Dr Candy d'Sa BSc(Hons) MSc PhD
I have an Honours degree in Biology (1991) from the University of Paisley. For my dissertation, I studied the behaviour and ecology of captive Arctic foxes within a wildlife park in Dunbartonshire, Scotland. I have a Masters degree in Wildlife Management & Control (1995) from the University of Reading, and spent eight months working on the endangered Canadian swift fox captive breeding and reintroduction programme in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Canada in order to produce my dissertation. A position as a field biologist with Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) included a year working in Italy for a television company researching for a documentary on domestic and wild dogs. I went on to carry out demographic and behavioural studies of the critically endangered Ethiopian wolf in the Bale Mountains National Park, southern Ethiopia, and implemented a vaccination programme for sympatric semi-feral domestic dogs, in conjunction with the Ethiopian Wolf Conservation Programme, WildCRU, the IUCN Canid Specialist Group and the Born Free Foundation.
I hold a PhD from the University of Southampton (2003) for my research on dominance and hierarchies in feral farm cats. I also worked as a dog behaviourist for the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD) in Geneva, Switzerland. This included field trips to Afghanistan and Cambodia, to improve the quality and performance of landmine detection dogs. For the past eight years I have worked as an Animal Behaviour Consultant and Expert Witness on matters concerning animal behaviour and welfare, largely with Dr Roger Mugford's Animal Behaviour Centre based in Chertsey, Surrey and the University of Southampton's Animal Behaviour Clinic. I am a Member of the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors (APBC) and a Member of the IUCN Canid Specialist Group. I have held the position of Assistant Editor of the online journal Canid News since 2001, reviewing and publishing articles on wild canids (wolves, jackals, foxes and dogs).
While working with Dr Roger Mugford's Animal Behaviour Centre I attended national shows such as Crufts and Discover Dogs as well as scientific conferences such as the British Small Animal Veterinary Association Congress, giving advice to pet owners and veterinary staff and selling pet products. I have given CPD talks and presentations to veterinary staff on behavioural problems. I also feature regularly on radio, most notably BBC7's former The Big Toe Radio Show for children, and more recently on BBC Radio Solent as their Animal Behaviour expert, previously on the Mike Powell Sunday Show and currently the Saturday Breakfast Show with Sasha Twining.