The Development of a Management System for Animal-Assisted Services (AAS)

The Canadian Foundation for Animal-Assisted Support Services (CFAS) has expressed the need for CAN/HRSO-500.01-2021 in order to promote and facilitate service excellence across Canada. Animal-Assisted Services (AAS) are mutually beneficial relationships that nurture One Health for People, Pets, and PartnersTM. Health in this context includes the physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being of people of all ages and the welfare of pets in service and other animals in service (Source: The Canadian Foundation for Animal-Assisted Support Services (CFAS)). AAS is a growing, multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary sector comprised of complementary industries. Because AAS is unregulated at both the provincial and federal levels, practitioners' and service providers' credibility is questionable, resulting in increased risks to end-users, consumers and their families, and the animals involved in service delivery. Additionally, the lexicon related to AAS is inconsistent and confusing, compromising quality, credibility, and measuring the impact of outcomes. Systemic inconsistencies and gaps also complicate accessing AAS in Canada. An NSC for the development of a management system for AAS will: • increase transparency and accountability • establish minimum standards and best practices for AAS administration • encompass best practices for economic development, partnerships, and collaborative approaches that benefit people, the animals, regulators, and businesses • benefit donors, sponsors, grant-makers, volunteers, and • promote a voluntary, third-party, AAS conformity assessment program to cultivate a credibility chain.