The conference will be the first of its kind for The Kennel Club.
Yesterday (28 July), The Kennel Club announced that it will be hosting a new Health and Welfare Conference.
The conference, taking place on 25 September and 26 September 2021, aims to create and drive discussion on canine welfare and wellbeing, in order to improve the welfare of both existing and future dogs.
Intending to bring people together from many different sectors of the canine world, including dog health experts, owners, breeders and breed community representatives, the conference will last for two days.
Workshops, seminars and talks will comprise the bulk of the conference time, and will be held by experts in field, including Dr Dan O'Neill, Dr Alison Wills, and Dr Jacqueline Boyd.
Welfare and breeder services executive at The Kennel Club, Bill Lambert, commented on the event: “We’re delighted to be hosting this important conference and introducing a new event to the calendar for all those who care about and want to work together to improve dog health and welfare.
“After a year like no other, we hope the conference will bring together a range of experts and communities to re-align priorities around dog health, well-being and welfare, and inspire collaboration across a broad spectrum of topics which will make a difference for dogs both now and in the future.”
On the Saturday, attendees will have the option of two different themed programmes, canine health and breeding, or canine sports science. Running simultaneously, each programme will include talk and workshop sessions on a variety of topics.
Sunday will focus exclusively on breed watch education, focussing in on the judging of brachycephalic breeds for health. The programme will cover bulldogs, pugs and French bulldogs.
Topics covered across the weekend will include how breed standards impact health, key things to consider with regard to heart health, feeding for performance, and eye testing for dog owners and competitors.
Tickets and further information on the event can be found here.
With Strangles Awareness Week just around the corner (5-11 May), vets are being encouraged to share a survey about the disease with their horse-owning clients.
