Hayley Wilebore, BSc (Hons), DipCABT

Since I can remember, my love for animals has been strong and to work with them, or for them, in order to make the world a better place for them is all I have ever wanted to do.

I have owned many pets, rescued and rehabilitated wild animals, and gained experience working in zoos and rescue centres both as a keeper and in research.

After initially wanting to become a vet (as all young animal lovers do!) I realised that behaviour work was more my avenue. I quickly realised how little was known about animal behaviour when I started my Bachelor of Science degree in Behavioural Biology at Aberystwyth University of Wales. After graduating 3 years later, I realised just how the understanding of behaviour in all species of animals is integral to the welfare, conservation, and care and how this knowledge is severely limited due to lack of appropriate study. What is known is also not circulated advantageously to the right people.

My goal is to make education a top priority. I don’t just want people to care enough to seek professional advice, although this is step 1! But to also take responsibility for their own learning and take away skills that will help them continue helping their animals, whether they be residents in their zoo, or their pets at home, or the local stray population.

Many animals are expected to learn our behaviour and language in order to live with us and our rules. Is it then only fair to ask that we also learn their behaviour? Then communication can be a two way thing. How much easier would our lives be?! After all animals have needs too, and sometimes the only way they can communicate these needs to us is by ‘acting up’ in our eyes, to get our attention.

I decided to specialise my skills into domestic animals over a year ago in order to address this communication problem between owners and their pets. I completed my Advanced Diploma in Companion Animal Behaviour and Training with COAPE (The Centre of Applied Pet Ethology) and am now able to treat behavioural problems in pets under their code of practice. See www.coape.net for details.

COAPE code of practice

Find me registered on the COAPE website here

Becky Troy, Bsc (Hons)

My love for dogs started very young, my long awaited first dog taught me many valuable lessons about dog ownership and still does today even in his retirement. Together we discovered and tried every type of training and sport we could, I was hooked. I loved how trainable dogs can be, how loyal perceptive and sensitive they are. Not surprisingly my house is now full of dogs (and various other animals, cats, bearded dragons and some exotic Egyptian spiny mice). Recently,  I took on two new older rescue dogs, they are still settling in and giving me new challenges everyday, teaching more than I could learn from any book.

From a young age I knew I wanted to work with animals, every job I have had, even weekend jobs whilst still at school involved working with animals. I have worked on farms, with zoo animals in boarding kennels and now finally at Woodside Animal Rescue Centre. I studied animal welfare and behaviour at university knowing that I wanted to become a pet behaviourist. I developed a keen interest in the science of animal behaviour and how they learn, this combined with a passion for animal welfare has lead me to where I am today.

Working with rescue animals and at the centre has made me realise that many people do not have the kind of relationship that they would like with their pets. Often people find it has gone so wrong that they cannot cope and the animals end up at rescue centres where they hopefully find new homes that can work with their problems. I want to be able to help people enjoy pet ownership and find that special bond, hopefully reducing the numbers of animals at rescue centres and being able to help people who want to give a rescue dog a new start.