ACABC members join Animal Balance dog & cat mission in Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Two members of the Association of Companion Animal Behavior Counselors have accepted the Association's first companion animal research/humane project grants of $1000 and $500 respectively to assist them in funding their participation in a two week humane dog training project sponsored by Animal Balance in the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. They leave for the islands on December 4, 2004.

The two members are: Robert DeFranco, MS, BCCAB, board member and Chairperson of the Board of Professional Certification, board member of the American Foundation for Animal Rescue, and president of the American College of Applied Science, and ACABC member Paulina De Velasco, CDTI, a private dog trainer in Miami, Florida.

Animal Balance is a non profit organization dedicated to humanely reducing the cat and dog populations of the Galapagos Islands and promoting the use of humane methods to control them. To date, Animal Balance has been able to sterilize 88% of the dogs and 61% of the cats on Isabela Island. Recently, dog training classes were begun there and were well received by the local people and the government.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for our Association to aid the indigenous human and feral dog population of this very island community in one of the most superlative plant and animal ecosystems on the planet," says DeFranco. "We look forward to educating them in the humane management and care of these dogs, to begin to take them into their homes as companion animals when possible and, consequently, to promote a stronger bond between the two species for the well being of all. This project will be an exciting challenge for us and the first of its kind for our international professional membership association."

DeFranco and De Velasco will spend one week on remote Isabela Island with a group of approximately 35 veterinarians, vet techs and others teaching local persons how to become dog trainers and teaching some basic motivational dog training classes to the locals. They will then travel to Santa Cruz Island for a week to work with the Galapagos National Park Service to teach them safe animal handling skills.

Animal Balance is optimistic that these pioneering humane animal programs will promote the compassionate capture and training of stray dogs in the national park, which will encourage companion animal guardianship rather than the keeping of exotic species, such as marine iguanas, as "pets". Dog training will also create a skill that can be used for supplemental income for the future trainers in this small and impoverished island community. DeFranco and De Velasco plan to keep a written and photo diary of their work and will report back to the membership when they return.

For more information, visit the Association of Companion Animal Behavior Counselors website: ACABC or use the Association's contact page: http://animalbehaviorcounselors.org/contact/

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