MITCHAM VETERINARY CLINIC
Duncan Davidson BVMS, MRCVS
CV – Legal & Media
I am Duncan Leslie Davidson, Veterinary Surgeon, of Mitcham Veterinary Clinic, 4, Upper Green East, Mitcham, Surrey. I am a graduate of Glasgow University Veterinary School (1975) and a Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. I have been working as a general practitioner in mainly small-animal and equine practice since my graduation.
I have been principal of Mitcham Veterinary Clinic since its foundation in 1985. This is a busy first opinion general veterinary practice in a London suburb, and has been an approved training and assessment centre for veterinary nurses, in which I still consult more or less full-time. I also run a behavioural clinic and take referrals from other veterinary surgeons for the veterinary treatment and modification of behaviour problems, in all domestic species. I frequently provide expert evidence in cases involving aggressive behaviour in dogs, either in the criminal courts, under the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991) and other legislation, or in the civil courts, in cases of serious injury caused by aggressive dogs and also in cases of human fatalities and serious injuries due to the behaviour of dogs and other animals, including cattle and horses, usually involving the Animals Act (1971).
I have given independent expert evidence to Courts at all levels for almost 20 years in many hundreds of cases involving the assessment of dogs, usually under the guidelines of Regina -v- Knightsbridge Crown Court ex parte Dunne, Brock -v- Director of Public Prosecutions (1993), which are suspected to be illegal under Section One of the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991), instructed both by the police and the CPS, and by those who represent Defendants. I also present behavioural assessments on dogs under Section 4 of the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991).
For the past thirty-three years, I have also frequently undertaken forensic veterinary medical and surgical cases at the request of the RSPCA, various police forces throughout the UK, government bodies including the Home Office, numerous local authorities, and many solicitors and barristers.
As an expert or professional witness, I have given written and oral evidence to courts at all levels including Magistrates Courts, Crown Courts, County Courts and the High Court on matters of animal welfare, cruelty, injuries sustained to animals, injuries sustained by humans from animals, dangerous animals, and all aspects of veterinary medicine, surgery and pathology, including forensic veterinary medicine and pathology, behavioural forensics and professional negligence. I have given evidence before government committees on the Dangerous Dogs Act (1991) and its amendments, and on the Animal Welfare Act (2006).
I am an Official Veterinary Surgeon appointed by my own local authority, the London Borough of Merton, for all matters involving Environmental and Public Health, and also advise many other local authorities throughout the UK on an occasional basis on similar aspects. For approximately twenty years, I was a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons panel of Riding Establishments Inspectors.
I am a frequent contributor to the dog and cat press, to the specialised veterinary press, and to local and national media on all aspects of animal care, veterinary matters, and behavioural topics.
I have been a Regional Officer, Council Member, and a member of the Advisory and Management Committee of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association. I am a founder member of the London Veterinary Forum. I am a member of the American Veterinary Society for Animal Behavior.
I am a founder member and Council Member of the British Veterinary Forensic and Law Association, and a member of the UK Register of Expert Witnesses, and am recognized as an expert by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers. I have undertaken a recognized training course provided for medical and other experts by the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers on Single Joint Expert protocol and Lord Woolf's reforms to the Civil Law system. I have been instructed on several occasions as a SJE in civil cases concerning personal injury caused by animals, and in other veterinary matters.
I therefore am competent to comment on all legal aspects of any cases within the fields of my expertise outlined above.
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Last revised 30 September 2010