Duane Butherus, Canine Health Foundation

 

All breed clubs should have health surveys.  Without them, CHF cannot target and allocate funds appropriately.  CHF sends out RFPs to about 5000 researchers worldwide, without knowing what problems to focus on, they cannot make sure that researchers are focused on the correct work.  They request a top ten list of problems from each breed club, this produces a top ten list of problems and they allocate about 1.8 million dollars a year. 

 

There are also smaller grants that are given for exploratory work.  ACORN grants are $12K plus 8% overhead.  Work that used to take longer and more money can be done with some of these smaller grants because the genome is now mapped and researchers can now do genome scans – genomics.

 

            Three types of grants now proposed through the main grant program:

1.      prevention – through genomics.  By finding genes, you can breed with more knowledge.  78% of grants are prevention grants

2.      treatment – find ways to alleviate symptoms of diseases.  13% of grants

3.      cure – through stem cell research. 9% of grants

Through breeder’s symposiums and this conference, information can be disseminated to the people who care and breed dogs. 

Biographical Profile

 

Dr. Duane Butherus has been an active exhibitor of Afghan Hounds in partnership with his wife Connie for over 35 years, finishing the championships of more than 30 dogs. They have bred 9 litters of Afghans under the prefix "ARARAT". They started out in Afghans with the objective of breeding in support of our own exhibiting activities, only breeding when they needed some dogs to show, and had sufficient space to retain the entire litter, if necessary .

 

Duane has been a member of the Afghan Hound Club of America for over thirty years, and served as member of that Parent Club's Board of Directors for 6 years. He followed this by serving as President of the Afghan Hound Club of America. Duane was founding President of the Central New Jersey Hound Association and presently serves as the Vice President of the Delaware Water Gap KC. He is a member and serves on the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Kennel Club, and is also a member of the Morris & Essex Kennel Club. Duane has been Show Chair for several clubs, including the Afghan Hound Club of Northern New Jersey Specialty Club and the Delaware Water Gap Kennel Club. He is approved to judge Afghan Hounds, and has judged that breed internationally, including specialty shows in New Zealand, Australia, and Belgium.

 

Duane earned a PhD in chemistry, retired after working as a scientist at Bell Laboratories for 31 years, and is presently teaching undergraduate Chemistry.

 

He serves as a Board Member of the AKC Canine Health Foundation, and is Chair of the Grants Committee for that organization