Dr. Rachel Shaw: Building a Culture of Care

Dr. Rachel Shaw believes animal welfare starts with community. In this episode of (C) Suite Talks, the CEO of Animal Welfare Abu Dhabi reflects on nearly 20 years of veterinary work in the UAE and the responsibility of building systems that protect animals while empowering people to be part of the solution. 

In just over 15 minutes, she shares how compassion, patience, and clear decision-making guide her leadership, from community cat care to pet registration readiness, and why the future of animal welfare depends on public awareness, practical action, and a culture of care.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

I don't have too many animals. I'm very conscious that I only take on what I can make provisions for. But I do have at the moment three special needs cats. One special needs dog, two foster cats for animal welfare abadabi, a foster rabbit, some fish that I acquired that were stray, believe it or not, and an axolotal that I rehoped that his welfare wasn't so good. So I attend to them first, and then I'll walk the dock just to get my morning pressure.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

I'm Janette.

SPEAKER_03 0:40

I'm Derek Zeno from the Alkotomi Foundation.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Welcome to Seat Suite Talk, a podcast about what it really means to lead.

SPEAKER_03 0:48

We're talking to the people behind the titles to hear their stories, lessons, and a few surprises along the way.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Because leadership is more than just the court officers, it's personal.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Welcome, Dr. Rachel Shaw, the CEO of Animal Welfare Abu Dhabi. It's such a pleasure to have you on the podcast. How are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 1:35

Well, that was a lovely introduction, thank you. It also made me feel slightly aged to know how long I've been in Abu Dhabi for, but it is correct. 20 years and it passed quickly. And I'm doing great today, thank you. And it's so nice to be here, and thank you to you guys for coming all this way to allow us the opportunity to partake in the podcast today.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

No, thank you, uh Dr. Rachel. We're very excited to be here, and in some ways, this feels like a full circle moment for us. Back in 2021, the Alcastamy Foundation published some of the earliest research on animal welfare in the UAE, helping bring more attention to the issue. And now to be sitting down with someone leading that work in practice feels especially meaningful. And that brings us quite naturally to your own path into this work. Dr. Rachel, you are one of the most experienced veterinarians practicing in the UAE today, in addition to being the CEO of Animal Welfare Abadhabi. Launched in 2025 as a licensed nonprofit, AWAT's mission is to strengthen animal welfare across the Emirate through a variety of programs such as the Community Cat Care Program, Animal Welfare Educational Program, and Positive Standards, the latter of which aims to improve welfare in the pet retail sector. Most recently, AWAT launched the Pet Registration Readiness Program with the first of four events held on April 18th to make pet registration simpler and more accessible across Abu Dhabi. So congratulations to you and the team. It sounds like a great initiative. So before we get into it, what does animal welfare actually mean? Some people might hear animal welfare and think, I'm not a pet owner, I don't work with animals, this has nothing to do with me. So why is it something the wider public should care about?

SPEAKER_01 3:24

That's a great question. I think, particularly in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, even if you're not a pet owner, you will encounter animals due to the fact that we do have certain stray animal populations. Uh, the most prevalent one and the most visible one being, as we like to call them, community cats. So that's cats that live in the live live basically within the realms of Abu Dhabi. They're free roaming. Nobody owns them. And even if you don't own an animal, you're not really, you know, conscious of animal welfare, you will see these animals, you will see these cats. And it's nice to think that you would be educated enough to show compassion and tolerance towards them. Um, the same with stray dogs, you know, we do have stray dogs. And if we can bring awareness to them uh for the residents of Abu Dhabi, then we can also bring awareness to the need for their welfare to be prioritized, like you prioritize your own pets' welfare.

SPEAKER_03 4:26

That's great. I mean, I I don't think anyone could have said it better. Uh but thank you so much, uh Dr. Rachel. Uh, let's go ahead and get started. Okay. Uh let's start off uh with your morning routine. What time do you wake up and what does the first hour of your day look like?

SPEAKER_01 4:44

Ah, yeah, these are the easier questions. Um so I'm definitely uh early to bed, early to rise type person. Um so I'll typically wake up quite early, maybe 4:45, 5 o'clock.

