Janet Douglas, MA, Vet MB, MSc, PhD, AFHEA

After qualifying as a veterinarian from the University of Cambridge in England, Janet Douglas completed an internship at the University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center. She then returned to the U.K. and worked at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket, where she specialized in equine orthopedics and was fortunate to learn from Dr. Sue Dyson.

She subsequently completed an MSc and a PhD at the University of Guelph, in Ontario, Canada. Douglas has taught veterinary undergraduates and graduates at the Universities of Liverpool and Nottingham and horse owners through the University of Guelph’s open education program, having co-developed the revised Equine Functional Anatomy course.

She currently works primarily for World Horse Welfare. This NGO works both within the U.K. and internationally to educate horse owners, influence government policy, conduct research, and provide care for equids that are used in many roles, from working equids to elite sport. Douglas also has an honorary position at the veterinary school at the University of Nottingham. Additionally, she is treasurer of the International Society of Equitation Science and is on the Horsemanship Committee of Pony Club UK.

Douglas works primarily on the issue of social license to operate as it relates to equestrianism, from grassroots level to elite sport. She is also interested in all aspects of equine welfare—anything we can do to make the experience of the domesticated/ridden horse more positive.

You may contact Douglas at janetdouglas@cantab.net.

Douglas’ Recent Research

Pearson G, Douglas J, Wolframm I, Furtado T. Used like Pawns or Treated like Kings? How Narratives around Racehorse Welfare in the 2023 Grand National May Affect Public Acceptance: An Informed Commentary. Animals 2023;13(19):3137. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13193137

Wolframm WA, Douglas J, Pearson G. Changing Hearts and Minds in the Equestrian World One Behaviour at a Time. Animals 2023;13(4):748. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13040748

Douglas J, Owers R, Campbell MLH. Social Licence to Operate: What Can Equestrian Sports Learn from Other Industries? Animals 2022;12(15):1987. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12151987

Furtado T, Preshaw L, Hockenhull J, Wathan J, Douglas J, Horseman S, et al. How Happy Are Equine Athletes? Stakeholder Perceptions of Equine Welfare Issues Associated with Equestrian Sport. Animals (Basel). 2021;11(11):3228. https://doi.10.3390/ani11113228

Dyson S, Ellis AD, Mackechnie‐Guire R, Douglas J, Bondi A, Harris P. The influence of rider:horse bodyweight ratio and rider‐horse‐saddle fit on equine gait and behaviour: A pilot study. (2019) Equine Veterinary Education; https://doi.org/10.1111/eve.13085