while teaching interns and students at TDS’s veterinary hospital. Her clinical duties included both surgery and internal medicine for the resident population of 3,000 donkeys at the sanctuary. At the same time Alex produced on-line teaching materials for their Donkey Academy, seen as the most advanced library of information on donkey care in the world. Being an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Authority, Royal Veterinary College, speaks to Alex’s flair for educating future generations of veterinarians. Currently, she works with Worldwide Veterinary Services as the Senior International Taskforce Consultant who supervises and assesses international projects in which UK veterinarians train veterinarians and students in under-resourced countries in the global south. In addition, she develops curricula for international veterinarians working with draft horses, mules, and donkeys. Through her work, Alex shows her commitment to the welfare of all animals everywhere. As if this is not enough, Alex is a practicing rural veterinarian with Summerleaze Equine Vets, Devon UK and mother to three teenagers.
Her list of scientific papers, animal care pamphlets, book chapters, and major meeting presentations is, frankly, just too long to list.
A partial list of her committee and trustee roles, and professional associations includes:
- Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust (trustee) - a charity working in West Africa to reduce rural poverty in the Gambia through improving the health, welfare and productivity of all animals- especially working equids.
- British Equine Veterinary Association Trust (committee member)- BEVA trust provides equine veterinary volunteer support for projects that enhance equine welfare locally and globally through partnerships.
- Moor Trees (trustee)- a charity aiming to restore Dartmoor’s woodlands through planting and regeneration of native broadleaved trees.
- Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons – RCVS
- British Veterinary Association – BVA
- British Equine Veterinary Association – BEVA
- British Equine Veterinary Association (BEVA) Trust
Alex is extremely giving of her time to help people and donkeys, and she is the person that I go to when I need to find the answer to a donkey question. At this year’s DWS she will be presenting on how to deal with a recumbent donkey that cannot stand and the viral neurologic diseases that could put one of your donkeys in such a serious situation.