About Frania Shelley-Grielen:
Petcentered, Inc. was founded by Frania Shelley-Grielen, an applied animal behaviorist, trainer and educator who holds a Masters Degree in Animal Behavior from Hunter College and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning from New York University.
Shelley-Grielen is a NY State Education Department licensed Pet Care Technician Instructor, registered therapy dog handler, certified Doggone Safe Bite Safety Instructor, and professional member of the Pet Professional Guild, International Society for Applied Ethology, Cat Writers Association and Dog Writers Association, specializing in behavior modification work and training with cats, dogs, birds and humane management for urban wildlife.
The author of the books, Behavior Matters for Cats and Dogs and and Cats and Dogs, Living with and Looking at Companion Animals from their Point of View, Frania Shelley-Grielen founded AnimalBehaviorist.us in 2009, to share her work on how welfare based, science focused strategies and solutions from the canine and feline point of view are more effective and make everyone happier, including the humans. Many of her articles on animal behavior and training are free for the reading on her website and her Substack, as are videos of lectures, presentations and training demos on her YouTube channel.
Frania's career includes five years developing and teaching full-time New York City's only Pet Care Technician program at a post secondary vocational school for individuals with disabilities, Here, she gained wide-ranging experience in training learners to use the best, most low stress, informed and humane approaches to work professionally with animals in the pet services industry.
Her work in the classroom and behind the scenes, preparing and evaluating students and sites in internships in dog day cares, grooming salons and shelters, gave Frania unique insight into this industry in New York City and the need for higher standards for both worker education and services. This experience led her to create PetCenterEd, Inc., as a remedy and alternative for higher standards for education and training for people and their pets.
About April Lang:
April Lang, LCSW, SEP is a psychotherapist based in New York City and has been in private practice for over twenty years. She works with both individuals and couples. She is also a writer, animal advocate, and Certified Humane Educator (2017), having trained at the Academy of Prosocial Learning. Over the years, she has given presentations on humane education at New York City’s public schools.
Her articles have been published in a variety of magazines and blogs, most recently in the NASW Specialty Practice Section. She contributed a chapter to the book, Careers in One Health: Social Workers’ Roles in Caring for Humans and their Companion Animals, and wrote a column called, “The Relational Vegan” for the on-line magazine, LA Fashionista Compassionista. She is also the author of the book, Animal Persuasion: a guide for ethical vegans and animal advocates in managing life’s emotional challenges.” You can learn more about her by visiting her website, www.aprillang.com.
