ANIMAL WELFARE
Animal welfare laws are updated worldwide, so each Member is responsible for familiarising him or herself with the laws pertaining to the country of their residence.
In the UK, for example, not only is it against the law to be cruel to an animal, but owners must now also ensure that all their animals’ welfare needs are met.
These include the need:
- For a suitable environment (place to live)
- For a suitable diet
- To be housed with or apart from other animals (if applicable)
- To be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease and, crucially from COAPE’s standpoint,
- To exhibit normal behaviour patterns
The question is…how does an owner who loves and cares for their pet assess ‘normal behaviour patterns’? How can you make sure that you not only comply with the law, but also that you do indeed care for your pet to the very best of your ability though understanding his emotional, behavioural and physical needs?
The British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation (BVAAWF) have published a leaflet titled ‘What Makes my Pet Happy? (PDF)’ that offers help and advice in this area. But interestingly, this is controversial for many behaviourists and behavioural scientists, who do not always agree that animals have emotions at all!
Not so at COAPETM.
The COAPETM ethos, and our educational courses, start with the fundamental premise that the success of all mammals (and birds) is dependent on their emotional sensitivity. The intrinsic association of how they feel and how they learn, or how they form social relationships with their own kind and with us, is in the very nature of animals, even though assessing exactly how happy, sad, anxious, fearful, frustrated, angry etc. they feel at any point in time can be a difficult task.
The animal welfare law, however, demands that all owners make that assessment and the BVAAWF leaflet is based on the very premise that your pets need to be happy.
The BVAAWF leaflet details 5 Freedoms to which pets are entitled in order to be happy:
THE FIVE FREEDOMS
- FREEDOM FROM HUNGER AND THIRST
- FREEDOM FROM PAIN, INJURY AND DISEASE
- FREEDOM FROM DISCOMFORT (BEDDING, TEMPERATURE, FLOOR SURFACES)
- FREEDOM TO EXPRESS NORMAL BEHAVIOUR
- FREEDOM FROM FEAR AND DISTRESS
The Five Freedoms make sure that you think of all the things that can affect how animals feel. For example, it’s not good to be well fed but in pain, nor to feel safe but too cold. Four of the five freedoms are easy to understand, but what is meant exactly by the ‘freedom to express normal behaviour’?
Well, if you spent your entire life without a chance to meet or speak to anybody, you could not be described as ‘happy’ even though you might live a long life?
So ‘freedom to express normal behaviour’ means ‘able to meet behavioural needs’.
Some types of behaviour are so important to animals that if they can’t perform them, they will suffer emotionally, and maybe even physically as well. These behaviours are called ‘behavioural needs’.
Exactly which behaviours are important depends on the species of the animal of course. Cats have different behavioural needs compared to those of dogs, or rabbits, or budgerigars, for example.
What Can Pet-Owners Do?
Assess your own pet’s quality of life by using the Five Freedoms as a check-list. If you think that you aren’t achieving one or more of the Five Freedoms, change the way you keep or look after your pet so that you can achieve them. If you’re not sure whether you’re achieving the Five Freedoms, or you’re not sure how to make changes for the better, ask your veterinary practice for help.
How Can COAPETM Help?
COAPETM has designed a range of Correspondence Courses listed below to help you understand the care required to meet your pet’s emotional, behavioural and nutritional needs, to help you fulfil your obligations to your pet’s welfare to the best of your ability.
These courses are all written and tutored by COAPETM tutors, who are among the world’s leading animal behaviour experts. The courses are all independently accredited and are designed to help you improve your understanding of your current pet’s needs, or those of the pet that you are planning to take on in future. If you are thinking of adopting a cat or dog from an animal welfare centre, specially designed courses are available in the range so that you can really prepare yourself, your family, and your home for your new cat or dog and accommodate their particular needs as ‘rescue animals’.
CAPBT Position Statement on The Use of Electronic Training Devices In Companion Animal Training and Behaviour Modification
It is the position of the COAPETM Association of Applied Pet Behaviourists and Trainers (CAPBT) that use of electronic training devices is unnecessary and unethical in the training, management and behavioural modification of animals. Furthermore, the use of such devices can cause the animal suffering on both a physical and emotional level.
All members of the CAPBT are competent in training and rehabilitating companion animals and educating their owners to train their own pets to a high standard without the use of any coercion, aversive equipment or manhandling and no member would ever consider the use of electronic aids.
For the purpose of this statement, electronic training aids includes but is not restricted to, electric shock collars (under all names for example electronic pulse, TENS unit, stimulation and correction collars), spray collars, ultra-sonic and sonic collars, anti-bark vibration collars, underground electronic containment systems and any other device designed to shock or startle the animal whether triggered remotely by the handler, or by the animal.
CAPBT members agree to work under a strict code of practice which includes the assurance that coercive and/or punitive techniques/equipment are never used under any circumstances. This code of practice not only forbids the use of electronic training devices but also any other equipment designed to startle, cause pain, discomfort and any form of emotional distress.
