Professor Richard Allen, ‘Twink’, Aug. 1940 to June 2021

Professor W. R. Allen, Twink, the founding chairman of Vets for Hunting, which has now developed into VAWM, the Veterinary Association for Wildlife Management, died in hospital in Dubai after a short illness on June 6th.

Twink was internationally renowned for his veterinary and scientific expertise, his passion for all things related to mammalian reproduction and his devotion to educating younger colleagues.  He graduated from Sydney Veterinary School in 1965 and, following his move to the UK, completed a PhD degree at Cambridge University Veterinary School in 1970.  He then founded the Equine Fertility Unit, initially located in Cambridge and, from 1989 until its closure in 2007, in Newmarket.  He became the Jim Joel Professor of Equine Reproduction at the University of Cambridge in 1995, was awarded CBE in 2002 and received honours and awards from a wide range of prestigious institutions.  His work involved him in extensive international travel and he formed friendships and collaborations in many countries.  He was also awarded Honorary Doctorate degrees by the Universities of Krakow, Ghent and Helsinki.

Following his retirement from the Cambridge Chair, he established the Paul Mellon Laboratory of Equine Reproduction at his own premises in Newmarket.  With no thought whatsoever of retirement, in 2016, he accepted a post as Assistant Director of the Sharjah Equine Hospital, United Arab Emirates, where, assisted by Dr Sandra Wilsher, he was developing a range of modern reproductive technologies.  Throughout his entire career, his research interests focused on equine reproductive physiology and he lectured and published extensively on a wide variety of topics within this area, largely relating to endocrinology and immunology.  He held numerous honorary positions including those within the International Equine Reproduction Symposia Committee; Society for Study of Fertility; Reproduction Research Information Service; British Equine Veterinary Association; and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons.  It was his never-ending curiosity and quest for knowledge that led him to apply his experience and expertise to investigations in many other species, most notably the camel and the elephant.  As a result, he spent large amounts of time undertaking projects in Dubai and Africa.  With support from Sheikh Mohammed he founded the Dubai Camel Reproduction Unit.

A true horse lover, he hunted with the Thurlow hunt.  In 1997 when the Labour party supported a private member’s bill to ban hunting with hounds he was invited by the Countryside Movement to sit on the Phelps Committee to publish a Review of Hunting with Hounds.  A strong and thoughtful advocate of the humane management of wildlife populations with Dr Lewis Thomas he founded Vets for Hunting in 1999 to provide a balanced opinion on the benefits of hunting with hounds.  With Dr Thomas he provided evidence to the Burns Committee.  He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2007.  His many friends and colleagues will greatly miss his enthusiasm, his thirst for knowledge, his kindness and his great sense of humour.