A group of Northern Ireland’s leading dog trainers has boycotted a glittering awards event in protest over their concerns about messaging around animal welfare and wellbeing.
They have been joined in their action by a charity and other canine industry businesses just days ahead of the Local Pet Awards (NI) on June 3.
Now the event organiser has pulled two categories from the awards, the dog trainer and the dog kennel categories, and offered refunds for ticket holders in those areas.
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The Local Pet Awards (NI) competition relies solely on public votes to create winners in each category, and has no judging panel or expert advisors involved from the companion animal industry.
The event brands itself as “shining a light on all those local businesses within the pet industry” and the organiser had been in discussion with concerned professionals for more than six months.
But with just over a week until the gala evening, members of the dog training profession including Robin Bates, Daykin and Scott Dog Training and Behaviour Services, Teaching Tails’ Cathy Donaghy and Joanne Doonan, vented their concerns and their protest action.
In an open letter to DogsLive, they explained: “We made the decision not to participate in the Local Pet Awards (NI) due to the potential for the promotion of individuals who use coercive and aversive methods on dogs in the name of training, which we consider abusive.
“In Northern Ireland, the majority of dog trainers use reward-based methods which are based on scientific principles. However, with the growth of various social media platforms, we are now seeing a worrying increase in the number of individuals claiming to be trainers and who we believe are themselves ‘untrained’.
“These individuals use emotional distress and physical pain and, or discomfort to force dogs into submission as part of their so-called ‘training’. But we believe the consequences of these methods create a high risk of psychological and physical injury as well as a damaged relationship between the dog and their guardian.
“The Local Pet Awards (NI) categories are not won on quality or competence, but on votes cast by the public. However most people outside the industry do not know the differences between reward-based and aversive training and could be at risk of putting their dog in the wrong hands if they’re basing their choice of ‘trainer’ on an award having been granted.
“Many of us made contact with the event organiser months ago to raise our concerns regarding the dangers of promoting aversive training methods.
“We tried to encourage them to use their platform to raise the standards across the industry and we advised them on The UK Dog Training charter. This is an umbrella group for the many governing bodies within the industry and the best way to find out if trainers in their categories have formal education, qualifications and, or adhere to strict codes of ethics regarding the treatment of animals.
“The overwhelming majority of people want their dog treated with kindness and compassion. The problem for most people is knowing who to trust to train their dog.
“As a diverse group of individuals, we are each reward-based, qualified and experienced trainers and behaviourists. We do not tolerate abuse towards any animal and we will continue to raise awareness of aversive practices and business schemes which intentionally or unintentionally legitimise them.”
David Foster also boycotted the awards and removed PlayforStrays as the nominated charity. He said: "PlayforStrays has officially withdrawn ourselves as being the named charity at the NI Pet Awards.
"We have requested that our name, logo or any likeness is not used any further. We fully support and back the concerns about messaging over animal welfare and wellbeing and joined the boycott because it was the right thing to do."
A spokeswoman for Local Pet Awards NI, said: “We received a series of genuine concerns from within the canine industry from experts working in Northern Ireland, who withdrew their participation from the awards this year.
“We were very keen to listen to them and respond. They felt the open nature of some of our categories left the awards vulnerable to situations which may not fall within the industry standards that they expect in 2023.
“Our awards were set up to celebrate those who work and volunteer with pets, and to promote excellence within the industry and accepted wellbeing and welfare standards.
“We have decided to fine tune the training category and the kennel category and until we can do that, we have withdrawn these categories from the event.
“We plan to take professional advice from various areas within the industry to help us restructure our application and nomination process and create an expert judging panel. We will of course maintain input from the public for the People’s Vote.
“We are looking forward to the awards ceremony to celebrate with everyone on June 3 at the Crowne Plaza, Belfast.
“And we understand that due to the changes made, some people may not wish to attend. So we will be offering refunds to anyone involved in this year’s Dog Training and Dog Kennel categories and would ask them to contact us directly.”
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