Dr Samantha Gaines

Dr Samantha Gaines is the Acting Head of the Companion Animals Department at the RSPCA. She joined in 2009 and manages a team of scientific officers who provide scientific and technical advice and information on companion animal behaviour and welfare. She has expertise in a variety of issues which affect the welfare of dogs kept as pets, for working purposes and those used in sport.

Prior to working at the RSPCA and after gaining an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare, Sam worked as a research scientist for the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. She was involved in various projects studying the behaviour, performance and welfare of working dogs. As well as this she was awarded her PhD thesis in 2008 from the University of Bristol which studied the effects of housing and husbandry of the welfare of kennelled dogs.