About Dominic

Dominic says: “ I consider myself very fortunate to work in the animal welfare sector, I have been fascinated by animals for as long as I can remember and feel, passionately, that we must treat them with care, compassion, understanding and respect at all times. I have also been lucky enough to work with and get to know many amazing people who work or volunteer in the sector and share this common aim.”

Dominic graduated from the Faculty of Laws at University College London in 1984 and worked as a solicitor in London at Royds Treadwell (now RWK Goodman) for over ten years before joining Cats Protection in 1999 as Head of Legal Services, later as Director of Legal Services and Estates and, in recent years, as Interim Chief Executive of Cats Protection for a combined period of two years.

Dominic specialises in: Animal welfare law; Charity law, governance and compliance; and property law in relation to charities.

Dominic also has extensive experience in a wide range of legal matters that affect charities including: fundraising regulation; legacy administration; trading; data protection; Health and Safety; dispute resolution; and, the law in respect of volunteering.

In his time at Cats Protection, Dominic helped to steer the Charity through major governance changes and through many difficult challenges and crises that all charities face from time to time. Dominic has sat on a number of Charity Commission working groups and helped, for example, to develop the Commission’s guidance on Public benefit and the Advancement of Animal Welfare as a charitable purpose under the Charities Act 2011.

Like Maggie, Dominic has worked with various sector bodies and with Defra and its equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland on animal welfare legislation including the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Animal Welfare Acts in the devolved administrations.

More recently, Dominic has also worked with Maggie on the long awaited secondary legislation made under the Animal Welfare Acts including the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations in each UK nation.

These changes to animal welfare law, including the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 which recognises animals as sentient beings, aim to raise standards of welfare throughout the UK and are to be welcomed but local authorities and other enforcement agencies have limited resources to enforce the legislation; this is where animal welfare organisations of all sizes can play a vital role in raising their own standards of welfare and those of others who keep or care for animals.

By combining our legal, veterinary and charity experience, we can help you to build your organisation and have a lasting impact on animal welfare.

Away from work, Dominic has many interests including Cricket, the Arts and Paleoanthropology and enjoys walking in the South Downs.