Kennel Club Hits Out at Cavalier Club; Supports Margaret Carter
The Kennel Club has spoken to K9 Magazine about its concern following the decision of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel club to vote out one of its committee members, Margaret Carter, who spoke out about breed health on the documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed.
The Kennel Club told us:
The Kennel Club is concerned about the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club’s decision to remove breeder, Margaret Carter, from its committee.
Mrs Carter appeared to speak for those very aims that the Kennel Club and the Cavalier King Charles Club itself supports, which is reflected in the vast amount of effort that the breed club has put into ensuring that the health of the breed is progressed. Mrs Carter’s intentions appeared to be honourable and her will to ensure that the health of the breed is maintained, through responsible breeding practices, is one that the Kennel Club fully supports.
The Kennel Club has also issued news today that it is put the health of all of its 209 recognised breeds under review, due to be completed early next year.
Dog lovers all over the country will be heartened to see the Kennel Club taking a positive stand on these issues and the organisation should be resoundingly praised for their support of Margaret Carter on this issue.
The Kennel Club is correct. The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel club is out of step with the opinions of health conscious, right minded dog lovers and they should be ashamed of their actions.
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Related posts:
- Resignations at the Cavalier Club as Margaret Carter is Reinstated
- Kennel Club has ‘Concerns’ About Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club
- Cavalier King Charles Club Accuses K9 Magazine of Misleading Readers
- Pedigree Dogs Exposed Documentary Maker Responds to Kennel Club Moves
- Why I Spoke Out About Cavaliers by Margaret Carter
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I feel I need to speak out for the breeders and breed clubs of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club. Mrs. Margaret Carter was not removed from the Committee for the health work she has done. Inspite of what has been said, Cavalier Breeders are very conscience about the health of their dogs, and most have eyes tested, and hearts done every year, and more and more are MRI scanning their dogs. even though at the moment it does not give us any conclusive information. The reason Mrs. Carter was removed from the Committee was that she broke the confidentiality rule. It was always said that the results of any testing would remain confidential. She could have got her point across on TV without naming anyone in particular. Our rules do say that without written permission, no individual information should be divulged. Mrs Carter is still a member of the Cavalier Club. I might also add that the Cavlier King Charles Spaniel Club did not remove her, but the members. It was the members who requested them to call a Special General meeting.
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Just love Cavaliers Reply:
December 27th, 2008 at 2:27 am
I admire Margaret Carter for her campaign to highlight those Cavalier breeders who breed only for beauty. This beautiful little breed is being destroyed by greedy breeders. I have had two cavaliers who did not see their eighth birthdays. They had bowel problems also MVD they were bought from the same breeder in N. Ireland who has shown her dogs all over the UK and has many champions. Our home has been left broken- hearted shame on you all
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“The reason Mrs. Carter was removed from the Committee was that she broke the confidentiality rule.”
In other words lets keep this secret?
“I might also add that the Cavlier King Charles Spaniel Club did not remove her, but the members. It was the members who requested them to call a Special General meeting.”
Erm, my understanding is that the members are the club! and the club is the members?
Most clubs are steered by the active members, i.e. those who want to go in a particular direction for their own ends. Enough said.
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Confidentiality, what a very poor excuse, no do not delude yourself, Mrs Carter was ousted because she was informative, proactive and didnt brown nose with the committee, she cared about dogs , can that be said of the breed club.
If the membership was kept informed not misinformed by those making the telephone calls behind her back then they would have realised how much of a faux pas the decision was to remove her…..
Ignorance, stupidity and arrogance of the membership have once again won….
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Well, it’s about time the KC came to her defense! What is going to be done about CKCS club breeders who disregard MVD and SM protocols, selling cavalier puppies as pets to families who then experience the severe emotional and financial toll of these progressive diseases? The KC should make an example of the Malvern BIS owner for starters. That would send the right message and provide the incentive to improve club breeding practices. By the way, I have a beloved 5 year old male cavalier here in the US; he is a direct descendant from top UK lines, as evidenced by the kennel names in his pedigree, and he suffers from both SM and early onset MVD which is now in late stages.
