Biography
I was born on February 17, 1944 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where I was raised and educated, graduating in 1970 with a DVM degree (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine) from the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph in nearby Guelph, Ontario.
After graduating I went to London, England on a travel fellowship, to work as a veterinarian at the Zoological Society of London’s Regent’s Park Zoo. A year later I joined a veterinary practice in Knightsbridge where I remained for two years. In 1973 I set up my own practice, the Portman Veterinary Clinic, and married my wife, the actress Julia Foster.
We have three children. Emily, an Art Director with two sons, Josh and Taran, presently lives in Dubai and France. Ben (BenFogle.com), married to Marina and with a son Ludo, is a writer, journalist and broadcaster living in London. Tamara is an accessories and fashion designer (tamarafogle.com)also lives in London. In the 1990s Julia gravitated into the antiques trade and became one of Britain’s leading authorities on Swedish painted furniture from 1700s and 1800s (JuliaFosterAntiques.com). We share our home with Bean, a golden retriever whose full name is LLBean but who answers to Lucca, Bean or just about anything else she hears. Ben’s dogs, Inca and Maggi and Tamara’s Labradors, Lola (Inca’s daughter) and Marnie (Lola’s daughter!) also consider our place theirs and visit almost daily.
Professionally, I’m a member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, the British Veterinary Association and the British Small Animal Veterinary Association. I hold honorary memberships of veterinary associations in Japan, Norway, and Catalunya, Spain.
I’ve written original scientific articles published in refereed journals in UK, USA and Canada and commissioned review papers published in scientific journals in Australia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Spain and Sweden. For statistic gatherers I’ve been fortunate enough to be an invited speaker at symposia and veterinary faculties in 24 countries.
Outside of my profession I’m the co-founder and vice-chairman of the charity Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. I’m also a founding member of The Society for Companion Animal Studies in the UK and the Delta Society in the USA. I’ve been a professional consultant to several international pet food and pet insurance companies and in 1999 was the co-founder and content provider for a pet care website selected by Forbes Magazine as the “World’s Best Pet Care Website”. I have been Veterinary Consultant to Microsoft Encarta and Veterinary Advisor to the Encyclopedia Britannica.