Monica Laane-Fralick

As a child, my passion and love for animals never wavered, nor did my desire to learn. Having family vacations that were filled with long walks through the forest and days spent at our lakefront cabin made me appreciate the wonder and beauty of nature in its purest form. As I journeyed through life, certain things became apparent to me; one being that we (humans) are destroying our planet, and another that many humans have a diminished regard for animal welfare.

I grew up with the ‘it’s only one piece of garbage’ and ‘we have always done it that way’ mentality. When finally able to have my own pets, I was made even more aware of the lack of education and awareness around positive welfare. Being involved in dog rescue as a volunteer for almost 20 years now has made this even more blatant. Aside from what I could do for my own animals, how could I help instigate change in others?

A fascination for horses struck me a few years ago.  Knowing nothing about them, I felt the urge to learn as much as I could – my childhood desire to learn never left me – and still has not. My ‘curiosity’ led me to earn my Diploma in Equine Sciences and my Certificate in Equine Welfare. It was during one of my final courses on Equine Welfare that I was introduced to human behaviour change.

I have not looked back since, only forward. We have all the knowledge at our fingertips to help provide positive welfare for animals, yet, as a society, we continue to fail in many areas. Pollution and global habitat destruction are destroying the diversity of plants, waters, animals and other organisms needed to keep our planet healthy.

Working in the horse industry from an educational standpoint, and being active in dog rescue, gives me hope that being part of this team at HBCL will allow me to help create awareness and hopefully, positive change. I am involved in some writing and creation of the newsletter and am learning more every day about ways we can all change our behaviour to improve all life on our planet, and ultimately, our planet.