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Safe Pets and People

ALedbury dog groomer has joined a national campaign calling for mandatory first aid qualifications for all UK pet professionals.

Four Paws Groom School in Ledbury, Herefordshire, is throwing its weight behind the Safe Pets and People campaign, alongside the likes of the RSPCA and national qualification provider the iPET Network.

The grooming salon and training school’s director Belinda Morris says she believes that in order to gain the trust of customers, it is vital that they know that their pets are in safe hands.

Currently it is not mandatory for any pet professional to have first aid training, but many industry chiefs are calling for the rules to change.

Belinda, who has three dogs poodles Lewis and Liam and Jack Russell Sadie, said: “We are proud to support Safe Pets and People and hope that by spreading the word more people will sign the petition and help us make a change.

“We are working with people’s babies, Dogs are part of the family and I wouldn’t want to hand over my precious dogs to someone who did not know the basics of canine first aid.

“This is a serious issue of trust and I don’t want my profession that I am so passionate about to get a bad reputation by people who don’t have this kind of knowledge.”

Four Paws Groom School opened in October and offers dog grooming qualifications to students from all over Herefordshire and neighbouring counties.

Often students travel a great distance for professional teaching and qualifications.

Belinda added: “It is about preventing situations from getting worse and reacting quickly and calmly when accidents do happen and being able to advise owners on a dog’s welfare.”

To find out more about Safe Pets and

Belinda Morris People and sign the petition go to www.safepetsandpeople.org

iPET Network Shares Exciting Training News

The Awarding Organisation, which creates Ofqual regulated qualifications for the animal sector, has recently been approved to provide End Point Assessments for apprenticeships. iPET Network has already teamed up with Haddon Training and Keits Training Services to offer the assessments for apprentices in organisations such as Pets At Home, completing the apprentice standard in Animal Care and Welfare or Dog Grooming. And they hope that even more employers who offer apprenticeships will now choose iPET Network, as their End Point Assessment Organisation due to their profile in the grooming and animal sector. Fern Gresty, co-director of iPET Network said: “We are so excited to be assessing apprentices around the UK. “Apprenticeships are a great way to get straight into working in your chosen industry, and industries benefit from having enthusiastic trainees who are working hard to gain the skills and qualifications that they need.”

Sarah Mackay, co director of the iPET Network added: “Adding End Point Assessments to our services demonstrates our continued commitment to the industries we support, and showing the world our industries high level of competency.” To find out more about iPET Network go to www.ipetnetwork.co.uk