SPEAKER_03 4:59

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

And most people think there's only one of those in the day, but there are two of those times in the day, and the a.m. time is a lovely time to be awake. Uh yeah, so I'll wake up about that time, and then typically I attend to my uh mini zoo. I don't have too many animals. Uh, I'm very uh conscious that I only take on what I can prov make provisions for, but I do have uh at the moment three special needs cats, one special need dog, two foster cats for animal welfare Abbadabe, uh a foster rabbit, um, some fish that I acquired that were stray, believe it or not, and an axolotl that I rehomed that whose welfare wasn't so good. So I attend to them first, um, and then I'll walk the dog um just to get my you know morning fresh air, although sometimes in summer it's not so fresh. Uh and then usually I'll grab a coffee, check, check work emails. I'm not sure if that's a positive habit first thing in the morning or a negative habit, but I like to know that I've actioned anything immediate. And then most importantly, I carve out time for me after my kids have gone to school and I've bid them farewell. I do go to the gym and I will lift some weights and I will have my mental health time so that when I arrive at the office by 9, 9:30, I'm set for success and I'm ready for the day. And it's done before anything else can take that time away from me. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 6:30

Yeah, that's brilliant. Uh, is there something you do every morning without feel, even even if it's a bad day?

SPEAKER_01 6:37

The animals. Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 6:40

That's a non-negotiable.

SPEAKER_01 6:41

When you have animals, it's a commitment. You have to do it, do it sleepy, do it tired, do it frustrated. Animals are your priority, and you make a commitment when you become an animal owner. So, yeah, they're the non-negotiables, the animals.

SPEAKER_03 6:55

All right. So you've been a vet in the UA since 2006. At what point did you think I need to do something bigger?

SPEAKER_01 7:04

I didn't actually think that, which is a strange thing to admit. I was uh I was very content in my role as an established GP vet here with a really good client base. And I have to give a shout out to the clients of Abu Dhabi because there are some lovely residents here who really take care of the animals, and I'm privileged to serve them as a vet. Um, so I never really had a changing career or role on my radar.

SPEAKER_02 7:31

Right.

SPEAKER_01 7:31

Uh, the role came to me as an opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

And once I explored the opportunity and found out more about it, I was unable to say no if the job was offered to me. Essentially, my mindset was every day I go to work and I prioritize one patient on my table. Whatever that patient is, dog, cat, rabbit, they're my priority, and I will do my best to fix them and make them well again. And obviously make sure their welfare is centered to that. And then I realized that if I took this role, which was a great opportunity and also a great responsibility, that I could do greater good for so many more animals than just one right in front of me. And also it's an opportunity to change, change the future for animals and animal welfare and abadhabi. And once I'd slept on that thought and digested it, I decided that if I was up with the opportunity and I was selected for the role, I would take it. And that brings me to sitting here today talking to you because I took it.

SPEAKER_03 8:39

Yeah, no, that's excellent. Uh, but what was the hardest part of this transition? You know, you've been practicing as a vet for more than 20 years, and then moving into a leadership role, and you're at you're the head of Avat. So that means that's a big, big responsibility to manage the team, manage the community programs that you have. Uh, so you have a lot on your plate uh in terms of uh the work, the scope of work. And so what I want to understand is uh how how was that uh transition for you?

SPEAKER_01 9:10

I guess I took the I took the approach like I take to everything in life. From discomfort comes change in progress, and I take that in my personal life and my professional life. So I knew it was never going to be comfortable, I knew it was never going to be easy, and I knew it would be challenging. Um, and some parts more challenging than others because I am not an expert in organizational structure, uh, governance, policies. I have a I have a great knowledge of animal welfare and animals' needs in this emirate, but I knew those things were going to be challenging. But I also focused on the fact that the end goal is to do greater good for more animals. So I just kind of I decided that I would just jump in and and and and figure things out as I went along with support though. It hasn't been without support, I'll have to add that. You know, when I took the role, I was I was honest and candid about my skill set.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:09

And uh I was told that there would be support to bring this vision of AY to life. And yeah, it's paying off.

SPEAKER_03 10:16

Yeah, uh, that's great because my next question is kind of tied to this. Uh, what do you think is the most underrated skill that has helped you advance in your career as a veterinarian and a leader?

SPEAKER_01 10:28

Mm-hmm. You need a lot of skills, I guess, for both those uh both those professions to be a leader and to be a vet. But I think if I had to link the two, it would be having the ability to still focus on the end objective when the emotional uh sensitivities and the emotional intensity is is there with with with the project or with the with the plan.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Because as a vet and within this animal welfare sector, anything that we plan, whether it's the full strategy, a program in its entirety, or just a protocol within a program, yeah, you know, there is an objective to focus on animal welfare, but the stakeholders involved will have an emotional investment. And it's how you manage that when it becomes too intense and it starts to um starts to hinder your ability to achieve the objective that you set out to achieve. And you can find that in the vet vet world as well. You know, we're vets are trying to advocate for our patient, trying to uh educate the owner and give them choices about their care. And then owners sometimes become emotionally invested and start making bad decisions because of a human emotion that they don't need to apply to the situation. And it's knowing to be sensitive to that, but also when to ignore that and continue to achieve the objectives. I think that's an underrated skill that you have to learn for sure.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

And how do you cultivate that skill in a team working in such an emotional space?

