Pet Owners: Can You Help the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel?
Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are a breed that need supporters. They need supporters within the breed who will do the right thing and fight for mandatory screening in the ongoing fight against the dreadful, painful, horrific disease,Syringomyelia. A petition has been set up asking pet owners to get involved in this debate. Please do take a look.
Wording of the petition:
Background (Preamble):
At the recent AGM of the UK CKCS club there was an amendment presented to the committee to formally adopt the SM (Syringomyelia a chari like skull malformation that results in a lifetime of excruciating pain and even early death ) breeding guidelines into the Code Of Ethics of the UK CKCS Club, this amendment was originally passed but after an infusion of late noisy arrivals who vociferously protested against the acceptance the vote was retaken and then overturned much to the disgust of many including a large majority of the committee.
To us pure pet owning people who neither breed nor show we are appalled how a noisy few can treat the vast of the general public with such contempt, we are the majority who at the end of the day buy/rescue/adopt all these puppies that the breeders and show people produce and then consider not up to the required standard and cast aside either in good health or bad as shown in the recent BBC documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed.
We the public buying Cavalier owners consider therefore that the adoption of the SM Guidelines into the Uk CKCS breeding Code Of Ethics an essential tool against this horrible affliction that affects our dogs and therefore implore the UK CKCS Club to include it. Please all Cavalier owning people across the globe help our Cavalier Spaniels by signing our petition.
Thank You.
Highly Recommended: What dog owner wouldn’t want a piece of THIS action? – Get FREE dog food!
Related posts:
- Kennel Club has ‘Concerns’ About Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club
- New Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Website is Launched
- Cavalier King Charles Club Accuses K9 Magazine of Misleading Readers
- Syringomyelia in Cavalier King Charles Spaniels – A Genetic Study
- Calling All Cavalier Owners: Your Breed Needs You!
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I was a member of another List,having read Posts from some Cavalier Breeders on it,I feel that now any Sympathy and Respect they had from the Public has now been forfeited, the ones to Suffer will be the Cavaliers.
Bet Hargreaves
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Ryan O'Meara Reply:
April 25th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
@bet hargreaves,
Bet,
I agree with you. I believe I know of the list in question as someone directed me to a particular thread (discussing this petition and this website). I very rarely instruct our legal department to act on what is often nothing more than ‘knock about’ or ‘tit for tat’ but on this occasion, we have. And although I have had an update from our legal person, this matter is NOT having a line drawn under it. I will be speaking to our lawyers first thing Monday morning and unless we receive a public apology then we will take action against that site.
You are 100% right. What MOST of us are, despite what we may agree or disagree on, is dog lovers. Some of the people posting on that forum are ONLY interested in personal politics and attacking people. The breed needs people behind it and it needs support and I’m afraid to say, some of the folks involved in it are consistently picking at an open wound and creating the biggest ‘them and us’ situation I’ve ever seen in ANY breed. It won’t stand and it won’t go unchallenged.
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SM is horrific, however, we are not sure what actually causes it, research is being done to come to a conclusion. Testing for the presence will only tell us if it is there, not how it got there. Mandatory testing is a nice idea, but what do we test for? It may take two parents for the disease to present itself. Chiari formations may not be present in the parents but may present in a breeding.
Just as we all gamble at the hope our own human children are born healthy and we take personal measures to insure such, we are not regularly testing for Down’s Syndrome, Cleft Pallet, Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle-Cell Disease, Tay-Sachs Disease, etc.
Ethical breeders do want to find answers. If the pet buying public wants to help us, then they need to stop buying “bargain” dogs from people that disappear after the sale. NEVER buy at an auction. NEVER buy at a pet store, Always meet the breeder, see the mother, ask what testing has been done and see the reports. If the dog is a pure breed, make sure that conformation showing is done to ensure breed characteristics.
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shirley Reply:
April 26th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
@Kitty A Smith, Kitty you have asked “what do we test for”. The answer is that you test for syrinxes, by MRI. Of course this is not the guarantee that some want, but it is much better than breeding without testing (blind). Bettering odds of getting ‘A’ pups by MRI testing parents has been proven out by the Dutch. At this point all that can be asked for is better odds .
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Bet
You have hit the nail on the head so to speak. All the ‘discussions’ about SM and the breed were down to people on the outside being dog lovers too.
Those ‘old guard’ are just perpetuating problems in the ‘them and us’ world that they live in and the way things are going you are right it wil be the Cavs that suffer, not the snobs.
Arthur
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Thanks Ryan for your reply, we have had disagreements in the past!!,but what was taking place last night on that List was disgusting .
I feel getting the co-operation from us Pet Owners in the Cavalier world has now taken such a back-word step.
I just don’t think that any other Breed has carried on on their Lists like what was happening last night.
For sure the Antics of the Vociferous Few have done untold Damage to the Cavalier Breed, the sad thing is that they either can’t or don’t seem to be able to understand this.
I have had my Name taken off from the List, I don’t want in any way for the Cavalier Folk who know me to think that I condone what happened.
Bet Hargreaves
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Donna Reply:
April 26th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
@bet hargreaves,
Bet, you really need to grow up and get a sense of humour. I am a PET OWNER of one cavalier with SM and have recently lost one to SM/Hydrocephalus.
What was said on that thread last night concerned a bra and cup sizes – it was a JOKE, so get over it!
You claim to be interested in SM yet anytime any comment was made about SM you’d trot out the same old, same old about MVD.
