Can anyone clarify where the below information can be located please? We have been told it may have come from an ABS newsletter but does anyone have a copy we could see or a link to said information? I can not find anything on either the BVA or KC website, but I may be looking in the wrong place!

"New guidelines regarding Elbow scores and breeding from BVA and the KC:

Internationally, grading of ED is based on detection or otherwise of primary ED lesions and the depth of any arthritic new bone present. Grade 1 (new bone up to 2mm in depth) reflects 'mild ED' in that a primary lesion is not radiographically detectable and arthritis is relatively minor at the time of radiography.

When the BVA/KC ED Grading Scheme was launched in 1998 the original breeding advice given in the Procedure Notes (following international opinion at the time), was as follows: 'It is recommended that breeders wishing to reduce the risk of elbow dysplasia should select their breeding stock (both dogs and bitches) only from animals with overall grades of 0 or 1' and this was also given as breeding advice on the Kennel Club's website.

The advice reflected the fact that grade 1 changes were considered to be relatively mild and, in some dogs, borderline. However, assessment of more than 20,000 submissions since 1998 has shown that the majority of grade 1 dogs show obvious unilateral or bilateral arthritis which may well progress as the dog ages.

The Panel members now feel breeding from grade 1 dogs is undesirable and have therefore revised the breeding advice as follows:

'It is strongly recommended that breeders wishing to reduce the risk of elbow dysplasia should select their breeding stock (both dogs and bitches) only from animals with an overall grade of 0. Dogs with elbow grades of 2 or 3 have marked osteoarthritis likely to be due to ED, with or without a visible primary lesion. Dogs with elbow grades of 1 show mild or early osteoarthritis which is also likely to be due to ED.'

The Procedure Notes and the advice on the Kennel Club's website have been changed accordingly. Breeders obviously need to consider all relevant health tests as well as other parameters such as temperament when selecting breeding stock, and assessment of health test results of as many of the dog's relatives as possible is also strongly recommended."

Any help would be appreciated :)

Here :) http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/media/344846/abs_newsletter_summer_2013_withlinks.pdf

You are a star :) Thank you very much for the link.

It was also sent out as a press release by the KC.