Conference Summary: Human Behaviour Change for Animal Welfare
A number of IAABC members attended the recent Human Behaviour Change for Animal Welfare conference, held in early October in Dorking, U.K. The conference was the brainchild of—and almost single-handedly organised by—Certified Horse Behavior Consultant Suzanne Rogers. It drew together 200 academics, behaviorists, veterinarians and charity representatives. Participants came from all around the world and worked with dozens of species, both wild and domestic, making it truly international.
One of five keynote talks was given by family psychologist and Certified Dog Behavior Consultant, Dr. Risë VanFleet, who spoke on “Skills for Human Behaviour Change Relating to Animal Welfare.” After describing different ways in which poor treatment of animals takes place, she focused on skills for intervening at the individual and family level. Drawing from her book The Human Half of Dog Training, she emphasized that in order to help animals, we must develop skills for working collaboratively with people. Of importance is the use of empathic listening, developing common goals, and taking action together. She discussed the importance of being genuine, and covered additional specific skills such as floating ideas for change, taking the long view, collaborative coaching, and the use of humor. The last half of her presentation focused on instilling caring attitudes and behaviors in children by providing fun, guided, hands-on experiences with animals in which children learn to understand animal emotions by observing body language, and how to develop mutually respectful relationships. This is all done in a playful context. She ended by reporting on Animal Assisted Play Therapy™ interventions focused on abused children who have hurt animals; these interventions have been very successful in stopping this behavior.
Catherine Bell presented a framework for human behavior change (HBC) based on the best-selling book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini. While highly effective amongst people working in sales, fundraising, recruitment, and so on, some of the methods employed feel too manipulative to be appropriate for work in animal welfare, where we are looking for a long-term commitment to change. Catherine proposed changes to Cialdini’s key Principles of Persuasion so that they instead focus on intrinsic motivation, congruence, support, autonomy, relationship, and quality. Thus, the modified framework becomes “Principles of Ethical Change” and is much more congruent with working in the animal welfare sector.
Debbie Busby talked about using the psychological transactional analysis model —a method for studying interactions between people—as a way to achieve more effective communication during consultations. She highlighted Eric Berne’s ego states and life positions as useful concepts to be aware of in both the on-to-one client-behaviourist relationship and when engaging with the wider multi-disciplinary treatment team.
Videos of all the talks from the conference are now freely available to all. The conference website, http://www.hbcanimalwelfare.com, is also intended to become a long-term source of HBC resources.
Suzanne Rogers is a Certified Horse Behavior Consultant based in Surrey, U.K. As well as being an equine behaviourist she hosts educational events and works as an animal welfare consultant. She co-ordinates the Human Behaviour Change for Animal Welfare Community Resource, and is also co-founder of the Change for Animals Foundation, the Equine Behaviour and Training Association and the Aquarium Welfare Association.
Risë VanFleet, Ph.D is a child and family psychologist, play therapist, and Certified Dog Behavior Consultant from Pennsylvania, U.S. She is a co-founder of the International Institute for Animal Assisted Play Therapy™, and trains mental health professionals in relationship-based and welfare-oriented Animal Assisted Play Therapy™. She is the author of numerous books, including The Human Half of Dog Training: Collaborating with Clients to Get Results.
Catherine Bell is a Certified Horse Behavior Consultant in the South-East of England. In between home-educating her two children, she works as an equine behaviorist and independent barefoot hoof trimmer. She hosts the Thinking Horsemanship Forum and is a co-founder of the Equine Behavior and Training Association.
Debbie Busby is a Certified Horse Behavior Consultant and ABTC registered and accredited animal behaviourist. Based in North West England, Debbie also consults in Turkey and Jordan. She holds a first class BSc (Hons) in Psychology and an MSc with distinction in Applied Animal Behaviour and Welfare. Debbie works as an equine and canine behaviour consultant and expert witness and presents webinars, seminars, and workshops on all aspects of behaviour and consulting.
