ABOUT
To complete our mission successfully, we encounter several challenges. Thanks to the entire team at Purpose Dogs vzw, we succeed.
Challenges
When an assistance dog association currently purchases a puppy, in many cases it has only a 40 per cent chance of being successfully trained. That low success rate is a waste of the time and budget invested and remains stable from generation to generation, even though the main causes (orthopaedic disorders and behavioural problems) have a hereditary basis.
Mission
To increase the success rate of puppies, we work with a breeding programme where the best parents are selected to build a population with fewer congenital problems. Abroad, similar projects have already proven their effect (such as Guide Dogs National Breeding Centre, The seeing eye, Guiding eyes, Cesecah...).
Our mission is to optimise the physical and character characteristics of developing assistance dogs in a science-based manner and with respect for animal welfare.
Who are we?
Purpose Dogs vzw is structured as a non-profit association where the General Assembly (GA) is the supreme body. In it sit all the assistance dog associations that cooperate with us . There are also a number of working members who contribute. In addition, there are also supporting members, people who care about our organisation and mission and support it in this way.
President
Prof Bart Broeckx
(Prof. Animal Genetics of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University)
Treasurer
Hilde Leemans
(Bookkeeper)
Director Legal
An Declercq
(Lic. Law, Lic. Notarial Practice)
Director Marketing
Ing. Herbert Schroyen
(Industrial engineer, International programme director)
Director IT
Prof Tom Tytgat
(Prof. Department of Bioengineering, University of Antwerp)
The board is a motivated group of people who volunteer to work on this project. Each of us specialises in a specific field which contributes to the carrying capacity of our association. Thanks in part to years of experience of our staff within their field and their networking in the field of assistance dogs both nationally and internationally, we hope to contribute to a better and thoughtful breeding programme for assistance dogs in Belgium.