Our Mission
This alliance was created with one clear goal: to make Evansville & the surrounding areas a more force-free, humane, and compassionate community for our pets. We are a collective of pet care professionals-including trainers, groomers, store owners, walkers, sitters and veterinary staff- who are committed to upholding the highest standards of care rooted in science, ethics, and empathy.
We believe that pets are family, and how we treat them should reflect that. As such, we do not use or endorse any tools or methods that rely on force, fear, pain or intimidation to change behavior. This includes, but is not limited to: shock collars, prong collars, choke chains, vibration collars, leash pops, physical corrections, or dominance-based approaches. These tools and methods often cause long-term stress, fear, and even aggression-damaging the human-animal bond.
Instead, we are guided by modern, evidence-based approaches using reward-based methods.
Our goal is to educate and support our local community-from pet owners to pet professionals- to embrace compassionate, ethical methods that put the emotional and physical wellbeing of our pets first.
Together, we can raise the standard of care for all pets in our region and ensure that every pet has the opportunity to live a safe, happy, and force-free life.
Sidney Warbinton is the founder of Force-Free Evansville and the owner of Good Poppi Dog Training Academy. A proud Evansville Native, Sidney grew up in the community and still holds deep ties to the area through family, friends and a lifelong love for its people and pets.
Motivated by a desire to see more humane, effective, and force-free options for animals and their guardians in the Evansville area, Sidney founded Force-Free Evansville to unite like-minded professionals and change the standard of pet care across the region.
