Uploaded October 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
On the third and final day of our Centre's European Animal Rights Law Conference 2025, we held a panel with Panel with Ruud Tombrock (Humane Society International), Richard Ryder (psychologist and animal rights advocate), and David Bilchitz (Professor of Law, University of Johannesburg and Reading) during our 'Past lessons and future prospects' block.
About the panelists:
Dr David Bilchitz is a Professor of Law at the University of Johannesburg and the University of Reading. He served as an Acting Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa to May 2024. He is Vice-President of the International Association of Constitutional Law. Prof Bilchitz has written seminal articles on the status and legal entitlements of animals in South Africa. He is a director of Animal Law Reform South Africa and has co-taught the first course on animal law in South Africa. His presentation was titled 'Can the Gap Between Animal Rights and Animal Welfare Legislation Be Bridged? A Perspective From the Law Reform Process in South Africa'.
Ruud Tombrock is the Executive Director of Humane World for Animals-Europe, one of the world's largest animal protection organizations. He leads the organization's EU-wide work on improving legal protections for animals, with a focus on issues such as animal testing and farm animal welfare. Under his leadership, the European branch grew from a one-person office to a multi-country operation with over 30 staff and campaigns in eight EU member states. He is a leading voice in European animal protection. His presentation was on 'Lobbying for the Voiceless: How We Push for Legal Change in the EU in a Shifting Political Landscape'.
Dr Richard Ryder read experimental psychology at Cambridge, receiving a PhD in political & social sciences. He was an RSPCA Trustee for 50 years, founded Eurogroup, worked for IFAW and played a leading role in stopping the hunting of hounds. He wrote a dozen books on animal protection and coined the words 'speciesism' and 'painism', now in many dictionaries. He was involved in 56 Animal Welfare Legislative reforms in UK and EU, becoming President of the RSPCA in 2019. Dr Ryder presented on 'A Modern Basis for Ethics'.
The Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law is an academic centre dedicated to the study, understanding and promotion of fundamental rights for non-human animals, based in Cambridge, UK. Find more information at animalrightslaw.org
The views expressed in these presentations are those of the respective speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law.
On the third and final day of our Centre's European Animal Rights Law Conference 2025, we held a panel with Panel with Ruud Tombrock (Humane Society International), Richard Ryder (psychologist and animal rights advocate), and David Bilchitz (Professor of Law, University of Johannesburg and Reading) during our 'Past lessons and future prospects' block.
About the panelists:
Dr David Bilchitz is a Professor of Law at the University of Johannesburg and the University of Reading. He served as an Acting Justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa to May 2024. He is Vice-President of the International Association of Constitutional Law. Prof Bilchitz has written seminal articles on the status and legal entitlements of animals in South Africa. He is a director of Animal Law Reform South Africa and has co-taught the first course on animal law in South Africa. His presentation was titled 'Can the Gap Between Animal Rights and Animal Welfare Legislation Be Bridged? A Perspective From the Law Reform Process in South Africa'.
Ruud Tombrock is the Executive Director of Humane World for Animals-Europe, one of the world's largest animal protection organizations. He leads the organization's EU-wide work on improving legal protections for animals, with a focus on issues such as animal testing and farm animal welfare. Under his leadership, the European branch grew from a one-person office to a multi-country operation with over 30 staff and campaigns in eight EU member states. He is a leading voice in European animal protection. His presentation was on 'Lobbying for the Voiceless: How We Push for Legal Change in the EU in a Shifting Political Landscape'.
Dr Richard Ryder read experimental psychology at Cambridge, receiving a PhD in political & social sciences. He was an RSPCA Trustee for 50 years, founded Eurogroup, worked for IFAW and played a leading role in stopping the hunting of hounds. He wrote a dozen books on animal protection and coined the words 'speciesism' and 'painism', now in many dictionaries. He was involved in 56 Animal Welfare Legislative reforms in UK and EU, becoming President of the RSPCA in 2019. Dr Ryder presented on 'A Modern Basis for Ethics'.
The Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law is an academic centre dedicated to the study, understanding and promotion of fundamental rights for non-human animals, based in Cambridge, UK. Find more information at animalrightslaw.org
The views expressed in these presentations are those of the respective speakers and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law.
