S6 E3: Every Breath They Take - Inside the Innate Health Assessment with Prof Dan O'Neill

<p>The Innate Health Assessment tool developed by Prof Dan O'Neill and a team from the Royal Veterinary College has been described as revolutionary. In a podcast dedicated to the sustainability of horse sport from a welfare perspective, why are we talking about flat-faced dogs? Because we humans do things to and with animals in our lives that are not always in the animals' best interests, and breeding dogs for extreme conformation is one of those things. The IHA is designed to encourage responsible breeding of dogs so that future generations can lead full and happy lives, free from pain and discomfort. </p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/dan-o-neill" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dr Dan O’Neill</a></p><p>Professor of Companion Animal Epidemiology, RVC</p><p>MVB BSc(Hons) GPCert(SAP) GPCert(FelP) GPCert(Derm) GPCert(B&amp;PS) PGCertVetEd FHEA MSc(VetEpi) PhD FRCVS</p><p>Following 22 years in general (mainly small animal) veterinary practice, Dan moved across to academia in 2009 to gain a PhD at the RVC developing VetCompass to harness the power of veterinary clinical records to understand companion animal health at scale.</p><p> </p><p>He has remained at the RVC and co-leads the<a href="https://www.rvc.ac.uk/vetcompass" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> VetCompass™ Programme</a>. With over 185 peer-reviewed papers, he also co-authored the books ‘<a href="https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/Breed+Predispositions+to+Disease+in+Dogs+and+Cats,+3rd+Edition-p-9781119225577" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Breed Predispositions to Disease in Dogs and Cats</em></a><em>’ </em>and<em> </em>‘<a href="https://www.routledge.com/Health-and-Welfare-of-Brachycephalic-Flat-faced-Companion-Animals-A-Complete/Packer-ONeill/p/book/9780367207243" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Health and Welfare of Brachycephalic (Flat-faced) Companion Animals</em></a>’. He is a founding member of the UK<a href="http://www.ukbwg.org.uk/?page_id=234&amp;page=2" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Brachycephalic Working Group</a>, the UK<a href="https://www.alaw.org.uk/companion-animals/extreme-dog-conformation/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> Legal Advisory Group on Extreme Conformation in Dogs</a> and the<a href="https://www.icecdogs.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> International Collaborative on Extreme Conformation in Dogs</a>.</p><p> </p><p>Dan was awarded