A saintly voice goes forth, and the barking stops

A love for animals inspired Penny Tai to become an animal behaviorist. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The St. Francis in question is Penny Tai, who does not need a live audience to make an impact, having been a hit on television in China, including in a talk show called Kangxi Arrives.

"The wellspring of all pets' problems is their owners' problems," Tai sagely tells the audience, bringing a long round of laughter and applause.

Mars Petcare Academy, the organizer of the pet raising and care consulting event in Beijing on Aug 1, reckons Tai, a pet behaviorist and caregiver in Taiwan, is the first of his ilk in China.

Tai says his approach is different to that of many so-called pet trainers who rely on punishment rather than scientific theories to resolve animals' behavioral problems.

"If a dog or a cat misbehaves, in most cases the owner is to blame for wrong conceptions about the pet and unreasonable expectations of it," he says.

"They simply do not understand that their pets are not human beings, but a different species."

For example, some dog owners give their pets food that they regard as healthy, such as fruit or vegetables, he says. When the dog does not eat the food the owner considers it "naughty", forgetting that dogs' nutritional demands are different to those of humans.