Ian Walshaw is Co-Founder of NAPET and serves as Director of Governance, Compliance and Industry Relations, bringing a combined background in policing and professional dog training. Ian began his policing career with West Yorkshire Police before transferring to the City of London Police, where he worked within a Level 1 public order unit operating in high-risk public safety environments. He later served with Humberside Police, completing 15 years of service before retiring due to injury on duty. Alongside his policing career, Ian has decades of experience as a working dog trainer and breeder. Dogs he has trained and bred have gone on to work within UK police, military, and security contexts. Ian trained extensively in Schutzhund and later became involved in KNPV, achieving the distinction of being the first British trainer and handler to obtain a KNPV PH1 qualification with a dog he bred himself. Within NAPET, Ian supports governance, accountability, and professional standards, helping to ensure the organisation’s long-term credibility

Ian is also Managing Director of Dogtra UK Ltd, a UK supplier of e-collar training equipment. This commercial interest is declared in the interests of transparency and good governance. NAPET’s work, representation and standards are not restricted to, or conditional upon the use of, any particular e-collar manufacturer or brand.

Lisa Whitehouse is Co-Founder and Chair of NAPET, bringing over 20 years of professional dog training experience supported by an academic background in psychology and canine behaviour. With a family background in rescue, rehabilitation, and working dog training, Lisa has spent decades supporting dogs and owners through complex behavioural challenges, with a strong focus on responsible, welfare-led outcomes. As a founding voice behind NAPET, Lisa has played a central role in establishing an organisation that represents ethical practice, evidence-informed standards, and balanced discussion around e-collar training in the UK. As Chair, Lisa supports collaboration between veterinary professionals, rural and livestock stakeholders, and experienced trainers to ensure informed and credible perspectives are represented at every level.

Paola Fognani is a small animal veterinarian, bringing professional veterinary expertise alongside real-world experience as a responsible dog owner. As Veterinary Advisor and Board Director, Paola provides clinical and welfare oversight to the board, supporting informed, ethical, and proportionate discussion around dog training, welfare, and public safety. Her contribution is grounded in animal health, behaviour, and real-world outcomes, helping ensure that considerations around training tools remain evidence based and welfare led. Paola also supports NAPET through public speaking and wider engagement, contributing to balanced and informed dialogue at both professional and public levels.

Fran Kerr is a marine biologist with a strong background in science and animal welfare, alongside extensive hands-on experience running a dog rescue. Fran lives and works in a rural farming environment, with close connections to livestock and countryside life. This provides valuable real-world insight into the challenges surrounding dog safety, livestock protection, and responsible training in agricultural settings. Her role brings together scientific understanding, rescue experience, and rural perspective, supporting balanced, ethical, and evidence-informed discussion around dog welfare and training practices. Fran contributes a grounded voice to the board, ensuring that policy and public dialogue reflect both scientific integrity and real-world rural realities.

Chris Foster is a lifelong livestock farmer with over six decades of hands-on farming experience. Born and raised on a mixed dairy farm, he began farming independently in 1967, later working with beef suckler herds before focusing on sheep farming for meat production for more than 25 years. Now in his 82nd year, Chris remains actively involved in sheep farming and brings first-hand experience of livestock welfare, including the impact of dog attacks on both his own sheep and neighbouring flocks. Chris is also a sheepdog owner and has practical experience of responsible e-collar training in a working farm environment, where effective control was necessary to ensure livestock safety. Chris contributes a grounded farming perspective to the board, ensuring rural realities and real-world welfare outcomes are accurately represented.

Graeme Jones is a retired UK Police Officer with 30 years of service, including 21 years as an operational police dog handler and trainer.

His experience spans General Purpose police dogs, Tactical Firearms Support Dogs (TFSD), Explosives Detection Dogs (EDD), and counter-terrorism deployments, working in high-risk environments where control and reliability are non-negotiable.

He qualified as a Home Office Police Dog Instructor in 2002 and went on to become Chief Instructor for his force’s Police Dog Department, leading training standards, instructor development and operational readiness.

Graeme has trained with leading police and military units across Europe, including the Noord Brabant Police Dog School, the Royal Netherlands Air Force, and Germany’s Spezial Einsatz Kommando (SEK). He is the first non-German trainer qualified to work with the SEK as a decoy, and one of only two UK officers to hold this distinction.