Researcher, research thyself? Mapping the landscape of canine health and welfare research funding provided by UK not-for-profit organisations from 2012–2022

Abstract

Background Research into canine health and welfare is supported by Government, charitable and private UK funding organisations. However, there is no current overall visibility or coordination of these funding activities, potentially compromising optimal distribution of limited resources. This study aimed to survey UK canine health and welfare funding by not-for-profit funders between 2012 and 2022, providing a novel baseline analysis to inform future sector stakeholder priorities. Results Funding data were collected from 10 wide-scope funders (UK Government funding councils and medical charities), 18 animal-directed funders (organisations specifically concerned with animal health and welfare) and 81 breed community groups. These 109 UK funders together provided traceable canine-relevant funding of £57.8 million during the surveyed period, comprising 684 individual grant awards supporting over 500 separate research projects. Wide-scope funders contributed £41.2 million (71.2% of total funding); animal-directed organisations, £16.3 million (28.1% of total funding); and breed-specific groups, £370K (0.6% of total funding). Individual grants ranged from £2.3 million to £300. Funding patterns varied between sectors. Animal-directed funders provided £14.7 million of canine-relevant research funding that foregrounded the dog, 73% of all such funding; wide-scope funders provided £17.5 million of canine-relevant One Health research funding, 97% of all such funding. Customised metrics developed for this study assessed the ‘benefit to the dog’ and ‘pathway to impact’ of individual research projects. Overall, studies supported by animal-directed funders achieved significantly higher ‘benefit to the dog’ scores (Mann-Whitney U = 45235, p<0.001) and ‘pathway to impact’ scores (Mann-Whitney U = 43506.5, p<0.001) than those supported by wide-scope funders. Conclusion The landscape of UK not-for-profit funding of canine health and welfare research is complex, with considerable variation between providers. Although wide-scope funders provide the majority of overall canine-relevant research funding, animal-directed funders provide the majority of canine-focused funding and support research with greater direct impact on canine welfare. Visibility of past funding patterns will enable stakeholders in this sector to make more informed decisions about future research. Definitions To increase clarity, certain words and phrases are used in specific ways within the context of this paper. Animal-directed funders—Charities and other funding organisations whose remit primarily concerns animals or veterinary work Canine-focused research—Investigations where the primary purpose is to advance understandings of canine health and/or welfare Canine-relevant research—All research that is framed as advancing understandings of canine health and/or welfare as a primary or subsidiary purpose Institution—Refers to universities and other centres where research is carried out Organisation—Refers to funding bodies, including research councils, charities and other groups Research grant—A single funding event originating from one or more funders Research project—A cohesive piece of research concerning a particular topic; may involve multiple researchers and/or multiple research grants, in series or in parallel Wide-scope funders—Large organisations whose remit does not primarily concern animals, i.e. (in this dataset) UKRI councils and the Wellcome Trust