Short Bio: Monique graduated from Utrecht University in 1998, and started her career as a small animal veterinary surgeon in The Netherlands. In 2008 she sold her clinic and started working as an independent project manager and consultant. She has set up a new Continuous Professional Development (CPD) organisation for companion animal veterinarians at Utrecht University in the Netherlands and she also works as a veterinary adviser for NGO’s with a focus on animal welfare. Monique has been involved in veterinary politics in Europe for many years, first representing The Netherlands Association for Companion Animal Vets at European level and later on as a FECAVA board member. She is the past president of the Federation of European Companion Animal Veterinary Associations (FECAVA), having served as its president from October 2013 to October 2015. Currently she is member of the joint Union of European Veterinary Practitioners (UEVP) & Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) Animal Welfare Working Group, in which she is involved in the companion animal topics. She was responsible for the joint FVE/UEVP/FECAVA position paper on stray dogs, the position paper on dog trade and recently the position paper on the responsible breeding of dogs. Monique has been a speaker on these topics at many European conferences. Monique has a passion for companion animal welfare. She dedicates much of her time to help raise awareness, to liaise between stakeholders and to help ensure companion animal welfare is high on the international agenda.