Making pet-inclusive practice part of everyday professional practice.
PAWP Connect is an evidence-informed professional practice platform developed to help frontline organisations recognise when companion animals matter, assess their relevance and respond through more consistent, pet-inclusive practice.
Bringing together structured assessments, support pathways, practice toolkits, learning and resources in one professional environment.
A professional platform from PAWP — The People & Animal Welfare Project.
Why pet-inclusive practice?
Companion animals are part of people’s lives — including during crisis.
Housing insecurity, homelessness, domestic abuse, mental health difficulties and other challenging circumstances can affect both people and the animals they care for.
Companion animals may provide companionship, routine, emotional support, stability and a sense of purpose. They may also influence housing decisions, access to services, safety planning and willingness to engage with support.
Yet the human–animal bond can remain invisible to services when nobody asks whether a companion animal is present or considers its relevance.
A person declining accommodation or appearing reluctant to engage with support may have concerns about separation from their pet that have not been identified.
In other circumstances, asking about a companion animal may help identify practical welfare needs or safeguarding concerns requiring an appropriate professional response.
If services do not recognise when a companion animal matters, they cannot take that relationship into account.
PAWP Connect helps turn that recognition into informed, proportionate action.
The practice gap
Good intentions need practical implementation.
Many organisations recognise the importance of companion animals. The challenge is embedding that understanding into consistent frontline practice.
🔎 Recognition
Are staff routinely identifying whether someone has or is responsible for a companion animal?
📋 Assessment
Can practitioners explore when and how an animal is relevant without creating unnecessary assessments?
🧭 Response
Can staff identify suitable pathways, practical resources and specialist support?
📝 Recording
Can organisations demonstrate what was considered, what actions were taken and what outcomes followed?
🎓 Capability
Do staff have the knowledge and confidence to respond appropriately when companion animals are relevant?
🔄 Improvement
Can organisations identify gaps and strengthen their approach through learning and review?
The PAWP approach
A structured framework for pet-inclusive practice.
PAWP Connect is built around a six-stage practice framework designed to support recognition, appropriate action, evidence and continuous improvement.
🔎 RECOGNISE
Identify whether a companion animal is present and when they may be relevant to a person’s circumstances, decisions or engagement.
📋 ASSESS
Explore relevant circumstances proportionately through evidence-informed assessment when further consideration is needed.
🧭 RESPOND
Use practical pathways, toolkits and trusted specialist resources to inform appropriate next steps.
📝 RECORD
Document relevant considerations, responses and outcomes to support accountable professional practice.
🎓 BUILD CAPABILITY
Strengthen staff knowledge and confidence through learning, guidance and implementation resources.
🔄 REVIEW & IMPROVE
Review implementation, identify gaps and strengthen pet-inclusive practice over time.
RECOGNISE → ASSESS → RESPOND → RECORD → BUILD CAPABILITY → REVIEW & IMPROVE
Recognition starts early
Sometimes the most important first step is simply asking.
PAWP encourages organisations to establish whether someone has a companion animal at an appropriate point in their existing client journey.
This might form part of initial contact, intake, an existing assessment or another suitable conversation.
“Do you have, or are you responsible for, a pet or companion animal?”
If an animal is identified, proportionate follow-up can help establish whether their presence is relevant and whether additional action is necessary.
Not every situation requires a separate PAWP Connect assessment. Existing organisational procedures, specialist assessments, guidance or support pathways may already provide the appropriate response.
Inside PAWP Connect
Practical tools for frontline professionals.
PAWP Connect brings together structured practice tools and resources within one professional environment.
📋 Structured assessments
Evidence-informed assessments help practitioners understand how companion animals may relate to a person’s circumstances and support needs.
🧭 Support pathways
Practical guidance to help identify proportionate actions and appropriate specialist or community resources.
🧰 Practice toolkits
Sector-specific guidance to help organisations translate pet-inclusive principles into everyday practice.
📝 Assessment records
Document relevant considerations, actions and review points to support more consistent and accountable practice.
🎓 Learning Hub
Bite-sized learning and practical resources to help strengthen practitioner understanding and confidence.
📚 Resource library
Access evidence-informed materials, conversation prompts, specialist guidance and trusted external resources.
🏢 Organisation tools
Support organisational access, implementation and the development of more consistent approaches across teams.
💬 Product & implementation support
Technical, account and toolkit implementation support to help participating organisations use PAWP Connect effectively.
Initial practice pathways
Starting where companion animals can significantly affect support.
