The Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC), founded in 1971 and now operating as the Pet Advocacy Network, developed the first-ever comprehensive Small Animal Standards of Care — a voluntary but genuinely rigorous set of standards for small mammals, birds, and reptiles, built by pet industry leaders, animal care experts, and veterinarians working to align best practices where clear regulation was historically thin.

This course covers the species categories general dog and cat-focused pet care training doesn’t reach: aquarium and fish care fundamentals, bird husbandry, small mammal care (rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, and similar species), habitat and enclosure standards, and recognizing species-specific health concerns. This course does not grant an official PIJAC/Pet Advocacy Network credential itself — it uses their real, documented standards of care as a grounded foundation for genuine specialist competency.