SPEAKER_01 12:07

Yes. So the animal welfare Abu Dhabi team, um, they're a wonderful, wonderful team, but none of them have technical background in animal welfare. So I guess for me, they're blank canvases. So I'm able to try and transpose that skill and to teach them because I can see sometimes uh a team member perhaps getting involved in the emotional side. And I say, right, you have to now, I know it's hard, you have to exclude that from your decision making right now and your reply or your response and focus on the objective. What's our objective here? Okay, that's the professional response, and that's a professional action we have to take. So, in some ways, having employees that haven't been in this space before is advantageous when we're moulding a team and our approach to matters, yes.

SPEAKER_03 12:58

Yeah, no, for sure. I think uh the team probably is picking up a lot from from just your leadership and the way you run things at Arab. I know that's that's brilliant.

SPEAKER_01 13:08

I also think it's important though that my team aren't so they don't have preset opinions because it also makes them very objective. So sometimes they'll come back to me and they'll say, Hey Rachel, actually, have we thought about doing it from this side? I'm like, wow, you know, like if I was in a room with a bunch of vets and nurses, we would never have thought that approach because it's not what we've been taught and what we've been used to doing. So it does work both ways.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

Yeah, so they bring a fresh perspective, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:35

And they they have, I have to say, they've taught me some things as well. And particularly they've taught me how to how to integrate in an entirely new environment because working in um this space is very different to working in a vet clinic. So I would say it's not all me being followed and leading, it's also um me appreciating when they uh when they give when they give back to the team. Yeah, we all give back.

SPEAKER_03 14:04

Okay, brilliant. It's time for our wheel of questions bit where our wheel decides what we talk about next.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

I've been excited by this.

SPEAKER_03 14:12

I know. Dr. Rachel, would you like to give it a spin?

SPEAKER_01 14:15

Sure. I'm excited, but a little bit intimidated. But hopefully the questions are easy. So we'll spin.

SPEAKER_02 14:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:27

Great, okay. So when you do get time to switch off, what do you naturally reach for? Is it a book, a podcast, or a walk? Does it tend to be something completely unrelated to animal welfare? Or does even your downtime pull you back in that direction?

SPEAKER_01 14:43

Well, I'm a mum with two beautiful children. So I do like to spend time with them, and they're very much a welcome distraction from getting too hyper-focused on anything animal related. Um, so you know, I like to indulge in their hobbies and support them. Uh, my son plays ice hockey.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Nice.

SPEAKER_01 15:02

So I do spend a lot of time at the rink, uh, being very, very cold in such a hot country, which is a very odd feeling when it's 50 degrees outside and you're actually cold inside. Um, but yeah, and I like to spend time with my family and you know, also enjoy what Abu Dhabi has to offer for families because this Emirate has so much to offer. We are annual pass holders, we love all the new museums. Um, so yeah, I do like to spend a lot of time with my kids, and that is a welcome, necessary distraction from being too focused. Although my children do love uh coming on some animal adventures with me, they're all always willing to come check out a new uh farm that's open to the public or a zoo or animal shelters that we visited together, and I love getting their unique young perspective as well, um, fresh eyes from their from their generation's uh viewpoint. Right. So sometimes I do maybe drag them back into that that sector, but they don't they they do enjoy it, it's not torture for them.

SPEAKER_03 16:06

No, that's great. Uh I think we can give the wheel another spin.

SPEAKER_01 16:10

Sure.

SPEAKER_03 16:14

Okay. So how do you stay positive when progress is slower than the need on the ground?

SPEAKER_01 16:22

I think that the team stays more positive than I do, if I'm brutally honest. Uh we we we do have a conversation. It's nice to have a conversation with your team, right? To talk about, okay, I'm a bit frustrated that this has happened today. And then one of our team will always be very positive. And then we believe in the spirits and the powers guiding us a bit. So we usually find if we have that conversation, things start to move in the right direction. And the patience always pays off because we know that what we're planning is going to be impactful, and that's why we stay patient and why we keep pushing and following the process because ultimately the goal is worth it every time.

SPEAKER_03 17:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:02

And I think the the successful initiatives that Abaad already has is testament to that.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Yes, we're very happy about our community cat care programs. We piloted those last year and we're expanding them this year in terms of the number of programs we're supporting.

SPEAKER_02 17:18

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

And the recent pet registration readiness event.

