Trauma in Animal Protection and Welfare Work: The Potential of Trauma-Informed Practice

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Professions that involve caring for others can present emotionally challenging and traumatic situations that may have negative effects on a worker’s mental health. This is also true for workers in the animal protection sector, particularly for those who participate in animal surrenders and removals, and witness both human and animal suffering. Changes are needed to mitigate and prevent these negative effects. To explore the challenges experienced by animal protection and welfare workers and better understand the changes that need to be made, we interviewed 11 individuals who work in the animal protection and welfare sector and have experience with the surrender and/or removal of animals. We found that the participants experienced many challenges that affected their mental health. We recommend that trauma-informed practices be implemented in the animal protection and welfare sector in order to manage and prevent job-related stress and trauma. We suggest that trauma-informed practices will help to develop both individual and organizational resilience, and result in a more compassionate experience for both workers and animal guardians. ABSTRACT: Those who work in the animal protection and welfare (APW) sector are consistently exposed to human and animal suffering, particularly those who witness animal surrenders and seizures. Continued exposure to suffering can result in stress, anxiety, burnout, and compassion fatigue, which are detrimental to individual and organizational well-being. The aim of this study was to understand the challenges experienced by Canadian APW workers, and to explore how trauma-informed approaches can be implemented to help mitigate these challenges. To achieve this, we utilized purposive sampling to seek workers in the APW sector who had experience with animal surrender and/or seizure. Telephone interviews were conducted with 11 participants. Participants reported experiencing many challenges that negatively impacted their mental health; this article summarizes them by focusing on two key themes drawn from the narratives of the participants: feeling unprepared and forced strength. Trauma-informed practices are explored as a means to prevent compassion fatigue and burnout, and to increase the resilience of individuals and organizations. We suggest trauma-informed practices help APW workers manage job-related stressors while also providing a more compassionate experience for animal guardians. Further, we propose that trauma-informed practices are a crucial component in facilitating respectful relationships with the communities that APW organizations serve.