Pet Sense - Colette Kase, Pet behaviour counsellor

About Colette Kase

Colette Kase is a pet behaviour counsellor working by veterinary referral with both pet dogs and cats. She has been working with dogs professionally since 1990 when she became a dog trainer and behaviour counsellor for McBride Associates Animal Behaviour Services. While working for McBride Associates she ran puppy training and socialisation classes, dog-training classes and offered private consultations for pet owners with behaviour problems until 1998.

In 1992 Ms. Kase finished her degree in psychology at the University of East London where she produced a research paper on the health benefits of pet ownership to homeless people. Following this she set up the Hope Project which became an internationally recognised charity providing free veterinary care to pets belonging to homeless people. This led her to the foundation of PATHWAY, a multidisciplinary panel looking at the issues of pets in public housing and the publication of Guidelines for Housing Providers on Pets in Housing which was endorsed by the Department of the Environment.

In 1994 the Hope Project was assimilated by the NCDL, the UK's largest dog charity, and Ms. Kase was employed to co-ordinate the project and assist with the charity's dog behaviour issues. Ms. Kase was employed as the NCDL's Animal Welfare Manager until 1999. She was responsible for the behavioural welfare of the dogs in the NCDL's care and for developing in house training for staff in this area. This involved identifying, assessing and handling dangerous and aggressive dogs. Ms. Kase represented the NCDL on the Dangerous Dogs' Act 1991 Reform Group during this time and acted as an in house specialist in the area of canine legislation, fighting dogs and canine aggression.

Ms. Kase has given talks internationally on the subjects of the human / canine relationship, dog behaviour, canine legislation and the Dangerous Dogs' Act. These include running workshops for veterinary surgeons in the UK, lecturing law students at Rutgers University in the United States and running courses on canine behaviour in Japan.

Ms. Kase sat on the Committee of the Society for Companion Animal Studies for three years. She now sits on the Committee of the Companion Animal Behaviour Therapy Study Group which offers advice and guidance to the veterinary profession on issues of canine behaviour. She is a member of the International Society for Anthrozoology and the Association of Pet Dog Trainers.