At Battersea we have seen an increasing number of animals with extreme features come into our centres in recent years. These features, including flat faces and excessive skin folds, are becoming increasingly extreme, leading to long-term health issues for these animals that prevent them from living a happy, healthy life.
Battersea is a proud member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) and last year we were pleased to support the launch of the Innate Health Assessment (IHA) tool. This checklist is designed to help prospective owners identify animals with concerning genetic traits make more informed decisions.
We know how loved dogs are by their owners, and we understand that different breeds may be right for different people. However, we do strongly believe that the most extreme traits within some breeds must be bred out over time so that all dogs can enjoy the same great quality of life and owners can be safe in the knowledge that their pets are free from suffering as a result of the way they look.
Nobody who loves dogs wants them to suffer just to look a certain way. We believe that the Innate Health Assessment can help significantly in preventing this avoidable suffering by helping everyone know what to look for, and this is why we will continue to support it.
To learn more about this area of our work visit: Tackling harmful trends
To find out more about the IHA visit the Innate Health Assessment website.