{{Short description|UK charity}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox organization | name = Animal Health Trust | logo = | type = [[Charitable organization|Charitable organisation]] | founded = 1942 | founder = WR Wooldridge CBE, FRCVS | location = Lanwades Park, [[Kentford|Kentford, Newmarket]] | origins = Veterinary Education Trust by Walter Reginald Wooldridge<ref name="Hannant 1993"/> | key_people = {{bulleted list|Peter Webbon (CEO)|[[Andrew Higgins (veterinarian)]]Scientific Director and Chief Executive<ref name="Higgins">{{Cite web |title=Andrew James Higgins |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andrew-Higgins-6 |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=[[ResearchGate]]}}</ref>}} | region_served = [[Veterinary medicine]] | product = | focus = {{Bulleted list|[[Epizootiology]]<ref name="Zootiology">{{Cite journal |title=AHT / BEVA / DEFRA Equine Quarterly Disease Surveillance Report |journal=DEFRA Equine Quarterly Disease Surveillance Report |url=https://www.jdata.co.za/iccviewer/media/dsr20161.pdf |volume=12 |issue=1}}</ref>|[[Horses]]|[[Caninae|Canine]]| [[Felidae|Feline]]}} | method = | revenue = | endowment = | num_volunteers = | num_employees = | num_members = | owner = | website = | dissolved = 31 July 2020<ref name="HorseyHound">{{Cite web |title=*Breaking news* Animal Health Trust to close after attempts to secure a viable financial future fail |url=https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/animal-health-trust-to-close-718828 |last=Elder |first=Lucy |date=2020-07-03 |access-date=2025-01-23 |website=[[Horse & Hound]]}}</ref> | footnotes = }} The '''Animal Health Trust''' (AHT) was a large national independent charity in the United Kingdom, employing 200 scientists, veterinarians and support workers. Its objectives were to study and cure diseases in [[Pet|pets]] (horses, dogs and cats), and research and [[postgraduate education]] in [[veterinary|veterinary medicine]]. It was founded in 1942<ref name="BBCMention">{{cite web |title=Animal Health Trust |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-568000-264000/page/19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120322062502/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/domesday/dblock/GB-568000-264000/page/19 |archive-date=22 March 2012 |access-date=9 January 2013 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> by WR Wooldridge, and was awarded a [[Royal charter|Royal Charter]] on 29 July 1963. [[Elizabeth II]] was the charity's patron from 1959<ref>{{cite book |last1=Hoey |first1=Brian |title=Pets by Royal Appointment: The Royal Family and their Animals |date=2013 |publisher=Biteback Publishing |isbn=978-1-84954-649-2 |chapter=Appendix 1: Royal Animal Patronages }}</ref> until the end of 2016,<ref>{{cite news|title=Queen steps down as patron of children's charities|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38380285|access-date=2017-04-24|work=BBC News|date=20 December 2016|quote=Other organisations which will be seeking a new patron include... the Animal Health Trust...|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922085112/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-38380285|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Anne, Princess Royal|the Princess Royal]] was its president. Based in [[Newmarket, Suffolk|Newmarket]] in Suffolk, it was a [[Charitable organization|registered charity]] under English law<ref>{{EW charity|209642}} accessed 14 February 2019</ref> and received no government funding. Following fundraising issues exacerbated by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]], the charity entered liquidation on 31 July 2020.<ref name="HorseyHound"/> ==Work== Research of the AHT was in two main areas: [[Genetic disorder|inherited disease]] and [[Infectious diseases (medical specialty)|infectious disease]]. Inherited disease research includes [[genetics]], [[oncology]] and stem cell research. Infectious disease includes [[bacteriology]], [[virology]], [[immunology]] and equine epidemiology and [[disease surveillance]].<ref name="EquineFluOutbreak">{{Cite web |title=Equine flu 'gathering pace' as experts warn owners not to drop their guard |url=https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/equine-flu-june-2019-690226 |last=Elder |first=Lucy |date=2019-06-04 |website=[[Horse & Hound]]}}</ref> Its clinics ran active internship and residency training programs for postgraduate education and training. The AHT published research and clinical findings in journals such as ''Nature'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=Animal Health Trust (AHT) |url=https://www.nature.com/nature-index/institution-outputs/united-kingdom-uk/animal-health-trust-aht/57981136140ba096498b4568#collaboration |access-date=2022-10-20 |website=Nature Index |language=en |archive-date=20 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020054528/https://www.nature.com/nature-index/institution-outputs/united-kingdom-uk/animal-health-trust-aht/57981136140ba096498b4568#collaboration |url-status=live }}</ref> and it also had its own open-access library.
