Anyone that has been paying attention to the progress of regulation of animal trainers and behaviourists will be well aware of the work of the ABTC (Animal Behaviour and Training Council). The chances are that they will also be aware of those that have been working hard to try and derail this progress …… without success.
As the Council has become more and more established it is becoming apparent that a number of potential member organisations are still resisting regulation and as a result their individual members are being denied access to the ABTC practitioner registers and the professional recognition that accompanies such a listing. We saw at the end of last year how Defra are officially referring people to these registers when looking for properly qualified practitioners.
The register that is probably the highest priority at the moment is for Accredited Animal Behaviourists because it will close to new listings in April 2016, which is now only 16 months away. This category was created to give recognition to those who are currently engaged as behaviourists with a good level of appropriate education in the field, in effect a ‘grandparenting scheme’. It is known that there are quite a number of people who would potentially fill this register but if the organisation that represents them does not join the ABTC they will remain sidelined on the periphary of the profession. It might be suggested that 16 months is a long way off but if I have learned nothing else since being closely involved in the regulation process it is that things happen very slowly, it can take several months for a membership application to be approved for instance. From an individual’s point of view there may be more studying involved to reach the required level and that will usually take a matter of months, delays now could mean the loss of a big opportunity next year.
So what is the unlisted trainer or behaviourist to do because getting listed elsewhere will not enhance their professional status in the way that an ABTC listing will? The answer is one of two things, either move to an organisation that is already a member of the ABTC, or, convince those who run their organisation to apply to join. There are currently three such organisations with new membership applications being processed and another two considering the step.

David Montgomery