Anne McBride BSc., PhD., Cert.Cons., FRSA

Anne has been involved with rabbits since a child. She was so intrigued by this biologically unique species that she studied rabbit social and parental behaviour for her doctoral thesis. This involved monitoring behaviour both in captivity and in their ancestral home of Southern Spain. Anne has written two books on rabbits and their behaviour: ‘Rabbits and Hares’ and more recently ‘Why Does My Rabbit….?’

Anne has been a practising pet behaviourist since 1986 and a member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors since 1990. She has run clinics in London and the South and now is the non-veterinary behaviourist at the Animal Behaviour Clinic at the University of Southampton, where she sees dog, cat and rabbit behaviour cases on veterinary referral. She has run the postgraduate Diploma/ MSc course in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling at the University of Southampton since it began in 1994. She has appeared on television and radio programmes related to animal behaviour. She is also involved with various groups, such as the Pet Advisory Group and the Companion Animal Welfare Council where she has contributed to discussions regarding rabbit welfare. She was a co-founder of HOPE, the Homeless Owners with Pets charitable project. She is a member of the International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ), Companion Animal Behaviour Therapy Study Group (CABTSG), the European Society for Companion Veterinary Ethology (ESCVE) and the Society for Companion Animal Studies (SCAS).

Though the rabbit is the third most popular mammalian pet, Anne believes that it is poorly understood and many problem behaviours seen in this animal are resolvable, or preventable. It was with this thought in mind that she, Emma and Georgie decided to set up the Rabbit Behaviour Advisory Group.