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I am delighted in the KC response to this sad situation.
It was a bad weekend for the CKCS, and the club needs to understand how out of step with public opinion they are. Breed club rules are there to protect the dogs, not individual breeders stretching the boundaries of ethical breeding and integrity to the max.
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Well said Dave the Dog, what planet are these people on at the CKCS club!
Ranks and closing comes to mind, poor show CKCS breeders you have brought the spotlight back on breeders and the Kennel Club when a middle way was possibly on the cards.
Come on KC, time to kick some backside and get your breed clubs in order.
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It all comes back to the very simple premise that a breed club’s first obligation MUST BE to the breed (NOT to the breeders). If their charter/code of ethics prevents that from happening, the club needs to make the necessary changes.
It is SO blatantly obvious to outsiders that what happened to Margaret Carter is WRONG! Hence it is time for reformation.
I applaud the KC for speaking up. Well done! All dog lovers stand united with Margaret Carter.
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Sheila, while I do not doubt that the majority of cav breeders are deeply committed to the health of their breed, I find it derisable that someone appointed to safeguard the health of the breed be ousted for speaking out against individuals who are knowingly propagting devastating health disorders. Although I do not agree with the sensationalist and one-sided presentation of the BBC programme, ostracising an individual who only has the wealthfare of the breed in mind is sheer madness as most of the general public whould not now touch pedigree breeds with a bargepole. “Breaking confidentiallity” merely suggest that something is deeply wrong and should not be made available to the public. My one quesion is – if that BIS cav stud didn’t have SM, why hasn’t she publically published the MRI scans? That would be the first thing I would do, not least to proove my own innocence but to reassure the owners of the 30 odd litters it had sired.
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Well done margaret carter for speaking out i am with you all the way do you no why because you are for the cavalier and the others are for the money they are frightened of having them scanned the top breeders and show people frightened of the results they will get when they have them scanned they want to carry on making money out of the very dear cavalier well done margaret thats why they voted you off they must go to bed seeing pound signs they need to be banned from breeding and showing. they need to show a clear heart and sm cert before showing and breeding i think starting from now. not two years down the line.
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What can Margaret Carter do ?
There will be no Mandatory Health Testing until the Faulty Gene or Genes are found for MVD and SM in the Cavalier Breed
What is a Clear Certificate for SM and MVD ,the Cavaliers could be Carriers of those two conditions .
Bet Hargreaves
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I have had two dearly loved Cavaliers, both shared a similar pedigree although they were bought from very differnt breeders in different locations. One from a family home. Both suffered spinal defects; my first lost the use of her hind legs with paralysis gradually creeping up her spine from there, she was a cheerful happy bitch so I kept her until her quality of life became too bad to bear. I feel deeply angry that to due indiscriminate breeding this Cavalier, who was in pet terms the ‘love of my life’ had to be euthanized. My second Cavalier had some symptoms of syringomelia, and also suffered spinal deterioration, though in her case the vet prevented paralysis, but she was physically hampered by her condtion and after about five years of age was not a very happy dog. Some breeders are to blame for all of this by breeding from Cavaliers with known health problems and should feel deeply ashamed that they put money and show ring fame before the health of this lovely breed. The Cavalier is probably the world’s sweetest natured breed of dog, no finer companion can be found in the dog world. We should fight to restore this breed back to a fine state of genetic health so that future generations can enjoy owning this delighful breed
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I am a heartbroken cavalier owner. I did all the research before I purchased my puppy. I avoided puppy mills, did my research and finally I choose a breeder on the west coast. I traveled all the way to California to pick up my little puppy from the breeder who had assured me that my puppy was perfect. I paid $5000.00 dollars for my darling dog. Today I just got back from the vet with my MRI results. My Cavalier has an advanced case of SM. It cost me $4500.00 for the MRI and this is just the beginning of the hard road ahead. I have gone into my retirement savings, and I now know that I need to choose between paying for an operation for the sweet little guy, letting him get worse and have more pain, putting him down, or spending all my savings. I love him so much and really do not know what to do. I feel extremely bitter towards the breeder for putting me in this situation and will pursue legal action in the future. I have been crying for two days straight and know I will shed more tears in the future..I just wanted you to know the pain and suffering this breeder has caused a real person in the real world.
