Welcome to the RVC research podcast, where we are delighted to be joined by Prof Dan O’Neill, Professor of Companion Animal Epidemiology. We discuss extreme conformations, what is health and how that compares to disease? Is freedom from disease mean you are healthy? Every animal should have the capacity to perform every normal physical activity for that species, is it innately healthy? If only we had a tool to assess, well Prof Dan O’Neill and colleagues in the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare have come up with a tool that everyone can use: https://www.innatehealthassessment.org
Veterinarians tend to work in the salvage medicine (dealing with a medical problem) and help owners/carers with risk reduction for example with brachycephalic breed, though we don’t often get involved with the root cause analysis of extreme confirmation, solving the problem for future generations of dogs’ health and welfare. Definitions matter. We have a definition of extreme confirmation, and now we have the Innate Health Assessment tool. It is free to use for everyone, dog owners (current and prospective) and breeders. Now we have the Innate Health Assessment tool, it is up to all of us to change the world. We hope that you enjoy.
This is the website to visit:
https://www.innatehealthassessment.org
To Cite this podcast: Dom Barfield. RVC Research Podcast 68 Innate Health Assessment with Prof Dan O’Neill. Published on July 31 2026
If you have any comments about this podcast, please get in touch: email podcast@rvc.ac.uk.
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