About
The Hedgehog Program is a sole-proprietorship run by Judith Duinkerken in the small town of Hoogeveen in The Netherlands. Our researches focus on animal behavior, diet, calculated genetics and external differences between species. The Hedgehog Program stands for non-invasive research and always aims to directly impact the pet trade, by implementing our research conlusions to our books and articles to help spread our knowledge to owners of hedgehogs and tenrecs. This helps to improve animal care and understanding of basic needs of all species. With most research on hedgehogs and tenrecs being aimed on medical research, The Hedgehog Program is unique in its way to research and directly educate people on other subjects within animal husbandry.
In loving memory
Judith’s brother Harrie made her promise to keep working with animals as her passion for hedgehogs developed. Unfortunately Harrie passed away unexpectedly a few months later on october 14, 2014. Five years later, as Judith developed her hobby into a business, she registered The Hedgehog Program into the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in honor of her brother on october 14, 2019. Because her brother only had met her first breeding stud Archie, she made the logo for The Hedgehog Program based on the only hedgehog he has ever held and ordered a painting of Archie from Danielle Tomlinson Art in 2020. In may 2021, she got the painting tattooed on her leg as a reminder of the promise she made. In loving memory of her brother, The Hedgehog Program now exists as a non-invasive research and education platform. A new logo has been made in 2022 after entering a new stage of research and education, but the promise always remains..