AHT had two clinical centres: the Centre for Small Animal Studies and Centre for Equine Studies.<ref name="SmallAnimalCentre">{{Cite web |title=Looking bright with future in sight |url=https://www.vettimes.co.uk/article/looking-bright-with-future-in-sight/ |last=Sparkes |first=Andrew |date=2008-04-14 |website=Vet Times}}</ref><ref name="EquineResearch">{{Cite web |title=Major job cuts at Animal Health Trust |url=https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/news/major-job-cuts-at-animal-health-trust-72588 |date=2005-12-21 |website=[[Horse & Hound]]}}</ref> Both clinics offered diagnostic laboratories and DNA testing services and conducted research.<ref name="EquineResearch"/>
==History== The AHT was founded in 1942 as the Veterinary Education Trust by Walter Reginald Wooldridge; it was renamed the "Animal Health Trust" in 1948.<ref name="Hannant 1993">{{cite journal |last1=Hannant |first1=D. |title=Scientific publications from the animal health trust at newmarket 1942–1991: A veterinary record |journal=British Veterinary Journal |date=January 1993 |volume=149 |issue=1 |pages=9–19 |doi=10.1016/S0007-1935(05)80207-6 |pmid=8439802 }}</ref> One of its first major donors was [[Annie Henrietta Yule]], co-owner of [[Hanstead Stud]], who offered the Trust the use of her Newmarket stable, Balaton Lodge.<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.4324/9781315235103 |title=Veterinary Medicine |date=2016 |last1=Hunter |first1=Pamela |isbn=978-1-351-87605-6 }}{{pn|date=January 2025}}</ref> The Trust operated from there until 1998.
The Animal Health Trust expanded quickly after 1942 with schemes for postgraduate veterinary education and the establishment of four research centres for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases in horses, dogs, farm livestock and poultry, making a considerable contribution to veterinary science that was considered a monument to Wooldridge; Following the death of Wooldridge in 1966, the Trust focussed its work on horses and small animals, and in 1998 consolidated all of its activities at Lanwades Park near Newmarket.<ref name="VetJournal2020"/>
In 1989 the Trust received a grant of arms with the motto Salus Fidesque Animalium (the health and trust of animals). [[File:AHT Coat of Arms.jpg|thumb|Animal Health Trust Coat of Arms]]
[[Graham Kirkham, Baron Kirkham|Lord Kirkham]], who was on the Board of Trustees of AHT for 30 years (1990-2020) and served as Member of Council, Chair of the Executive Committee, and Vice-President, was a major donor to the charity. In the 1996 New Year Honours he was given a knighthood for his charitable work for the AHT and The Duke of Edinburgh's Award.
Following fundraising difficulties and issues aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Animal Health Trust entered liquidation on 31 July 2020 with an auction for medical equipment in August 2020.<ref name="VetJournal2020">{{cite journal |last1=Higgins |first1=Andrew J. |last2=Meldrum |first2=Keith C. |last3=Johnson |first3=J. Barry |last4=Biggs |first4=Peter M. |last5=Chandler |first5=Edward A. |title=The Animal Health Trust (1942–2020) |journal=The Veterinary Journal |date=June 2021 |volume=272 |article-number=105681 |doi=10.1016/j.tvjl.2021.105681 |pmid=33895064 |author-link=Andrew Higgins (veterinarian) }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-09-09 |title=Closure of a specialist animal treatment centre used by clients from West Norfolk results in sale of specialist veterinary equipment |url=https://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/closure-of-a-specialist-animal-treatment-centre-used-by-clients-from-west-norfolk-results-in-sale-of-specialist-veterinary-equipment-9122393/ |access-date=2023-09-26 |website=Lynn News |language=en}}</ref> The medical site of the AHT went on auction for £7.85 million.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-02-17 |title=Massive site of former veterinary charity's HQ on the market for £7.85m |url=https://www.suffolknews.co.uk/newmarket/news/former-animal-health-trust-site-goes-on-sale-9240574/ |access-date=2023-09-26 |website=Suffolk News |language=en}}</ref> Lord Kirkham funded the relocation of the Harris Library to the [[Keele University|Harper Keele Veterinary School]], and the transfer of the institute's archives to the [[Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons]].<ref name="ShropshireLive">{{Cite web |title=The Princess Royal opens new Veterinary Education Centre at Harper Adams University |url=https://www.shropshirelive.com/news/2021/06/30/the-princess-royal-opens-new-veterinary-education-centre-at-harper-adams-university/ |date=2021-06-30 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=Shropshire Live}}</ref><ref name="AnimalHealthTrustDirector">{{Cite web |title=Animal Health Trust Library donated to Harper & Keele Veterinary School |url=https://www.keele.ac.uk/natsci/facultynews/2021/march/vet-school/animal-health-library.php |date=2021-03-11 |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=[[Keele University]]}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== * {{cite book |last1=Onslow |first1=Richard |date=1992 |title=A History of the Animal Health Trust |oclc=28251741 }}
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[[Category:Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Partner institutions of the University of Cambridge]] [[Category:Organizations established in 1942]] [[Category:Pets in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Veterinary organizations]] [[Category:Charities based in England]] [[Category:1942 establishments in the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Veterinary medicine in the United Kingdom]]