NO STRESS. Improving Animal Welfare in the Clinic: Evidence-Based Approaches and Practices

Tuulia Appleby

Tuulia Appleby (DVM, PGDip CABC) — Veterinary Clinician & Companion Animal Behaviour Counsellor 

Tuulia graduated from the University of Zürich in 2002. While working as a clinician, she completed a postgraduate Diploma in Companion Animal Behaviour Counselling at the University of Southampton (2008).

She is currently based in Finland, where she works at the Kpedu vocational college. There, she oversees the small animal practice and teaches veterinary nurses, animal trainers, and veterinarians. Her teaching and clinical work emphasize calm, gentle, and low-stress handling of patients.

Alongside her passion for dogs, Tuulia has a particular fondness for cats and horses — and her home naturally includes representatives of each species.

Laura Kiiroja

Laura Kiiroja (PhD) — Ethologist & Human–Animal Interaction Researcher

Laura Kiiroja is an ethologist specialising in animal behaviour, human–animal relationships, and communication. Her academic path began at the University of Tartu, where her Bachelor’s and Master’s research explored the socialisation of captive wild canids with humans. Her research had an applied focus, including hand-raising red foxes in Norway and grey wolves in Germany. She earned her PhD in 2024 at Dalhousie University (Canada), focusing on assistance dogs for people with PTSD and dogs’ scent-based detection of PTSD episodes. Alongside research, Laura has extensive international field experience with both wild and domestic animals, and she is actively involved in wolf-related initiatives in Estonia. Since 2018, she has also developed a strong focus on cat behaviour and welfare, delivering courses and consultations and teaching university-level modules in anthrozoology and cat wellbeing.

Anu Poopuu

Anu Poopuu (DVM) — Veterinarian & Behavioural Medicine Clinician

Anu Poopuu is an Estonian veterinarian with a long-standing focus on animal behaviour, welfare, and reducing fear and stress in clinical settings. She graduated as a veterinarian in 2001 and began her clinical career in 2004, alongside extensive experience in sport and working-dog training. Since 2014, she has pursued advanced continuing education in behavioural medicine, including a 10-month distance programme through the University of Sydney’s Veterinary Education Centre.

Anu works as a veterinarian at Timmu Loomakliinik and sees behavioural medicine patients through Käitumiskliinik.ee. Outside the clinic, she enjoys orienteering, hiking, canicross, and running.

Eleanor Girgis

Eleanor Girgis (BVM&S, PGC (Clinical Animal Behaviour), AFHEA, MRCVS, Ella MacGregor Legacy Resident in Equine Behavioural Medicine University of Edinburgh Equine Hospital) — Veterinarian & Equine Behaviour Specialist

Eleanor graduated from the University of Edinburgh in 2021 and has since gained a broad experience in providing for both the physical and emotional needs of her patients in a variety of settings, including within equine hospitals, first opinion ambulatory settings, and within equine charity practice. Eleanor completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Clinical Animal Behaviour in 2024 and is now undertaking a residency in Equine Behavioural Medicine at the University of Edinburgh Equine Hospital, where she is training under the supervision of Dr Gemma Pearoson. 

Eleanor enjoys all aspects of veterinary medicine, but her particular areas of interest are the provision of low stress veterinary care, the relationship between pain and behaviour and human behaviour change for animal welfare. She also has a strong interest in research, with her first study focusing on how equestrian’s understanding of learning theory relates to their response to problematic behaviour, and an ongoing project exploring the complex link between pain and behaviour.

Renate Larssen

Renate Larssen (BVM, MSc) — Veterinarian & Equine Ethologist

Renate Larssen is an ethologist specialized in equine behavior. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Veterinary Medicine from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and a Master’s degree in Applied Ethology from Linköping University. In 2020-2022 she was Chair of the Swedish Association of Academic Ethologists. 

She provides advice to owners, veterinarians, breeders and equine charities on how to understand horses and design environments and interventions from the horses’ perspective. She is frequently consulted by international media and is invited to give lectures and presentations on equine behavior around the world. She has researched the impact of different training methods on the horse-human relationship and is currently finalizing her multi-disciplinary PhD research which explores history from the perspective of the animals.

