International Working Group on Extremes of Conformation in Dogs (IWGECD)

In Windsor (UK) in June 2019, the IPFD 4th International Dog Health Workshop (IDHW) took place (Pegram et al., 2020) a key recommendation was to initiate a multi-stakeholder International working group on extreme conformation, with an initial focus on brachycephalics . 

Please note:  This group is now called the International Collaboration for Extreme Conformation in Dogs and can be found in https://www.icecdogs.com/home/news

Premise: 

The International Working Group on Extreme Conformation in Dogs (IWGECD) will be a platform in which national and international working groups, experts and stakeholders join forces to enhance the health, well-being and welfare of all dogs by limiting the negative welfare impacts from extreme conformations in dogs.

Mission

The IWGECD will:

• Identify different approaches
• Collect, when needed review, and share scientific papers and other material
• Identify different opinions – agree that sometimes we disagree but that we can all grow in knowledge from these disagreements
• Share experiences and/or data
• Share new ideas
• Build on successes
• See how we can move forward together

The international working group is not intended to forcefully harmonize national working groups but, as we learn together, it is likely that successful strategies will be adopted more widely. Members will also contribute to shared international strategy. IWGECD will offer a forum of information sharing and support that aims to enhance the work of each of the national and international members.

Members

• Multistakeholder national working groups involved in breed-associated health problems due to their extreme conformation. In countries where
• there is a need, but no such group has yet been established, the IWGECD will promote and/or facilitate setting up national working groups
• National and International stakeholder organizations with the same aim including veterinary and charity bodies
• Individual experts
• Industry is also considered to be a stakeholder
• Academia
• Breed clubs and kennel clubs
• Government and legislative bodies

The IWGECD  founding board includes:  Monique Megens DVM (chairperson)1, Dr. Dan O'Neill2 and Dr. Åke Hedhammar3.

1 Monique Megens DVM, Chief Operating Officer IPFD; Member WSAVA Hereditary Disease Committee; past-president FECAVA; Member Health Committee Dutch Kennel Club; https://dogwellnet.com/ipfd/who-we-are/leadership/ 2 Dr. Dan O’Neill, Senior Lecturer - Companion Animal Epidemiology; VetCompass Animal Surveillance; Veterinary Epidemiology Economics and Public Health, Royal Veterinary College; Chairperson UK brachycephalic Working Group; https://www.rvc.ac.uk/about/our-people/dan-o-neill 3 Dr. Åke Hedhammar Dipl. ECVIM - Companion Animals, Senior Professor Internal Medicine Small Animals, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala Sweden; scientific advisor to the Swedish Kennel Club. Initiator of the First Dog Health Workshop held in Stockholm 2012, Member WSAVA Hereditary Disease Committee; https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7048-3851/print

PEGRAM, C. L., BONNETT, B. N., SKARP, H., ARNOTT, G., JAMES, H., HEDHAMMAR, Å., LEROY, G., LLEWELLYN-ZAIDI, A., SEATH, I. J. & O'NEILL, D. G. 2020. Moving from information and collaboration to action: report from the 4th international dog health workshop, Windsor in May 2019. Canine Medicine and Genetics, 7, 4 https://cgejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40575-020-00083-x