30 July 2025

University professor recognised by RSPCA Assured for having “made significant contributions to improving the lives of farm animals in the UK”

A professor of animal health and welfare, who has worked as a trustee for RSPCA Assured for the last decade, has been awarded the charity’s prestigious Queen Victoria Silver Medal.

Professor David Main, who is Pro Vice-Chancellor, Academic Planning and Resources, at the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) in Cirencester, has been given the award in recognition of his work as a core member of the RSPCA Assured Board and the charity he had “made significant contributions to improving the lives of farm animals in the UK”. 

Having originally trained and practised as a veterinary surgeon, Professor Main worked at Bristol Veterinary School before joining the RAU as Professor of Animal Health and Welfare in 2018, becoming Pro Vice-Chancellor in 2022. He has also recently completed his tenure as Chair of the Home Office Animals in Science Committee. 

He said: “I am really delighted to have received this award as a reflection of my passion for the values of RSPCA Assured in driving animal welfare.

“Having completed my tenure as a Board member, I am looking forward to supporting the Assured programme as it delivers its strategic ambition to achieve 50% of UK production in RSPCA Assured membership.”

Vice Chair of RSPCA Assured, and former Chair of the RSPCA, Rene Oliveri said: “David has played a central role in the development of AssureWel, a collaboration between the RSPCA and the Soil Association that introduced welfare outcomes into certification schemes.

“Similarly, he was a lead investigator for the Healthy Feet Project that has been widely adopted by the UK dairy industry, and also project co-ordinator for Hennovation, an EU H2020 project that pioneered participatory approaches to innovation in the laying hen sector.

“Both AssureWel and Healthy Feet have led not just to dramatic improvements in the lived experiences of generations of farmed animals, but to paradigm shifts in the way the food and farming sector measures animal welfare.”

Helen Browning, Chief Executive of the Soil Association and an Honorary Fellow of the RAU, added: “David has been a powerful and effective advocated for farm animal welfare for decades. His special contribution has been through professional knowledge and an evidence-led approach.

"He has championed breakthrough work on welfare outcome assessments and projects, such as dairy lameness, which take a holistic view of the factors that can drive improvements. I’ve learned much from working with him.”

Dame Fiona Reynolds is the Chair of the RAU’s Governing Council and a Life Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. She said: “As Pro Vice-Chancellor at the RAU, David has led wholesale reviews of our academic curriculum – including, but wider than, his academic specialism as a veterinary scientist – to ensure that it fully embraces 21st century ambitions for sustainability, animal welfare, and climate and nature resilience.


“He’s an inspiring teacher and an academic who has breathed new life into the institution, transforming the RAU’s hitherto conventional approaches to teaching and research and creating a vibrant, energetic, curious environment in which students, teachers, and researchers flourish.”