PDSA position on the Innate Health Assessment (IHA)

06 March 2026

The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) is aiming to tackle the growing and significant challenges associated with extreme conformation. That is body shapes and physical features that are exaggerated to such an extent that they cause suffering.

PDSA is part of the group and is fully supportive of bringing about positive changes that will help end animal suffering caused by extreme conformation. We are pleased that the release of the IHA has stimulated some much needed discussion on the matter, which is important, but must be balanced.  

Steve Howard, Chief Veterinary Advisor at PDSA comments, “We have been concerned by the level of misinformation in the last few days, suggesting that many breeds of dog will be ‘banned’ as a result of the ‘Innate Health Assessment’ tool developed and rolled out last year by a wide range of animal welfare experts.     

We believe that it is simply not the case that 67 breeds of dog will be banned. The purpose of the assessment is to reduce the more extreme features, which cause recognised welfare issues such as pain, discomfort and an inability to lead a normal life. Extreme conformation in dogs can significantly shorten their lives or lead to a lifetime of veterinary treatment which is distressing for both the dogs affected and their owners.” 

“At PDSA our teams treat hundreds of pets every day who have extreme conformation and numbers are rising. In 2012 PDSA had just 335 French Bulldogs (a breed with extreme conformation) registered, in 2025, that number was over 33,000, which is an increase of 9781% in real terms.  

Many of these dogs are suffering with a number of significant health conditions as a result of poor breeding and it is time to make a positive change. We, therefore, welcome positive steps to tackle this, by encouraging more responsible breeding through use of the IHA tool to identify individual dogs who have extreme conformation and not breeding from them, it will be possible to improve the body shape of dogs for the following generations. We also support the ongoing review of the IHA, as we value credible evidence submitted by those with expertise in this area, such as responsible breeders. Ultimately, the most important thing is that any changes being made will ensure the best health outcomes for our beloved pets.”