Dr. Sophie Dennison-Gibby
BVM&S MRCVS DACVR
RCVS Recognised Specialist in Diagnostic Imaging
Who is Dr. Dennison-Gibby?
Prior to June 20, 2026, if you had searched my name online, you would have found several veterinary hospitals with which I am affiliated, my own small single owner business and specialty websites, and numerous references to the many peer-reviewed publications and veterinary text books I have been fortunate enough to write, supervise, or contribute to. I am a veterinarian, board-certified in radiology (Dip. ACVR), with subspecialty training in marine mammal medicine and pathology and a broader interest in wildlife. I love our domesticated animals too, and have three Cavalier King Charles Spaniels who supervise my working hours—mostly by snoring while they permit me to work, then pawing at me when they decide it is time for a break.
If you know me in real life, you also know that I am an amateur endurance athlete, I volunteer to support my daughter's activities, support several charities extremely close to my heart—including Semper Fi, Solio Rhino Orphanage, and Ol Pejeta—and frequently, and entirely unashamedly, pick up trash.
As a responsible member of society, I hate litter. It is disrespectful and unsightly, and it attracts pests that can expose people and animals to infectious diseases and parasites.
As a veterinarian, I hate it for another reason. Trash can injure and kill animals. It can leach toxic chemicals or metals, cause gastrointestinal obstruction when swallowed, or become wrapped around an animal's head, neck, wings, legs, body, or flippers. For wildlife, those injuries may go unnoticed until it is too late. Trash in bodies of water is particularly troubling to me. The wildlife sharing those spaces may depend upon being able to swim, dive, feed, and surface to breathe—things that become extraordinarily difficult when an animal is entangled in human debris.
So I pick up trash.
Until June 20, 2026, I also held some fairly uncomplicated beliefs about the law and the people entrusted with enforcing it. I believed that if you didn't cause trouble and didn't go looking for trouble, you were unlikely to find yourself in serious trouble. I believed that law-enforcement officers were themselves required to obey the law, and that they understood both the extent and the limits of their authority. I believed that being truthful, cooperating with law enforcement, and taking responsibility for your own actions would protect you. And above all, I believed that one of the most fundamental promises of the American justice system was real: that if you were accused of a crime, the government had to prove its case against you—and that until it did, you were presumed innocent.
On June 20, 2026, I picked up what I believed was trash floating in the Reflecting Pool.
What happened next—and what happened in the days and weeks that followed—changed my understanding of all of those things.
My official statement can be found here.