Making an appeal

To appeal a result of a hip score or elbow grade, please follow the process below:

1. The owner of the dog must lodge the appeal to the submitting veterinary practice within 45 days from the scored/graded date.
2. The veterinary practice, which originally took the radiographs and submitted them to the scheme, should lodge the appeal via their online portal.
3. The original radiograph(s) will be re-scored/re-graded by two further pairs of scrutineers and then by the Chief Scrutineer, whose decision is final.
4. The final result will then be relayed to the submitting veterinary practice and to the Royal Kennel Club if registered.

The cost of an appeal is £150.00 and the process can take up to 4 weeks.

Please also be aware that the appeal process is prepared to either endorse, raise, or lower the score/grade.

Making an appeal

Litter screening appeals: Any appeal must be notified to CHS as soon as possible so that the whole litter can be re-examined before the puppies reach 12 weeks of age.

Eye examination appeals: Following an examination under the BVA/RKC/ISDS eye scheme, a dog may be given a result that the owner/breeder may want to question. In these cases, the result can be appealed. 

By initiating an appeal, the original result in question will not be published pending completion of the appeal. The result will be published only on completion of the appeal process. Further, using the appeal process will reduce the incidence of publication of multiple conflicting results which can cause confusion.

To appeal the result of an eye examination, please follow the process below:

1. The owner of the dog should lodge an appeal with Canine Health Schemes (CHS) at BVA within 30 days of the date of the first examination. This should be by email to CHS - [email protected]
   
   
2. CHS will provide a letter outlining the appeal process that should be followed.
   
   
3. The owner should then take their dog, together with the original examination certificate to another panellist. The second panellist will charge the normal fee appropriate to the examination.
   
   
4. a) If the second panellist agrees with the first panellist, the appeal will be deemed to have failed and the original result stands. CHS will be advised by the second panellist.  In this case no further appeal of this examination is possible. 
   b) If the second panellist disagrees with the first panellist, a referral for a third and final examination to the Chief Panellist or a member of the Eye Panel Working Party (EPWP) nominated by the Chief Panellist is required. This must be by arrangement with CHS.  The fee for this examination is not charged to the owner. 
   c) The decision of the Chief Panellist or nominated EPWP panellist will be final. No further appeal of this examination is possible. 
   NB: an owner may choose to see the Chief Panellist as the second examination and the normal fee will be charged.  The decision at this examination will be final and no further appeal possible.

5. The result of the appeal must be received by CHS within 90 days of the original examination. Otherwise, the first result will be that recorded with the Royal Kennel Club and/or International Sheep Dog Society for publication.

This guidance can be downloaded for reference as part of our Information for Owners leaflet for the BVA/RKC/ISDS Eye Scheme

Making an appeal

To appeal a result of a Chiari Malformation/Syringomyelia assessment, please follow the process below:

1. Any application for appeal against the result of a CM/SM assessment must be lodged by the owner with CHS within 45 days from the date of dispatch from CHS. You can contact CHS by email [email protected].
2. An appeal certificate (available to the submitting veterinary surgeon from CHS) must be completed within 30 days and submitted together with the re-grading fee . In the event of an appeal being lodged proof of posting will not constitute proof of receipt by CHS.
3. The original MRI images will be re-assessed by the Chief Scrutineer, whose decision is final, and the new grading result will be relayed in the normal way (NB the first result may already have been submitted to the RKC for publication before the second result is received). In any event, the final result will be sent to the Royal Kennel Club for publication.