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I saw the programme on the BBC with regard to genetic disease in Pedigree Dogs. The situation is outrageous and needs to be stopped.
I believe that:
1. The breeders and the Kennel Club are responsible for this situation and that they are breaching Consumer Law. A class action of purchasers who have purchased puppies should sue the Kennel Club for damages. A large award of damages against the Kennel club and the individual breeders will immediately cause breeders and the Kennel clubs to stop and review their actions.
In addition to the above class action I would recommend:
1. Heavy fines for any Kennel club who registers an animal with a genetic disorder.
2. Should a breeder at any time during this animal’s lifetime become aware that the animal has a genetic disorder they must immediately de-register and de-sex the animal producing vet certificates as evidence.
3. Their direct progeny must also be removed from the register and de-sexed. A failure by a breeder to act responsibly and take this action to be fined $50,000 pounds and barred forever from breeding forever.
4. No animal allowed in the show ring with a genetic disorder and breeders to increasingly be required to undergo testing of their animals for genetic disorders starting with the most common genetic diseases for that breed.
5. Breed Standards to immediately be amended so that practices that distort, maim dogs are removed for example ‘ridges on the ridge backs’. Breed standards to disallow disfigured and maimed dogs from entering the show ring.
6. The Kennel Club to have the power to request any breeder to present their animal to a registered specialist vet for genetic testing and should the breeder be found to have breached the above heavy penalties to be applied.
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How about putting an end to all the puppy farms that are breeding from ill dogs, cross breeding, and producing and selling sick unhealthy puppies, but breeding from dogs with no heart or eye tests..
the amount of phone calls that I have had from what I consider to be puppy farmers, who have wanted to use my dogs for stud, (which I have not even done myself) and reckons their dogs have had the correct testing, yup right
Firstly, from my experience, it is the puppy farmers that have helped give our lovely breed such a bad name concerning health problems of mostly and firstly, hearts and eyes.
These are the primary tests that should be carried out before any breeding should take place… most breeders that I know are now testing for SM, although this is still no guarantee that the dogs or off springs will not produce or inherit this horrid disease.
I was at the cavalier club dog show where the BBC were filming, and have to say that they ‘lied’ about what the program was for to myself and my little lad who went and asked them.
How dare they talk about things that they know nothing about, they really dont, the information that they had was biased and not based on any factual information at all. They could have done more research, asked peoples views and comments, there would have been plenty, but no, they did not bother. They might have been pleasantly surprised and could have produced a far better programme, won credits even for their research if only the researcher and producers had done their ‘real job’ more efficently.
A lot more could have been gained from this, to have helped the breed, widen peoples knowledge of difficulties in the breed and could have been done without the slating of any individuals.
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What is AKC getting out of this? Remember they are hand in glove with puppy mills. This makes me question everything they do. They admit they have been backing puppy mills and registering dogs from this venue. They also admit why they have recently welcomed a large puppy mill that distributed puppies to pet stores. They said this was strictly financially motivated. Their claim that they need the revenue. They also disclossed they have a ten to thirteen million dollar slush fund. I am suspect of anything AKC does. All breed clubs should beware of a wolf in sheeps clothing.
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My goodness me. I came across these comments in my research on cavalier king charles spaniels. I must say that i am now extremely concerned and at a real loss as to where to go to try to find a puppy. Am i to take it that i cannot trust a breeder who is kennel club registered? How will i know if i am buying a healthy little dog? any advice gratefully received. I live in London.
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