Oh and btw, if ‘the Antics of the Vociferous Few have done untold Damage to the Cavalier Breed, the sad thing is that they either can’t or don’t seem to be able to understand this.’ Is alluding to the members on that board, then I would say that most of them are working towards removing SM from the breed & they are also planning ways of raising money towards research and most have been sending in DNA samples and scans etc to researchers too.
If this is damaging the breed then I’d hate to see what promoting it was.
Oh and btw, the breeders are also pet owners too.
Bet, sincerely, get a reality check & a sense of humour.
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Sorry about this Ryan, I did’nt think my comments would follow me onto your Forum,It was’nt just a joke about Dr C Rusbridge and her Bra Size that annoyed me ,but the comments made about Margaret Carter and Carol Fowler.which I thought would have Sickened the Publc reading those Posts.
Bet Hargreaves
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Ryan O'Meara Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 9:16 am
Hi Bet,
I know what you mean.
Anyone who knows me will know I like a joke as much as the next person, but there is a time and a place and a subject matter when it simply isn’t appropriate. For one, when it’s at the expense of individuals simply because they share a passion for improving the health of a breed and care passionately about that breed. And for an another, when the issue in hand is of such great importance to many, many people. It comes across as flippant and uncaring at a time when people within the breed have a lot of work to do win over the public support and to reassure pet owners that every step taken is done so in an effort to work through the health issues that I am sure we’d all like to be gone from this great little dog breed.
I hope that sooner rather than later some of the people involved will get a concept of how they are coming across with their ‘jokes’. I have engaged lawyers this morning and hope an apology will be coming my way otherwise I’ll have absolutely no hesitation in pursuing a defamation case. There’s ‘jokes’ and there’s libel. One is funny, one isn’t!
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Can I further mention ,now that the MVD Heart Problem in Cavaliers has been brought up on a Post here, that as far as I am aware the Cavalier Heart Problem was around in the 1940’s, when a Cavalier died at about 8 years of age from Heart Trouble ,whether MVD ,that will never be known .
I have Cavalier Pedigrees of Cavaliers who died from Heart Trouble in the 50’s -60’s -70’s.
If those Cavaliers were being used in Breeding Programs, could this be a reason why it was said at the UK AGM, that inspite of the the Cavalier Club’s Breeding Protocols ,there is no difference in the Cavalier MVD Problem than it was 20 years ago,that 50% of Cavalier are still suffering from Heart Murmers at 5 years of age.
This means that of the 11,000 Cavaliers registered last year with the Kennel Club ,around 6,000 of them ,in 5 years time could be suffering from a Heart Murmer.
Is it not also why the MVD Heart Problem is not improvimg in the Cavalier Breed ,is because now ,there are so many Cavaliers Carriers of of the MVD Gene/Genes .If that is the case ,how will the MVD Heart Problem ever get sorted out. It could just be about impossible.
Bet Hargreaves
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shirley Reply:
April 27th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
@bet hargreaves,
Bet,, the heart problems of the Cavaliers are not simple and you are correct in that due to dogs in the background of this breed, probably every Cavalier carries some problematic genes. Following the advice of researchers, however, and not breeding from early onset murmur dogs WOULD help the problem, and should have done so over the last decade IF the MVD protocols had been followed by enough breeders. These protocols specifically stipulate not breeding from any dog under 2.5 years of age, and only then if their parents are 5 and murmur free. This WOULD help rid the problem of early onset murmurs.
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Sorry Shirley, I just don’t agree, I really think there could be many ,many Cavaliers , even if the Cavalier Breeding Protocols are carried out ,could probably be Carriers of the MVD Gene/Genes.
I believe that , before a Cavalier Mating takes place, their Hearts should be checked, if they have a Heart Condition, even a Heart Murmur, then that Mating should not proceed.
I also believe that before a Cavalier is given their Title ,particularly Cavaliers Dogs, since they will become the Flavour of The Month ,and be being used a lot at Stud, their Hearts should be Tested by a Cardiologist .
Bet Hargresves
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shirley Reply:
April 28th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Bet, we agree on more tha n you think. The testing for murmurs IS part of the heart protocol (along with the breeding age recommendations), and yes, the researchers have taken into account that the vast majority of Cavaliers that pass this protocol will still carry SOME suspect genes. The early onset problem has to be tackled first. If all Cavaliers which carried suspect genes were to be eliminated from the gene pool, we would not have a breed left. I understand from previous posts you would not want this to happen!
As to disallowing titles until testing, I agree with you. I personally would like to see no titles available until after a Cavalier is 2.5 years, murmur free, and MRI tested. For other breeds with similar later onset conditions, I would like to see this as well.
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shirley Reply:
April 28th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
I did miss this part, Bet. An older stud dog who, let’s say, has acquired a grade 1 (slight) heart murmur at the age of 8 would be as good a gamble as a 2.5 year old dog who is currently murmur free. That younger dog will most likely acquire a murmur before 8 years of age – by odds 80% will anyway. The genes carried and passed on from a specific dog remain the same whether that dog has a murmur at the moment or not. He chances passing on suspect genes at two, whilst just tested and murmur free, as he does at 8 or 9 or 10 with a slight murmur. The genes don’t change because he has now become affected with a murmur.
If it were to be recommended that no dogs should be bred before they are 8, 9, 10 or so and murmur free (and the breeders went along) the breed would be ended altogether!
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Bet, with all due respect this article is about SM but seems to have gone off subject to MVD. whilst i understand & sympathise with your concerns please can we go back to SM breeding guidelines?
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