The Pet Industry Federation (PIF) has announced it has launched a new qualification for looking after small mammals and reptiles.
PIF has developed specialisms in the City and Guilds Level 2 Certificate of Technical Competence in Health and Husbandry qualification for reptiles and small mammals, as part of its package of benefits to help businesses comply with the new Animal Activities Licensing regulations.
The first to achieve the qualification were rangers from Zoolab, a nationwide provider of live animal handling workshops and animal encounters, after a PIF assessor trained two Zoolab employees to deliver and assess the qualification.
The qualification covers basic animal husbandry including; handling, health checking, accommodation set up and maintenance and feeding requirements. As a PIF school for this qualification, Zoolab are now able to train and assess all new rangers to ensure animal welfare is maintained within the company.
Vicky Skinner, PIF education manager, said: “This qualification provides a great comprehensive grounding in the husbandry requirements of reptiles and small mammals. Our exciting work with Zoolab has enabled a large organisation to manage the training of its staff and comply with legislation in a more straightforward and cost-effective way.
“The fact that the qualification is Ofqual regulated provides the reassurance to local authority inspectors that is meets rigorous standards of external verification and assessment to ensure that learners have obtained the requisite knowledge required to achieve it.”
