Meet our conference speakers! Dr. Aysha Akhtar, Camille Labchuk & Dr. Jonathan Bloom

We are excited to introduce:

Dr. Aysha Akhtar, Camille Labchuk, & Dr. Jonathan Bloom!

The 2019 Ontario SPCA Educational Conference will bring together a variety of influential speakers and experts across different animal disciplines. Visit our website for more details on these and other exciting speakers and session topics. Register for Conference today to secure your spot!

Aysha Akhtar is a neurologist and public health specialist and is on a mission to show that what’s good for animals is also good for humans. Dr. Akhtar is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, is Deputy Director of the Army Traumatic Brain Injury Program, and serves as Lieutenant Commander in the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. You can learn more at her website, ayshaakhtar.com.

Dr. Akhtar is the author of, “Our Symphony With Animals. On Health, Empathy and Our Shared Destinies,” to be published May 7, 2019. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at conference – don’t miss your opportunity to have your book signed by Dr. Akhtar! You can also watch her TED talk, Do Animals Hold the Key to Your Health? where she discusses the connection between animal protection and human health.

Don’t miss Dr Akhtar’s session at Conference, Our Symphony with Animals. How Empathy for Animals is Vital to our Well-being.

“Combining medicine and social sciences, I will show how deeply the well-being of humans and animals are entwined. Through storytelling and science, I reveal what happens when we both break and forge bonds with animals. I will demonstrate how humans are neurologically designed to empathize with animals, and how violence against them goes against our nature. In equal measure, the love and friendship we give to other species biologically reverberates back to us.”

Camille Labchuk is an animal rights lawyer and Executive Director of Animal Justice—Canada’s only animal law advocacy organization.

Camille’s work includes intervening in court cases to protect and enhance animals’ legal interests; false advertising complaints against companies making misleading humane claims; documenting Canada’s commercial seal slaughter; and exposing hidden suffering behind the closed doors farms and zoos through undercover investigations. Camille also has a strong interest in defending and protecting the rights of animal advocates.

At Conference, Camille will be discussing, Making legal progress for animals: From sentience to personhood, and everything in between.

Dr. Bloom, Medical Director of Willowdale Animal Hospital, is a veterinary graduate of the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph. After completing advanced training at the University of Illinois, he returned to veterinary practice in Toronto in the Willowdale Group. His special areas of interest include preventive healthcare, early disease detection screening, and emergency medicine. For his leadership in progressive veterinary healthcare, he now appears in veterinary journals worldwide, podcasts, webinars, and is sought after as a speaker at international meetings and in the United States, including the leading veterinary conferences such as NAVC/VMX, CVC (Fetch), AVMA, AAHA, Chicagoland Veterinary Conference and at regional association meetings. He sits as an active member on the Fear Free Advisory Board. He speaks and consults on how exemplary customer service and client perception can influence the quality of care owners provide their pets and the impact that veterinarians have on pet owning families, and is a widely recognized speaker on Fear Free.

For more details on all of our speakers and sessions, visit our Speakers Page and check out the Conference Agenda.