As the star of a Reuters film, The Animal Talent Ltd is an agency founded by the team behind Lilliput the Maltese – the only dog in the world to be accredited by BAFTA and who played the celebrated role of Bark Ruffalo at their 2024 Awards ceremony alongside David Tennant and Michael Sheen. We cast model dogs, cats and all animal talent in the media. The agency offers guaranteed shots, remote rehearsal reviews and is fully licenced and insured.

Importantly we are the only UK animal actor casting agency to hold a Dangerous Wild Animal licence. We are not just a dog and cat modelling agency! We can supply almost any animal actor or model on the planet for your professional production purposes. To this end, our animal casting agents specialise in a wide variety of species including dangerous wild animals, reptiles, birds, small mammals, farm livestock, domestic pets (such as dog and cat models) and exotics. For the UK’s best pet model and animal talent agency, no animal is too big or too small!

The animal talent displayed on our website represents merely a proportion of those on our books. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, please contact us and we’re confident we can provide the animal actors you need.

As the UK’s leading pet model and animal talent agency, we love to be involved from the very beginning of your animal talent planning and believe that our process of selection, advice and reward-based training sets the animals up for success in any situation. The animals we work with enjoy the process of training with their handler, the bonding time they receive and the achievement of a great performance. Our animal actors have fun when they work! 

For us, it’s essential that the well-being of our talent is always prioritised, whatever the situation. As the UK’s top dog modelling agency, it’s not just dogs but all animals that we treat with love and respect as if they were our own. 

Check out the results on our showcase page and also in the press.

Hire animal models from us and we guarantee you will get the shots you need.

If you don’t get your shot, you don’t pay the bill.

Whether you’re casting animal models for film, TV, commercials and/or photoshoots, this guarantee pertains!

Our animal talent agency supplies fully licenced and insured professional animal location handlers for all animal species around the world, all of whom are recognised qualified experts in their fields. We hold Animal Activity Licences under The Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 – in respect of the keeping or training of animal actors to be exhibited for entertainment purposes by the recording of images for display – and The Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 (Licence No. LCC/DWA1).

We can provide up to £10 million worth of public liability insurance coverage, allowing us to work with venomous animals and those covered by The Dangerous Wild Animals Act. 

We operate in complete compliance with all RSPCA policies on animal welfare.

Our staff undergo enhanced level Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks, ensuring optimum screenings for your safer working environment.

We offer remote rehearsal reviews, where you can observe the animal actor practising and performing the action required for the shoot before we go into the studio.

Since this free-of-charge service is conducted remotely it can be taken advantage of wherever you are located, including London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham or York.

This pre-filming reviewing service ensures the entire crew can relax and focus on their respective remits on the day, without worrying about whether the animal talent is capable of delivering.

Our animal talent agency includes fully qualified animal wranglers and handlers, animal behaviourists, animal trainers, animal transporters, veterinarians, bookers, educators, scientists and lawyers. Each one of us has many years of experience working in our respective fields.

By using us, your crew will always be secure and no animal welfare regulations are ever breached.

We deploy the latest technology in telemetry tracking together with radio communications, GPS locators and handling equipment to ensure that our UK animal actors stay safe and ready to perform.

Safeguarding the welfare of our animals is at the heart of everything we do as an animal talent agency: our skilled handlers live and work with their respective animal charges, ensuring their bond is always founded upon kindness, understanding and compassion. We are committed to treating our animal actors ethically.

Our knowledge of animal handling is unparalleled. Coupled with our experience in the entertainment and media industries, our pet model and animal talent agency is highly competent at delivering skilled animal performances whilst working within the unique filming environment.

To assist with your production projects we can:

• provide pre-production consultations including an assessment of animal training requirements for your scripted roles and specific actions as well as bespoke animal training for the more complex briefs. If required, we also undertake risk assessments to ensure the animals, actors and crew remain safe on set; and 
• supply welfare consultants and vets to attend filming, as well as assisting with the day/s’ logistics management (including travel arrangements, boarding of multiple animals in situ and overseeing any animals working outdoors and/or on location). 

Our animal talent agency is proud to supply animals to production teams, studios and location-based filming all over the world. No matter your shoot location, the animal actor casting process can be managed by emails, video and face-to-face meetings – whichever works best for your production.

To learn more about our founding director take a look at this blog and check out our reviews. Talk with one of our expert animal handlers now!