News - IRISH WOLFHOUND HEALTH GROUP

The closest railway station is Berkswell Station on the Coventry – Birmingham International- Birmingham New Street. St Peter’s Hall is about a 20 minute walk from the station.

We have five exciting speakers lined up for you this year, talking on aspects of fertility and genetics amongst others:

Philippa Robinson, the founder of the Karlton Index, will chair the day on our behalf.

Following the presentations by our speakers, we would like to introduce some group discussion among our delegates.

As always, we will be having a raffle in aid of our funds, and of course lunch will be included in the cost of your ticket – a real bargain at only £20 for the full day.

We are pleased to issue an updated set of accounts for the year to 31st December 2016. With our new Treasurer coming on board, we've taken the opportunity to review our accounting practices and policies and made the decision to move from a cash basis of accounting to an accruals basis, which allocates transactions to the financial period to which they relate rather than the financial period in which they occur. This has resulted in a further £495 of income being taken into 2016 for which transactions didn't occur until 2017 due to the timing of cash receipts. Following a query on the allocation of a Heart Testing donation and the establishment of a specific Pneumonia Fund, we have also taken the opportunity to reallocate a small number of transactions from the general Project Development Fund to the Heart Testing and Pneumonia Funds.

The IWHG would like to offer their sincere thanks to Tim, who has held the role of Chairman for six years. Tim, a founder member and former Secretary, has steered the Group through some challenging times and his input has been invaluable. We’re glad to say that Tim will continue to be part of the Group and is delighted to support his successor, Rebecca Peek. Rebecca, another founder member and former Treasurer and Secretary also has considerable experience within the Group.

Jackie has been Treasurer of the Group for nearly three years, having taken over the role following the sudden, sad loss of Jean Malley. This was a very challenging role to take on which Jackie ably managed and we owe a huge debt of gratitude to Jackie for all the time and hard work that she put into the role.

We are delighted to welcome Steven Ritchie to the Group, where he will take on the office of Treasurer. Steven, a qualified Chartered Accountant, is actively involved with wolfhounds and recently started campaigning his young dog. He lives in Aberdeenshire with his wife Denise and two children. Look out for more about Steven in our next newsletter!

The IWHG Longevity Recognition Programme, based on the Irish Wolfhound Club of America model, aims to acknowledge our veteran Irish Wolfhounds and honour our super-veterans. All Wolfhounds aged seven or more and registered with the Kennel Club are eligible.  For futher information, click here. 

We have developed a novel therapy for this disease that has helped numerous dogs. We have recently identified an Irish Wolfhound puppy with a congenital form of megaesophagus. We are evaluating this dog's DNA in hopes of identifying a specific mutation. If we are able to identify a specific mutation, we intend to develop a DNA test to help screen other Irish Wolfhounds that are carriers and remove the mutation from the breed. In order to do this, we need to evaluate the DNA from other Irish Wolfhound dogs less than 12 months of age affected with megaesophagus. As stated above, we are searching for Irish Wolfhound dogs less than 12 months of age that have veterinary records confirming they have megaesophagus. If you are interested in helping, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at