To meet our mission to preserve the human-canine bond, NCRC publishes, underwrites, and reprintsaccurate, documented, reliable research to promote a better understanding of our relationship with dogs.

Recent Gifts and Grants

- A directed gift to Western University of Health Sciences, to support research by Dr. Victoria Voith, DVM PhD DACVB with respect to the inter-observer reliability and validity of visual breed identification of mixed-breed dogs. As Dr. Voith has written: "The discrepancy between breed identifications based on opinion and DNA analysis, as well as concerns about reliability of data collected based on media reports, draws into question the validity and enforcement of public and private policies pertaining to dog breeds."

- Grants to the University of Illinois Center for Public Safety and Justice Institute of Government and Public Affairs; the Best Friends Animal Society; and Safe Humane Chicago to develop, in collaboration with NCRC, a manual for the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The manual, "The Problem of Dog-Related Incidents and Encounters," was published in September 2011.

- A five-year grant to the Animals & Society Institute to support Human-Animal Studies Fellowships at the Wesleyan University College of Environment.

- A grant in support of a national survey of dog experts, also investigating the accuracy of visual breed identification, conducted by the Maddie's Shelter Medicine Program at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine. 

NCRC Vision Series 

The first in this series of original papers examining aspects of the human-canine bond is "The Relevance of Breed in Selecting a Companion Dog," by Janis Bradley. Ms. Bradley's paper, and all Vision Series publications, are available at no charge via the NCRC Website. 

Lectures and Presentations

NCRC travels to animal welfare conferences, animal service agencies, professional associations, law schools and veterinary schools, speaking on a variety of topics related to the human-canine bond, including the history of canine discrimination, law and public policy, cultural issues in science, modern media, and the Responsible Pet Ownership Model. View our calendar of upcoming presentations.