• Home
• About Us
  • Our Mission
  • Meet the Board
  • The Scientific Advisory Committee
  • Our Partners
  • Our Donors
  • Our Promise »
    • Our Policies
    • Donor Bill of Rights
    • Code of Ethics
• Health Projects
  • Current »
    • IMHA
    • Hemangiosarcoma
    • The Piper Fund
    • Online data base
    • Morris Animal Foundation
    • December 2012 Grants
  • Grant Proposals
• The Piper Fund
• Forms & Lists
  • PDP1 Database
  • Collecting & Sending DNA
  • Piper Fund
  • Giving
• Library
  • Bulletin Inserts
  • Cancer in Canines
  • Canine Intervertebral Disk Disease
  • Dog Genes and Human Health
  • Hip website
  • Ingesting Foreign Objects
  • Links
  • PDP1 »
    • PDP1 in the 1983 Bulletin
    • PDP in the Sussex
    • Cameron & al., 2006
  • Recommended Reading
  • Thyroid
• Giving
  • Honor Roll
  • Clumber Merchandise
  • Making a gift »
    • Annual Campaign
    • Remember a Loved One
    • Planned Gifts
    • Paypal
• DNA Banking
  • CSCA DNA Bank
  • Collecting & Sending DNA
• Milestones
  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3
  • Year 4
• In Memoriam
  • In Memoriam
  • Remember a Loved One
• Keeping In Touch

Milestones: Year 4

 

The Clumber Spaniel Health Foundation was incorporated in April of 2007. Its fiscal year runs from January 1st through December 31st of each year. A 501(c)(3) public charity, in our forth year we focused on the following areas.

COMMUNICATION & EDUCATION:

• PDP1 International Database for Clumbers and Sussex Spaniels: This important list is maintained on the CSHF website. Through voluntary submissions from owners and monthly reports from the Animal Health Trust in the UK, a list of PDP1 status is compiled.
• The Piper Fund: These dedicated funds, initiated with a major gift from the Kim and Cyrus Daboo family, are available to help reimburse owners for post mortem necropsy examinations. Necropsy (canine autopsy) exams are very important to help us learn more about disease conditions in Clumbers.
• E-newsletter: The Foundation continues to issue periodic e-newsletter editions, to help inform and educate Clumber fanciers about CSHF research and fundraising efforts.
• Health Speakers: The CSHF was very pleased to help bring Dr. Mark Neff, a renowned canine geneticist, to speak at the 2010 Vancouver, Washington, CSCA National. His informative and entertaining talk was very well received.
• Clumber Spaniel Health Foundation website.
• The CSCA DNA Bank: The Clumber Spaniel Health Foundation manages the CSCA DNA bank, under a Memorandum of Understanding with the CSCA. This extremely useful resource, coupled with major advances in genomic technology, will enable researchers to help unlock the mysteries of genetic diseases in both dogs and people. The CSHF invested in salivary swabs in 2010. These swabs make it easy for Clumber owners to contribute to the DNA Bank, and eliminate the need for a vet visit to have blood drawn. We anticipate these swabs will encourage even greater participation in the bank, which currently houses samples from over 700 Clumbers. The Foundation has underwritten the cost of the swabs, and a board member has paid for the shipping to initial interested owners. Owners are still responsible for the $15 per dog banking fee itself.

RESEARCH PROJECTS 2010:

• Clumber Genome
  The CSHF has provided DNA from one Clumber spaniel to T-Gen and the complete genome has been mapped.
• Hemangiosarcoma
  Hemangiosarcoma is a deadly form of cancer, which most frequently strikes in the spleen in Clumbers. DNA from affected and unaffected, control Clumbers is part of a federally funded research effort based at the Van Andel Research Institute in Michigan, and T-Gen in Arizona. Hundreds of DNA samples from several breeds of dogs are being evaluated to assess how the DNA of dogs who develop HSA varies from those dogs that do not.
• Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia
  Formerly known as AutoImmune Hemolytic Anemia, IMHA is another deadly disease, which affects Clumbers as well as many other breeds. IMHA causes a sudden onset, life-threatening anemia, when the dog?s immune system starts to attack its own red blood cells. While transfusions, steroids and other immunosuppressive drugs can save some affected dogs, many others are lost to this disease. Dr. Lorna Kennedy at the University of Manchester, UK, continues to investigate how and why the immune sys- tem goes awry in affected dogs. The CSHF supported Dr. Kennedy?s research in 2010 via a contribution to the CSCA Donor Advised Fund at the Canine Health Foundation. By pooling our dollars with those from other clubs, we are able to help support larger research projects than we could fund alone.
• Intervertebral Disc Disease
  Sadly, too many Clumber lovers know of a dog that has suffered lameness, paralysis and/or euthanasia because of a bad back or a bad neck. Drs. Mark Neff and Nick Duesbery at the Van Andel Research Institute are investigating this condition in Clumbers. Forty DNA samples were sent to T-Gen in Phoenix for SNP analysis in December 2010, along with the cancer samples.