The School of Social Work and Animals and Society Institute's Treating Animal Abuse Certificate Program is a non-credit online program focused on training graduate level health and human service practitioners to treat those children and adults who have abused animals. Animal abuse is a very serious and alarming behavior. For children it is one of the early manifestations of conduct problems associated with "low empathy and callous disregard" (Dadds, Whiting & Hawes, 2006, p 141) and requires intervention (Merz-Perez & Heide, 2004). A substantial body of research also suggests that animal cruelty may be early indicator of later violence toward humans, as well as often one of a cluster of deviant behaviors in families such as domestic violence, child abuse and elder abuse.

The purpose of the certificate program is to enhance practitioners' knowledge of human-animal relationships and ability to assess for, and treat animal abuse. It will provide practitioners with extensive knowledge on the assessment of human-animal relationships and treatment of animal abuse through such activities as directed readings in evidence based journal articles and books, online lectures, service learning, field observation, individual research papers, experiential projects and Q&A tests.