INSIDE
Director: Dan Hogan , DVM
dfh@vet.purdue.edu
I am happy to report that everything at CERF is running smoothly and we have had a good year. We hope this year has brought you happiness and joy. The implementation of a centralized information database on diseases in dogs that can be easily accessed by owners, breeders and researchers has progressed well and should be fully operational in the near future. This is a very exciting opportunity and we are happy to work together with the AKC to facilitate the spread of information to improve the health of our canine companions.
We have had staffing changes in our office this year so you will meet some new voices in the near future. We will strive to continue excellent service to you but some minor delays in processing may be encountered. We appreciate your understanding but please let us know if you have any problems.
There have been many issues with our friends to the north (Canada) with respect to paying the CERF fees. We want everyone to know that the additional fees charged on non-US funds is derived from banking institutions and not originating from CERF. We have addressed this issue by use of credit cards and this is addressed within this newsletter. We hope this will preclude the past problems.
The CERF fee will be slightly increased beginning in January of 2004. The first time fee will be $10.50 and the repeat fee will be $8.00. This represents approximately a 5% increase and is the first fee increase in many, many years. The CERF form will also change at the beginning of the year so that credit card information can be entered on the form for payment. We hope this is more convenient.
We want to make everyone aware that the CERF forms we use are copyrighted and cannot be photocopied. Any photocopied forms that are sent to us will not be accepted for certification of your dog. Please make sure that the CERF forms you use are the official ones sent out by the CERF office. This does not pertain to lost forms that are photocopied and then signed by the ophthalmologist.
We look forward to working with you over the next year and want to be of assistance
to you in any way we can. We wish you the best over this next year and please
don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions, concerns or comments.
Sincerely
Daniel F. Hogan, DVM, DACVIM-Cardiology, Director- CERF/VMDB
Q: I had my dog examined by an ACVO doctor quite a while ago. The doctor told me that he/she would mail the exam form to you but why didn’t I receive the CERF certification yet?
A: The copy of the exam form the doctor mails to us is the research copy. We will scan the form into the research database and generate the statistics report for eye disease. In order to certify your dog with CERF, you need to mail the owner’s copy of the exam form to CERF and pay the registration fee.
Q: I have my dog registered with CERF and CERF mailed a certificate to me. But why I can’t find his/her information on line.
A: There are probably a couple of reasons.
First, any error will lead to the failure of finding the dog. Therefore, please check the certificate to see if there is any mistake in the registration number or in the registration name. Please notice that there should be no symbol in the registration number (e.g. AK12345678) and there should be a ‘-‘in the CERF number (e.g. BRD-12345).
Second, if you signed the agreement that you do not wish to have the dog’s
information released to the public (there is a box at the lower right corner
of the exam form), your dog’s information will be kept as confidential
and not released to any body and any organization including CERF’s web
site.
Q: There is a breeder’s option diagnosis on the CERF certificate. What does that mean?
A: The dog has a condition indicated on the exam form other than normal that is considered a "Breeders Option" in the ACVO Ocular Disorders Book. The ACVO Genetics Committee has devised this system to help control various conditions that are not necessarily problematic, do not cause vision impairment, and may not be hereditary. They recommend that you try to breed these dogs to others that do not have the same category.
Q: What is variety?
A: Variety is just for certain breeds. For example, there are different varieties with Poodle breeds, like standard, miniature and toy.
1. Use checks or money orders drawn on United States financial institutions.
2. Use US currency. We will mail you a receipt when we receive the currency.
3. Use Visa or Master card. Please provide us the credit card number, expiration
date and the name as it appears on the card.
We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Any registrations that are sent in with Canadian Funds payments or US
Funds payments drawn on Canadian financial institutions will be sent back
with a letter requesting the extra $8.00 fee.
New information from CERF
There are two new links in our ACVO Clinic List on CERF’s website.
One is for the doctors who are available to do CERF Clinics and the other
one is for the announcement of the upcoming CERF clinics. We are just sending
out this information to the doctors and are hoping to get more information
on line soon.
Also, we are in the process of creating a Customer Service
Survey for CERF and VMDB. It will be a survey that will be sent out with
the certificates
so you can tell us how we are doing. It will also be available on line
for you to fill out and email directly to us. We are here to serve you,
so let us know how we are doing!
*"A dog has the soul of a philosopher." –Plato*
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