Meet Rachel Leather

I’m an animal behaviour clinician and my main area of interest is dogs impacted by psychological trauma.

I originally did a degree in psychology and then a master’s degree in animal behaviour. I ran a degree programme in applied animal behaviour, teaching students the theoretical knowledge for certification as clinical animal behaviourists and I set up a behaviour clinic so that they could also gain practical experience.

I still run my behaviour practice now, but until recently I also worked with children and adults who had experienced trauma, mostly in the areas of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking. I was the service delivery manager for a charity supporting survivors and was responsible for all frontline services, including three safe houses and an outreach team.

There are so many parallels between people and other animals when they have experienced trauma and I feel privileged to bring my knowledge of both together to support some of the most vulnerable dogs across the world. I work exclusively with trauma cases now and typical cases include dogs from abroad with a history of abuse or neglect, dogs from puppy farms and hoarding situations and dogs from the dog meat trade.

I’ve written a book about psychological trauma in dogs due to be published next year and I regularly do webinars and speak at conferences about trauma-informed care.

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