You may already be aware of the fact that the Animal Health Trust is currently calling for Bull Terrier owners to submit Cheek Swab DNA Samples of their dogs, in order to try and identify the gene that causes kidney disease in the breed. Unfortunately the AHT hasn’t received enough samples to work with for whatever reasons and desperately need Bull Terrier owners to donate these samples in bigger numbers.
Terry Heath, who has been very active in this cause, has put together a couple of articles that give full details of the current situation, and more importantly what owners need to do to help. I have taken these articles and combined them into one new document, a PDF file that can be downloaded from the link below – to do so just follow these instructions…
- Right-click on the download link below.
- Select ‘Save Target As’ or ‘Save Link As’ from the menu.
- Specify where you’d like to download the file to (e.g. Desktop, My Documents etc).
- Click on the ‘Save’ button.
- Wait for it to arrive.
Although this file will answer most questions you may have, you will find the contact details for Bryan McLaughlin of the AHT included as well. If you have any further queries about anything relating to this issue you can contact him directly – a clickable e-mail link is even included.
I would just like to add that if this file finds its way to enough Bull Terrier owners then hopefully the AHT will get enough samples, so with that in mind please circulate it everywhere you can think of, Tweet it, Like it, e-mail it to any Bull Terrier people you know, link to this page from forums, print it out and put it in Show Catalogues, – whatever you can think of just get this file out there as far and wide as possible.
Speaking as someone who has lost a dog to kidney failure previously, I can safely say I would never wish to see a dog having to go through it ever again, and I’ve no doubt every other owner who has experienced it would say the same. Sadly though this is a disease that is never too far away from the breed, but if we all pull together we can help to drastically reduce it – and maybe even eliminate it all together in time?
You really can make a difference; please help if you possibly can … thank you!
[membership_download_item_pdf link=”https://www.bullterriermonthly.com/downloads/various/Omerta.pdf” + target=”_self”]Bull Terrier Swab Samples Information[/membership_download_item_pdf]