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Mike is an emerging animal behaviorist sitting in Minnesota in the US. He carries an MSc in social science research methods (U. of Kentucky) and brings a passion for understanding how the methods we favor shape the knowledge we privilege. Coming from careers in teaching and non-profit program evaluation, he found companion animal behavior by accident helping anxious feline friends in a unique shelter in Ohio. It is a privilege and a joy to combine these and advance the journal in this exciting time of growth.
Alexandra is a certified dog behavior consultant and holds a PhD in neuroscience. She has spent over a decade in academic research and is author of numerous scientific articles on different aspects of brain development, including olfaction, neurogenesis, and memory formation. Her work as a behavior consultant focuses on creating trusting relationships between humans and their dogs through communication, respect, and science-based knowledge. Alexandra is very dedicated to promoting more science within the dog training world. She supports dog guardians and professionals to build a solid understanding of scientific principles and provides guidance on how to apply these to life with dogs. She runs Canine Mindscape in Alicante, Spain.
I’m an Argentinean-Italian dog trainer and CSAT who spent eight amazing years in Brazil learning and working with dogs. Now based in Europe, I volunteer with the IAABC as a translator and, in my free time, help rehomed dogs settle into their new families. I love bridging languages—and hearts—between people and their dogs.
I’m a translator, editor and journalist, as well as canine educator for children and families, specialized in canine body language. I am part of the IAABC Family since 2019, as Language Director at the IAABC and Translators Team Lead at the IAABC Foundation, at the moment. I volunteer at local shelters and promote bite prevention and animal welfare at schools and events all over my country, Uruguay.
I’m a Chilean veterinarian and certified dog trainer, based in Madrid and working at a veterinary clinic. I’ve been volunteering with the IAABC and the IAABC Foundation for over seven years. In my free time, I help dogs and their guardians strengthen their bond, and I love spending quality time with my own dogs.
Master’s Degree in Natural Sciences, with a strong interest in environmental sustainability and the protection of natural ecosystems. Passionate about writing and science communication, she collaborates with multidisciplinary teams on research projects, such as Equine International, and with non-profit initiatives in the environmental and cultural fields. She is writing for different magazines, including IAABC Foundation. Her major goal is to improve horse’s welfare through behaviour research and empirical practice.
Adrienne Hovey is the copy editor for the IAABC Foundation journal and the owner of 
I believe that knowledge from a wide range of disciplines fosters a more empathetic, curious, and engaging world. I am passionate about social, environmental, and minority rights issues (both human and non-human), and this has invariably led me down the road of multi-species anthropology. Perpetually curious about the world we live in, I hope to contribute towards making the world a kinder place for all of us earthlings to live on!
Beckie Wheldon is based in England, UK, and has been supporting the IAABC Foundation Journal team as a volunteer journal content editor since early 2025. She has a BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare, and has recently completed a MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour. With a passion for both practical and theory, Beckie is proud to be a part of the journal submission journey and support the process of applied animal behaviour information and research getting from our writers to the readers. As her full-time career, Beckie is currently part of the UK veterinary charity, PDSA, as a Learning and Development Business Partner for Veterinary, where she supports the professional development of people in their Veterinary Hospitals. Her last position was with the rescue charity, Dogs Trust, as a Canine Behavioural Welfare Manager, where she worked on embedding evidence-based behavioural welfare best practices throughout policy and practices, with both internal and external professional stakeholders, such as the police and military. With a varied background in kennels, caregiver education, and charity dog training classes, Beckie is also an accredited Animal Training Instructor (APDT UK) and an Associate Clinical Animal Behaviourist (APBC).
Erin Jones, PhD, IAABC-ADT, CDBC, CPDT-KA, CANZ-ATI, CANZ-ABC, is the Journal Director of the IAABC Foundation Journal. She holds a PhD in Human–Animal Studies, an MSc in Anthrozoology, a PG Dip in Animal Welfare, and a BSc (Hons) in Anthropology and Psychology. An international presenter, editor, writer and mentor, Erin’s writing bridges research and practice with a focus on the intersection of philosophy, ethics and dog-centered behaviour practice. She is the author of Constructing Canine Consent and co-editor of Topics in Non/Human Coexistence and numerous academic and trade journal publications.