02 April 2009

Brooke announces appointment of new Chairman

Major General Peter Davies CB, has been appointed as the new Chairman for the UK’s leading overseas equine welfare charity, the Brooke. He will be joining in September and will take over from David Jones who was appointed acting Chairman following the death of Hilary Weir in November 2008. Hilary had previously served as the Brooke’s Chair since 2002.

Peter was selected for his extensive experience, both as Chairman and in his role on the Board of Directors for a number of high profile animal charities, including World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), where he was Director General for seven years and the RSPCA, where he served as Director General for 11 years. He has also held many voluntary posts at other charities including Eurogroup for Animal Welfare, Animals in War Memorial Fund and Flora for Fauna.   

Peter already has a strong sense of the Brooke’s work and ambitions, due to the Brooke’s position as a leading member society of WSPA. There has been significant collaboration between the two charities, including joint funding of overseas projects.

Peter said: “I am delighted to be taking up this role. I believe my experience within the international animal welfare sector will contribute to the Brooke’s ground-breaking work in improving the welfare of working animals across the world, and help the charity achieve its five year goal of improving the lives of two million animals most in need”.

This year is the Brooke’s 75th anniversary marking its expansion from a small clinic in Cairo to an international lifesaver, working in poor communities across ten countries and employing over 850 people worldwide.

Working horses and donkeys toil in some of the world’s toughest environments, and support, on average, a family of five people or more. The Brooke provides care and treatment along with education and training to promote good animal welfare and show communities how to care for the animals on which their lives depend.