Lea Tummeleht

Lea Tummeleht (PhD) — Ethologist & Animal Behaviour Researcher

Lea started her academic life in studying the health and behaviour of wild living passerine birds and acquired her PhD in animal ecology at the Tartu University. At the moment, she is a researcher and lecturer at the Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences at Estonian University of Life Sciences, where she teaches ethology and some seminars in animal behaviour basics for clinicians. 

She cannot help it, but all the roads lead to dogs. Her passions include the emotional wellbeing of domestic dogs and high drive functional working dogs. Besides work at the University, Lea consults and teaches about dogs’ problematic behaviours and scent detection. Her free time is occupied by her five optimistic but overly active dogs she trains on scent detection.

Erle Lemmet

Erle Lemmet (DVM) — Veterinarian & Animal Behaviour Enthusiast

Erle completed her veterinary medicine studies in 2022 in Estonian University of Life Sciences and has been working as a general practitioner since then. During her veterinary studies, Erle completed the International Society of Feline Medicine Cat Friendly Professional training and approaches each cat individually, always prioritizing their specific needs. As a general practitioner, she advises both cat and exotic pet owners on basic needs and optimizing living environments.
In her free time, Erle continues to work on various technical projects as a hobby and is rediscovering the enjoyable world of running. Her first education was actually in the field of engineering, which gave her a strong ability to think algorithmically — something she still uses daily in her work as a veterinarian.
 

David Arney

David Arney (MSc, PhD) — Professor in Animal Welfare

David has gained PhD in Animal Science in 1999 in University of Wales. Since then, he has been a part of many research groups, including animal welfare group at Cambridge University, and has been exploring the welfare of livestock as his main field of interest, as well as ethics of our exploitation of animals in a wider context. David is currently a professor in Animal Welfare in Estonian University of Life Sciences and a representative in many international animal welfare associations, including EFSA, FELASA, ISAH and UFAW.

His abundant life experience includes jobs like farm worker, London market stall holder, running a music club, administrator in a criminal court and miner.

Valentina Oborina

Valentina Oborina (DVM) — Emergency Veterinarian & Head of Small Animal Clinic of Estonian University of Life Sciences

Valentina is a senior veterinarian and the Head of the Small Animal Clinic at the Estonian University of Life Sciences. Her role encompasses patient care alongside the organizational and quality development of the clinic. She specializes in small animal emergency and intensive care, as well as vector-borne diseases in dogs.

Beyond her clinical duties, Valentina teaches emergency medicine and parasitology, bridging the gap between practical experience and modern science. Her approach is guided by the "One Health" concept, a dedication to teamwork, and the use of evidence-based medicine in all clinical decisions.

Tiina Toomet

Tiina Toomet (DVM) — Veterinarian & Private Practice Owner

Tiina Toomet’s journey began in Tartu in 1978 with a dream of helping animals at any cost. While early internships on large-scale farms showed her that industrial agriculture wasn't the right fit for her. After a period working in a veterinary laboratory, the opening of the Iron Curtain allowed her to train in Finland — an experience that led her to open her own practice, the Tiina Toomet Clinic, in 1992. 

In recent years, animal behavior has become her primary area of interest. She runs puppy schools, offers behavioral consultations, and has completed numerous international training courses and received mentorship from the world-renowned Australian specialist Kersti Seksel. Tiina is an author of several books on cats and dogs and hosts the bi-weekly podcast "Loomaarst taskus" (Vet in Your Pocket). Currently, she dedicates most of her time to animal welfare as a member of the Estonian Veterinary Association’s working group on the topic.

Toomas Tiirats

Toomas Tiirats (DVM, PhD) — Veterinarian & Director of Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science

Toomas has gained veterinary medicine degree in 1987 Tartu and has practiced as a veterinarian specializing in production animals. He has been working as director of the Institute of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences at the Estonian University of Life Sciences since September 2016. He is responsible for the overall operations of the Institute, including organization of teaching at all levels of higher education and further training, as well as research and innovation in the field of veterinary medicine, animal sciences, and food technology.

He has undertaken postgraduate research in the area of dairy cow metabolism at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and since 2007 has been engaged in different international projects as consultant on veterinary professional issues like education, the quality of veterinary services, and organization of veterinary institutions, including long-term commitments in Tajikistan and in Georgia.