Barrister, Veterinarian, and television presenter - when you have Doctor Ian Robertson at your place, it’s like having a combination of JAMES HERIOT, DAVID ATTENBOROUGH and the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ANIMAL LAW.

As an expert on the animals and the law about them, what you have with Ian is more than a simple ‘strange but true’ collection of animal stories - time with this Doctor gives you insights to business, life-skills, medicine and law. It’s a discovery of ourselves and the animals; an insight to their future - and ours.

“I looked across the top of my camera lens and realised that I wasn’t accidentally touching the zoom on my lens - the bull elephant really was coming towards me! You’ve got to zigzag as you run from an elephant that is chasing you which makes it seem like an awfully long way to run for very little extra distance between you and the elephant – but I ran so fast I overtook the fellow who’d had a 30 second head start!”

In addition to being a veterinarian, and a lawyer who specialises in animal law, Ian has been a TELEVISION PRESENTER of all things animal – this included presenting endangered species from around the world to camera for Fox Television.

As a PUBLIC SPEAKER, whether it is for pure entertainment, motivation, or industry and business seminars, Ian carefully selects from his experiences and information to unforgettably illustrate key principles of success. “So you’ve got to zig-zag when you’re running from an elephant, and sprint to the nearest tree and climb it if being chased by a wildebeest. However, the instruction to stand still and not run from a wild lioness sounds particularly ludicrous when you’ve come round the corner and she’s standing only 5 metres from you! … but those are the rules,– and like life and business, it pays to know them, and put them into practice, when venturing into their jungle”.

Ian knows “all things animal” – wild ones, endangered ones, and your pet ones. Teaching captured orang-utans of northern Sumatra to be wild again, protecting the critically endangered Green Turtle in the South China Sea, and explaining the tiger in your household kitty – he’s been there. Your dogs and cats, Australia’s camels and death adders, Asia’s sun bears and dragons – he’s been there too.

There is a keen BUSINESS mind and entrepreneur behind that smiling presenter’s face. As a VETERINARIAN he has established, and run, a successful chain of veterinary hospitals so he has a practical “toolbox” of ideas that make for delighted customers, committed staff, and business profits. And in addition to the successes, Ian also knows the pitfalls of business - misplaced trust in an animal of the two-legged kind (his accountant) cost Ian a significant amount of money. The accountant was jailed for fraud and theft, and Ian learnt expensive but invaluable lessons on how you can avoid losing money to an inside professional “gone bad”.

Ian’s experience with Fox Television motivated him to get involved in the legal areas of animal protection, so he completed a law degree, and is now the BARRISTER who SPECIALISES in legal areas of ANIMALS AND THE LAW.

Ian’s expertise in animal law includes consideration of domestic and international legal issues in context of wider political and economical matters. “The global market has developed a consciousness in respect of animal protection”, he says. “Animal welfare is increasingly seen as an important facet of product quality, with a direct influence on consumer purchasing preferences. International consumers are actively seeking assurances in respect of animal welfare standards and, in addition to ethical considerations, the economic reality is that policy and legislation need to ensure that adequate attention is given to animal welfare matters if risks to trade are to be properly managed.”

Ian has pioneered the development of a consolidated course on animals and the law which objectively considers legal issues regarding animals. In his role as a university LAW LECTURER he teaches the subject of animals and the law in law schools and veterinary schools in both New Zealand and the United Kingdom. He is co-author for an academic text for Animal Law, and developing global education systems on the subject. He heads an international animal law consultancy that correlates with governments and organizations around the world, and is founder of the www.animal-law.biz website.