Raising standards in UK animal training and behavior services
Pet owners are increasingly seeking ways of assessing the competence of those who offer their services as an animal ‘trainer’ or ‘behaviorist’.
In contrast to many professions, from plumbing to teaching, where rigorous training and assessment are required before becoming qualified to practice, those working with animals have few such stipulations. As anyone operating in this sector can currently call themselves a ‘professional’ with little or no formal training or assessment, how can we ensure the highest standards are met in the field of animal training and behavioral services?
Challenges faced by pet parents
When an animal guardian is looking for training support or behavioral therapy, it can be a minefield to find someone with the knowledge, understanding and practical skills to help them. There are many people who make claims regarding their expertise, yet being sure these individuals know what they are doing and the possible consequences of their methods can be another matter.
Few who share their lives with animals would argue against their pets having the best services available, and a word that is frequently used to describe the people delivering those services is ‘professional’.
To be a professional, it stands to reason there should be a governing body with authority over that profession. However, in the UK, this currently does not exist for those delivering training and behavior services. Several groups claim that role, yet none have any authority, and some even promote unethical techniques in their approaches to behavior modification.
Defining ‘profession’ and ‘professional’
A profession is any type of work that needs specialist training or a particular skill and is often respected because it involves a high level of education. If you were to ask anyone working in the animal training and behavior sector, aside from volunteers, the majority would likely say that this was their profession. That makes sense until you start looking closer at what it means to be a professional.
Firstly, defining exactly what is meant by special training, particular skills and a high level of education needs to be established. A governing body typically decides this, and those standards must be published so everyone knows what they should aim to achieve to become qualified. The fact is that most people doing this work have not met the high standards that the public should reasonably demand and often use outdated and questionable methods without understanding the potential negative results.
The need for standards and qualifications
25 years ago, there were 3 associations in the UK representing training and behavior practitioners who met specific membership criteria. Now, there are more than 30 such organizations and many have membership requirements. Some are quite comprehensive, while others require little more than a fee to join; and this creates confusion for anyone looking for help for their pets.
Despite this, these organizations likely represent less than a quarter of the estimated 12,000 people working within the UK’s animal training and behavior sector. This means the overwhelming majority have no oversight and clients have nobody to complain to if things go wrong.
Bridging the gap
Aspiring to fulfill a role of arbiter of standards in the UK is the Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC). It has established benchmarks covering both the required knowledge and the practical skills associated with different jobs in the animal behavior and training sector and, crucially, it has also covered the assessment processes needed to become qualified. To ensure the quality of the system the ABTC has created, it also goes through its own assessment against the International Standard ISO17024.
As the sole UK charity exclusively focused on animal welfare in training and behavior therapy, the ABTC maintains a national register of qualified practitioners, provides information and collaborates with government and organizations to shape legislation and policies. Recognized by the veterinary sector and signposted by the government to stakeholders as a reliable source of quality information, the ABTC is working towards delivering the accountability the field so needs.
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