Bree Merritt
BSc BVMS PGDipCABC FHEA MSc (Vet Epi) MRCVS
PhD Student
Department: Clinical Science and Services
Research Groups: CPCS (Research Programme)
Research Centres: RVC Animal Welfare Science and Ethics
Bree is a PhD student researching rehoming and reselling of dogs over 16 weeks old in the commercial and private sectors, and how this rehoming or reselling affects canine welfare. Her PhD is funded by Dogs Trust. She is supervised by Dr Rowena Packer, Dr Dan O’Neill, Dr Zoe Belshaw, and Dr Kirsten McMillan.
Bree joined the ÌÇÐÄvlogÊÓƵ in 2018 as lead shelter medicine clinician at Woodgreen Pets Charity. In 2023 she began her PhD studies to develop her research interests in the welfare of rehoming pets.
Bree graduated as a Veterinary Surgeon from Murdoch University in 1998 and worked in companion animal practice in the UK for 25 years. Much of her clinical practice was in the field of shelter medicine at the RSPCA, University of Nottingham and then the RVC: working with individual animals and at population level to improve health and welfare of companion animals in multi-animal sites. At universities she worked with both national and small local rehoming charity partners delivering veterinary services and clinical teaching. She was secretary of the Association of Charity Vets from 2018 – 2023.
In 2008, she was awarded a Post Graduate Diploma in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling (Distinction) from the University of Southampton, and in 2021 became a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Bree achieved a MSc in Veterinary Epidemiology (Distinction) from the RVC and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 2023. Her MSc thesis was supervised by Dr Dan O’Neill working with the RVC Pandemic Puppies Research Programme and examined owners’ bonds with their dogs who were acquired as puppies in 2020.
Bree delivered workplace-based shelter medicine and primary care clinical teaching of final-year veterinary students from 2015 - 2023. She has helped supervise undergraduate projects and has facilitated undergraduate teaching in statistics and evidence-based practice.
Bree led a shelter medicine Continuing Professional Development webinar-plus series for RVC in 2023.
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Pre-owned pooches: Characterising commercial and private re-homing and re-selling systems for dogs aged > 16 weeks in the UK and implications for canine welfare
People: Rowena Packer, Dan O'Neill, Bree Merritt
Vet Compass Project Type: Dog
This PhD project will explore the re-sale of dogs over 16 weeks old that are sold through online advertisements in the UK: the demographics of dogs advertised; the demographics, motivations, and experiences of their sellers and buyers; and how the UK public perceives the online re-sale of dogs compared to other rehoming options.
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RVC Pandemic Puppies Research Programme (In Progress)
People: Rowena Packer, Dan O'Neill, Claire Brand, Kim Stevens, Bree Merritt
Vet Compass Project Type: Dog, Pandemic Puppies
The ÌÇÐÄvlogÊÓƵ (RVC) is calling for respondents for its survey on puppy buying experiences both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic