Issue 23 | February 2022
Issue 23 Table of Contents
The IAABC Foundation Journal is a peer-reviewed, free animal behavior and training publication from The IAABC Foundation. Click here for a table of contents, or keep scrolling for more articles
The Sustainable Cat: Making Better Choices for the Environment
Everything humans do has some impact on our environment at every scale — positive, negative, or mixed. Even our choices around our companion animals make a difference to the world...
Spotlight on Research: Courtney Graham
Courtney Graham is a postdoctoral researcher working with cats at the Companion Animal Behaviour and Welfare Lab at the University of Ontario. She is currently investigating the effects of socialization...
Ask the Ethics Committee
The IAABC Ethics Committee is a team of volunteers that adjudicate on ethical matters for the IAABC. Their role is to evaluate complaints about violations of our Professional Code of...
Promoting Natural Behaviors in Geckos Through Enrichment
With the right handling, geckos can be engaging, inquisitive, and fun to be around! This article gives you a variety of tips how to change your gecko’s environment to make...
Potential Neural Consequences for Snakes Under Captive Management
Are snakes not thought to be intelligent because they’re really dumb, or are we making it impossible for them to reach their brainpower potential by forcing them to live in...
COVID-sniffing Dogs One Year Later: New Studies Show Promise
The canine nose is the most sophisticated tool we have for detecting odors in real-life environments. As soon as the pandemic hit, researchers started looking at whether dogs could be...
The Importance of Consent Behaviors for Veterinary Procedures
Handling animals, especially those who may be in pain or experiencing aversive emotional arousal, carries an inherent risk. The risks are to both the handler and to the animal. For...
Everyone Is on the Behavior Team: How ASPCA’s eLearning Platform Broadens and Deepens Behavior Knowledge for Shelter Personnel
At the ASPCA, we use the phrase Everyone Is on the Behavior Team because we strongly believe every interaction between a person and an animal is an opportunity to provide...
Equine Advocacy
Horses suffer when they’re misunderstood, and seen as tools to meet human needs. These sensitive animals are subjected to pain and fear because the humans in their life have not...
The Welfare of Captive Fish
Of all the species we keep as pets, fish are perhaps the least well-understood and least cared about in terms of their behavioral welfare. Recently, however, scientists have been researching...
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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.