PAWP Connect is initially focused on three areas of frontline professional practice.
🏠 Housing & Homelessness
Recognise and respond when companion animals affect housing access, tenancy stability, homelessness interventions or accommodation decisions.
❤️ Domestic Abuse & Safety
Recognise when companion animals may be relevant to coercive control, safety, decisions about leaving and access to specialist support.
🧠 Mental Health
Consider companion animals in relation to wellbeing, protective factors, practical care, crisis planning and engagement with services.
Who PAWP Connect is for
Designed for services supporting people.
PAWP Connect is intended for organisations whose frontline teams encounter circumstances in which companion animals may affect a person’s safety, wellbeing, choices or access to support.
🏠 Housing providers
Supporting pet-inclusive consideration within housing access, tenancy and housing stability.
🛏️ Homelessness services
Recognising when companion animals influence accommodation decisions or engagement with support.
❤️ Domestic abuse services
Considering companion animals appropriately within safeguarding and specialist safety planning.
🧠 Mental health services
Recognising the human–animal bond within wellbeing, practical support and crisis-related circumstances.
👥 Community & voluntary organisations
Providing structured guidance and pathways for frontline teams supporting people with complex needs.
🏛️ Local authorities
Supporting more consistent pet-inclusive consideration across relevant frontline services.
In everyday practice
The animal may matter even when they are not the presenting issue.
Examples include people who are:
- 🏡 Facing housing difficulties where keeping a companion animal is a concern.
- 🛏️ Declining accommodation because their pet cannot accompany them.
- ❤️ Concerned about an animal in an unsafe or abusive situation.
- 🧠 Experiencing mental health difficulties where an animal is a protective factor or creates practical care needs.
- 💷 Struggling financially to meet a companion animal’s essential needs.
- 🏥 Temporarily unable to care for an animal because of illness or a change in circumstances.
- 🐾 Considering rehoming because of preventable practical barriers.
- ❓ Appearing reluctant to engage where an unidentified pet-related concern may be influencing their decision.
Every situation is different. PAWP Connect supports proportionate professional judgement; it does not require a separate assessment for every person with a pet.
Implementing PAWP Connect
Effective practice requires more than access to a platform.
The aim is to help organisations embed pet-inclusive considerations within their existing procedures and professional responsibilities.
Understand your service
Identify where companion animals may intersect with the circumstances and needs of the people your organisation supports.
Establish recognition
Identify appropriate points within existing workflows to recognise companion animals and their potential relevance.
Equip your team
Provide access to relevant assessments, support pathways, toolkits, guidance and learning resources.
Review & improve
Use implementation feedback and practice records to identify gaps and strengthen organisational capability.
Early partnership opportunity
Become a Founding PAWP Connect Partner.
We are seeking a limited number of organisations interested in helping test and refine PAWP Connect within real frontline environments.
Founding Partners will have the opportunity to contribute practical feedback on assessments, resources, implementation and usability.
Our objective is to build a credible, evidence-informed professional platform that responds to frontline realities while supporting stronger pet-inclusive practice.
Founding Partner opportunities
- Early access to PAWP Connect during the pilot programme.
- Structured assessments and support pathways.
- Practice toolkits and professional resources.
- Learning and implementation materials.
- Technical, account and product implementation support.
- Opportunities to provide structured frontline feedback.
- Founding Partner recognition, by agreement.
- Preferential founding-partner pricing.
Supporting existing services
Designed to strengthen, not replace.
PAWP Connect is a professional practice-support platform. It does not replace professional judgement, statutory responsibilities, organisational safeguarding procedures or specialist services.
Participating organisations remain responsible for the assessments, decisions and actions undertaken within their services.
PAWP Connect helps organisations make specialist knowledge, evidence-informed guidance and practical resources more accessible within mainstream human services.
The aim is not to create another service around the client. It is to help existing services recognise and respond appropriately when a companion animal matters.
PAWP Connect · Founding Partner Programme
Help make pet-inclusive practice part of everyday professional practice.
Explore how PAWP Connect could support your organisation to recognise when companion animals matter, respond proportionately and develop a more consistent approach.
The People & Animal Welfare Project
For people, for pets, for purpose.
PAWP brings together social-purpose initiatives, professional collaboration and technology to strengthen the relationship between human wellbeing and animal welfare.
PAWP Connect supports pet-inclusive professional practice, while HomeWagger remains our dedicated dog-rehoming app.
Digital platform development and operation are undertaken by HomeWagger Tech Ltd.