SPEAKER_02 17:22

Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:22

That's been a lot of planning for us. And we actually brought that initiative forward slightly to try and assist with the current tumultuent times in Abu Dhabi where people are perhaps traveling with their pets when they wouldn't be traveling before. Because when you comply for registration with a microchip, rabies, health vaccine, you're also doing the first step as the pathway to travel internationally for your pet. Right. So we pushed that one forward and we rolled the first one out last Saturday in partnership with Pet Pavilion.

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 17:55

And there is no better feeling than going home exhausted after that, you know, after that event, but actually sitting down and thinking, wow, we did it. We brought something that I thought about in my strategy as the CEO in my office long before we even had a team. And we took it all the way to the point where today we successfully uh onboarded over 40 animals in one day to the registration system. And that's what I'm saying. Trust the process and the rewards will be there in the end.

SPEAKER_03 18:27

No, yeah. Congratulations again on that. Um, I think we can go for spin number three. Okay. So animal welfare can be deeply emotional work. Are there any green flags that you look out for or things that, you know, might be worrisome when you're like trying to recruit someone into your team?

SPEAKER_01 18:52

First of all, they need to um they need to show empathy towards animals. We we always have similar questions we ask, and one of them is, you know, do you own a pet? And then if they say yes, we'll say, okay, like tell us about your pet. How did you acquire your pet? Where did it come from? And then, like, is your pet sterilized? Did you take your pet to a vet and get it vaccinated? I guess we always like to start off by asking about like what their personal involvement is with animals in their daily lives and whether they are a responsible pet owner. That's where all those questions lead.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Oh, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 19:27

And that tells us a lot because then that's the foundation I'm working with, or the team's working with to understand animal welfare to start with.

SPEAKER_03 19:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:35

And then, of course, it's it's about the skill set for the particular role.

SPEAKER_03 19:38

No, yeah, that's that's brilliant. Uh, Dr. Rachel, before we close, the UAE is still writing its story when it comes to animal welfare. And voices like yours are helping define what that story can become in the years ahead. For listeners who feel inspired by what they've just heard today, what do you hope stays with them? And how can they be part of the change still to come?

SPEAKER_01 20:02

So, animal welfare Abu Dhabi have a core principle, which is to empower community. So, when people connect with us for any of the animal welfare concerns they have, we're not there to solve the problem for them. We're there to guide them to be part of the solution to the problem. So that could be something as simple as um guiding people about reporting channels within the government systems for something they think is contravening animal welfare laws, for a sick cat that they're not sure how they can get free service from a government channel. So we're there to like guide people. Um, and we also like to empower people beyond just that with sort of simple inquiries. So, for example, if you reached out and you said, Dr. Rachel, there's some cats on my doorstep and none of them are sterilized, and all my neighbors are feeding them, and now I've noticed that the female is pregnant, okay, Derek, no problems. We're gonna teach you how to trap a cat and get it sterilized. And we do that daily. Um, and that's that's what I would want people to recognize with animal welfare Abu Dhabi and what we're trying to do is that if you if you have an inquiry with us, we want to teach you in the future and forevermore how to be part of the solution to the problem and repeat that solution when you see the problem reoccurring until the problem is gone. Yeah. We want to we want to make basically empower everybody to to be part of the solution.

SPEAKER_02 21:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Um, and we've done that through various mechanisms already. We have a free online training course on community cat care. Right. I don't know if you were aware of that.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

No, uh, so where do people access that?

SPEAKER_01 21:42

So it's called the community animal training course. Okay. We it was actually microchip.ae, another group in Abu Dhabi, who approached us to collaborate on the course.

SPEAKER_02 21:51

Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:52

Uh, we then uh contributed heavily to the content, verified the content, made sure it's animal welfare centric.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:59

We also Brought a lot of our protocols in there to make sure that the community cat care was welfare prioritized. And we also contributed videos of how trap cages work. You'll see myself and Yazen on there demonstrating trap cages.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 22:13

But it's a free course, it takes about eight hours to do self-led. So you can do a bit, come away, go back and log back in, and then you learn all about community cat care, including trapping and sterilization and what to monitor and basically how to look after cats on your doorstep and look after your own little mini colony. And it's entirely free, and you get a marvelous certificate at the end of it to show people that you actually are certified to look after the cats on your doorstep.

SPEAKER_03 22:42

Well, that's very interesting. I'm definitely going to check that out. Dr. Rachel, thank you for your time, your honesty, and the work you're doing. What you're building is not only better systems for animals, but also a broader culture of care, responsibility, and public awareness. It's been a real pleasure having you with us, and thank you for joining us on C-Suite Talks.

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Thank you so much for the opportunity to talk about animal welfare. It was a pleasure being here. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

Thanks for joining us on C-Suite Talks, where we bring global and local insights from the heart of Russell Khama to the world.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Be sure to follow, share, and tune in next time for another 15 minute conversation about what it really takes to lead.