David C Henderson began his working life as a hill shepherd in Cumberland and, after attending Kirkley Hall Farm Institute in Northumberland, as a farm foreman in Lincolnshire. After qualifying from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies in Edinburgh, he worked in farm animal veterinary practices, mainly in the West Country. He was senior lecturer in animal health at Seale-Hayne Agricultural College in Devon and later a field research and development officer for a major pharmaceutical company. From 1984 until his retirement in 1999 he was Head of the Department of Clinical Studies and Director of Farms at the Moredun Research Institute in Edinburgh. David has been both President and Honorary Treasurer of the Sheep Veterinary Society, a visiting lecturer at the veterinary schools in Glasgow and Edinburgh, an external examiner at London and Glasgow veterinary schools, a chief examiner for the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons and consultant to a large beef and sheep enterprise in the eastern United States of America. He holds a BSAS/RSPCA award for Innovative Developments in Animal Welfare (2000), is an Associate of the Royal Agricultural Societies and is currently a member of the Farm Animal Welfare Council.