The International Canine Health Awards
The International Canine Health Awards, an initiative administered by The Royal Kennel Club Charitable Trust and underwritten by a major gift from Vernon and Shirley Hill, founders of Metro Bank, recognise innovative researchers and veterinary scientists whose work has had a positive impact on the health and well-being of dogs. Each year, the International Canine Health Awards donate around £70,000 to scientific research to help improve the health of dogs.
The Royal Kennel Club's own research
To help improve our knowledge and awareness of health issues in the dogs that we register, the Royal Kennel Club have carried out a number of extensive research projects.
Find out more about our health research, which includes:
- The 2004 purebred dog health survey
- The 2014 pedigree breed health survey
- Effective population sizes
Helping researchers get participants
The Royal Kennel Club regularly assists veterinary researchers in promoting current studies by emailing breed health co-ordinators, veterinary contacts and owners of relevant breeds, as well as promoting the studies on social media. In 2018, Royal Kennel Club emailed around 330,000 dog owners and breeders to promote 66 different independent health surveys, research projects and health clinics.
The Royal Kennel Club Charitable Trust
In the past five years The Royal Kennel Club Charitable Trust has awarded almost £2.5 million in grants, split as follows:
- 62% Science & research
- 20% Rescue & welfare
- 11% Support
- 7% Other, including education
The Royal Kennel Club health team currently works closely with the following research groups:
- Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS) at Cambridge University - the aim of this study is to improve the health of dogs which are already affected by BOAS and to create breeding tools to help breeders make informed choices and ultimately breed healthier puppies
- The Veterinary Companion Animal Surveillance System (VetCompass), a not-for-profit research project at The Royal Veterinary College (RVC), investigates the range and frequency of companion animal health problems by using data stored in individual computerised veterinary practice management systems