Animal Handling and Safety - Veterinary Practices

Safe Canine Handling, Containment, Welfare & Animal First Aid for Veterinary and Pet Emergency Centres

Course Overview

Core Training for Veterinary Staff

Across hospitals, clinics, and emergency environments, staff are expected to manage stressed, painful, unpredictable animals under pressure. That brings real risk: bites, scratches, manual-handling injuries, restraint incidents, and costly workers compensation claims. 

The Pet Industry College delivers onsite, practical, scenario-driven training designed for the environments where risk is highest. Whether you’re running a high-volume emergency centre or a general practice clinic, this program builds the competence, confidence, and safety your team needs.

Who This Course is For

Specially Designed Course for Vets and Pet Emergency Centres

Designed specifically for pet emergency and vet staff, this course delivers practical, compliant animal-handling skills for real-world operational environments.

Learning Outcomes

What Students Will Learn

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

Assess Animal Behaviour

  • Pre-bite/pre-scratch signals 
  • Distinguishing fear, pain, and defensive aggression 
  • Escalation signs 
  • Adjusting approach in real time 

Safe Restraint of Dogs & Cats

  • Low-stress restraint for fearful, painful, or reactive animals 
  • Two-person techniques for high-risk or emergency scenarios 
  • When to escalate or change approach 
  • Hands-on clinical and ER simulations

 

Low-Stress Handling

  • Identifying stress early in GP and ER settings 
  • Reducing fear triggers in tight, noisy, fast-paced environments 
  • Working safely with unknown animals 
  • Creating calmer, more predictable sessions 

Safety Equipment & Correct Usage

  • Gloves, towels, muzzles, cat bags, etc
  • When to use — and when not to use — catch poles 
  • Safe animal transfer from car park → triage → treatment areas 
  • Understanding limitations of each tool 
Course Outcomes

Why Veterinary Facilities Choose This Program

On successful completion, students will: 

Meets WHS, SafeWork & duty-of-care expectations

Provides documented evidence of training, competency, and risk-management measures. 

Better handling = fewer preventable incidents. 

Safer, calmer animals lead to smoother procedures and better outcomes. 

Levels the skill across mixed-experience hospital/clinic teams. 

Safer handling = faster diagnostics, less interruption, more predictable patient flow. 

Animal Handling and Safety

Course Details & Inclusions

Certificate of Completion

Each participant receives a Statement of Completion upon successfully finishing the one-day course.

4 Hour Onsite Training

4-hour onsite training program where our trainers come to your location to deliver hands-on training to you and your team.

Online Learning

All participants receive access to online learning resources to support and extend their training beyond the onsite course.

Train Your Team with Confidence!

Equip you and your staff with practical, compliant animal-handling skills through onsite, industry-trusted training.

Do you have a question or want to learn more? Enquire now and a friendly team member will be in touch shortly.