Zulfikar Basrul Gandong is a veterinarian focusing on animal welfare. He actively speaks in seminars and become advisor to organizations, educating people about animal welfare in the community—a field that’s relatively new in Indonesia, so Zulfikar helps creating a safe environment for animals, changes the way people treat animals to be more humane, and ushers in new curriculum and legislation in animal welfare science and animal welfare in disaster management. The education and advisory that Zulfikar does creates a ripple effect that affect the community and government at large. In the community, people are more aware to take sick animals to the veterinarian, perform street feeding, stop illegal animal trading, while in the government area, helps ensure a more humane slaughter and animal security in disaster situations for years to come. In the education sector, the works of Zulfikar initiates collaboration across fields beyond veterinarian science—from biology, psychology, to law that will benefit many fields in the future.
The education in Animal Welfare, Ethics, and Law from University of Glasgow helps elevate Zulfikar’s career in veterinary science and advisory since it opens doors and opportunities beyond what was possible as a veterinarian. Zulfikar is able to work for NGOs and corporations to advise them on how to treat animals in a more compassionate way, creating a strategic advisory role for him. He specifically chose to study in the UK because of the distinctive studies of animal welfare in the UK, particularly because it involves ethics and law as well. Zulfikar enters UK Alumni Awards to enlighten people about his studies in animal welfare and to share about the comprehensive approach of UK education.