About KITH Animal Therapy CIC
"Founded by practitioners, not administrators. Built for the people other services struggle to reach."
KITH Animal Therapy CIC was established by practitioners with experience in animal welfare, SEND education, and community development who wanted animal-assisted intervention to be more carefully governed and more accessible.
We set out to build something different: a community interest company with the clinical rigour to satisfy NHS commissioners, the governance to be trusted by schools, and the community purpose to ensure that access is never determined by the ability to pay.
Welfare-led, evidence-based, community-rooted
Why animals
The physiological co-regulation that can occur when a calm, trusted animal is present (the reduction in cortisol, the slowing of breath, and the shift in nervous system state) cannot be replicated digitally or approximated by a simulation. For children with severe anxiety, complex trauma, or non-verbal SEND presentations, animals including dogs and small ponies can offer a relational experience without social demand. It is why AAI can reach people that other interventions cannot.
Why welfare is clinical, not pastoral
An animal that is stressed, fatigued, or uncomfortable cannot safely support another nervous system. Every welfare decision KITH makes (species-appropriate working limits, mandatory rest between sessions, pre-session welfare checks, and the right to withdraw an animal at any point) is a clinical decision, not an optional kindness. Every protocol exists for a reason.
Why governance matters for AAI
There are no National Occupational Standards for AAI in the UK. The field is largely unregulated. KITH has built its own clinical framework, covering eight SEND presentation profiles, handler competency, animal suitability assessment, and session-level risk assessment, because the field requires it, not because anyone requires us to. Commissioners and funders can request our full documentation suite at any time.
Two directors, one purpose
Rachel Trafford
Programme Development Lead
Rachel is an ABTC-accredited and IAABC-accredited Animal Behaviourist with over 20 years of experience as a canine behaviourist, spanning welfare and therapeutic intervention. She founded Restart Dogs CIC, which delivers canine-assisted rehabilitation in custodial settings and has placed twelve assistance dogs through its programme. She also directs Dog Behaviour Revolution, an ABTC-accredited behavioural consultancy. Rachel leads KITH's clinical governance, animal welfare protocols, and handler competency framework.
In 2024, Rachel was personally named winner of the Mirror Pet Award for Inspiration, national recognition in her own right for her contribution to animal-assisted intervention and the lives of the people she works with.
Julie Gilson
Co-Director · Interim Designated Safeguarding Lead
Julie brings more than twenty-five years of senior leadership in education and social care to KITH, with a particular grounding in the world the children we work with actually live in. She has been a headteacher, the registered proprietor of an independent special needs school working directly with the DfE and Ofsted, and the director of an Ofsted-registered children's home. Across that work she has held the responsibility for safeguarding, regulatory compliance, and getting the everyday details right for children whose needs are anything but everyday.
That experience is what Julie brings to KITH. She understands SEND settings from the inside, including the pressures schools and care providers carry, and she shares Rachel's belief that animal-assisted intervention should be held to the same clinical and ethical standards as any other therapy a child receives.
Away from KITH, Julie spends as much time outdoors as she can, walking with her three Labradors and exploring the countryside. Above all she treasures time with her family.
Structured to be trusted
Community Interest Company
Registered with Companies House and subject to annual community interest reporting to the CIC Regulator. All assets are locked for community benefit. No surplus is distributed to directors or members.
Clinical framework
Full SEND AAI clinical framework covering eight presentation profiles, with species-appropriate animal skills, handler competencies, and intervention goals for each. Available to commissioners on request.
Animal suitability assessment
Every animal working in a KITH programme passes a formal, species-appropriate suitability assessment covering welfare, temperament, environmental tolerance, and presentation-specific sign-off. No animal works on assumption.
Handler competency
Two-tier handler competency framework: supervised and independent. All handlers hold current safeguarding, paediatric first aid, and enhanced DBS before any session. A welfare-led, species-appropriate assessment is completed for every handler-animal partnership.
Safeguarding
Julie Gilson is KITH's interim Designated Safeguarding Lead. Programme-specific safeguarding responsibilities, escalation routes, DBS requirements, and disclosure procedures will be confirmed before learner contact.
Insurance
KITH has insurance in place. Evidence of the relevant cover is available privately to commissioners as part of the visit-assessment and commissioning process.