I was honoured to participate - virtually - in the Swedish Veterinary Congress in October.

This talk, as requested by the organizer looks primarily at the veterinarian's responsibility in issues related to responsible breeding, current legislative and regulatory actions, and various controversial issues in dog health and welfare - including extremes of conformation.  It also addresses concerns about how importing of dogs might impact the situation.

Sweden historically has a population of primarily pedigree dogs, registered with the Swedish Kennel Club.  The breeds clubs of Sweden have in general been proactive in their attention to health issues, creating Breed-Specific Breeding Strategies (RAS - breed-specific breeding strategies - or on DogWellNet ) and using Swedish insurance statistics and Agria Breed Profiles.  There are questions that arise as to whether there is increasing importation of unregistered dogs and whether these tend to be 'sicker' than those from the managed populations.

As I say in the talk, there are many stakeholders in the complex world of dog health and welfare.  However, we must all first and foremost start with our our personal responsibilities if we want to encourage change.

This talk is for veterinarians, veterinary organizations, and all those who have an interest in current challenges in the dog world.

Watch below or on our YouTube channel: 

Or download here as a PowerPoint show (.ppsx) with voiceover:

Responsible Breeding and Sourcing of Dogs Bonnett Swedish Vet Conference Oct 2020 voice over 50 minutes.ppsx

Or in PDF format:

Responsible Breeding and Sourcing of Dogs BONNETT Swedish vet conference Oct 2020 pdf.pdf