Esther Rantzen created the Jobsworth Award before the National Health Service (NHS) invented clinical governance. One wonders sometimes if the NHS would have scooped all their awards had the programme continued. Television presenters also caution against involvement with children or animals, or worst of all both simultaneously. Clearly child and adolescent mental health professionals planning to involve animals in therapy should be cautious even in a semi-rural locality. Animals and children are, however, within our knowledge and skills framework, but not so the finer points of clinical governance.