BSAVA Congress press conference
Just hours into the 56th annual BSAVA Congress, a press conference was held to uncover the views of various representatives within the veterinary and animal welfare industry.
The press conference's focus was genetic and inherited diseases, and a "Question Time" approach was used, taking questions from those in attendance.
Chairing the event was Chris Laurence, who welcomed the panel of highly-regarded animal experts.
These included the BSAVA president Mark Johnston, Kennel Club (KC) chairman Steve Dean, KC geneticist Aimee Llewellyn and the Animal Health Trust's (AHT) head of canine genetics, Cathryn Mellersh.
Further panel members included Will Jeffels, who performs the vet checks at Crufts, Sheila Crispin of the Advisory Council on the Welfare Issues of Dog Breeding and Claire Bessant, CEO of International Cat Care (formerly the Feline Advice Bureau).
Various questions were put to the panel, who each gave very individual responses on behalf of their specific field.
For example, when asked what is the most important aspect of the genetic and inherited diseases issue, Steve felt the problem lies with both vets and laws of dog breeding.
Meanwhile geneticist Catherine said she believes there should be more of a collaboration between each of the separate fields.
She explained: "There is no single way to solve this - we need to inform puppy owners together".
While the issue exists for cats, Claire explained that it is not such a big problem for the species. She reiterated that there needs to be more science on the topic and that the message needs to be spread so it is common knowledge.
Other questions covered the canine vet checks at Crufts and the prospect of introducing such checks to more than just the 14 designated "High Profile breeds", as well as the effect of the BBC's "Pedigree Dogs Exposed", years after the report was televised.
The press conference was followed by a lunch, in which attendees were invited to talk to the panel and attending BSAVA officers.
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
