Aug
The Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme – Has it Failed Already?
A Nice Idea But a Failed Concept
The TV documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed has brought about a level of negative publicity toward the world of organised dog breeding and the Kennel Club the like of which neither has experienced in the past.
More than 3.9m sat and recoiled as the documentary exposed shocking levels of animal cruelty that are being inflicted on man’s best friend as a result of horrific breeding standards and outdated views on what is desirable from certain breeds of dogs.
The Kennel Club is by no means soley responsible for what has happened to dogs over the past century but it’s impossible to argue that the buck does not stop with them. The real eye opener for many who watched the documentary and have observed the subsequent fallout is just how unapologetic certain sections of the organised canine world are. Rather than face up to the horrors of what was clearly exposed in front of the nation, they have sought to deflect attention, make accusations of bias and generally look to apportion the blame on anyone other than themselves.
The Kennel Club for its part has offered their own Accredited Breeder Scheme as a possible ray of light to brighten the gloom. A claim which is somewhat hard to believe given the Kennel Club has spent the last few days arguing via the media that it is ‘powerless’ to change its own rules allowing registrations for puppies born as a result of father to daughter or brother to sister matings. If the Kennel Club is powerless to change its own rules to make such a fundamentally obvious change, what faith should the public place in them to run an Accredited Breeder Scheme with any degree of authority?
Is the Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme really the longterm answer to more than a century of mis-management?
The Accredited Breeder Scheme was set up in 2004 and has been steadily gathering members ever since. The scheme was announced to a warm welcome from many in and around the dog world who have been calling for reform of the Kennel Club for several years. Finally, people thought, the Kennel Club was going to add some teeth to its regulation of pedigree dog breeders.
However, our investigation reveals that emphasis appears to be on recruiting volumes of new members rather than low volume, high quality breeders, which the Kennel Club claims meets their aims of promoting responsible breeding to as many people as possible. The scheme has been cited to have political overtones with some accusing it of nothing more than a hastily thrown together smokescreen to show the government that continuing Kennel Club regulation of pedigree dog health is working. The Kennel Club claims that since the inception of the Accredited Breeder Scheme there is now a benchmark for new dog owners to judge good breeders. Whilst this appears to be a claim that would suggest only breeders of the very highest standards are included in the scheme, a K9 Magazine investigation reveals this is simply not true. A person can become an Accredited Breeder Scheme without ever bred dog, in fact without ever even owning a dog! The Kennel Club Accredited Breeder Scheme is a failed concept.
Read the full report on the Kennel Club’s Accredited Breeder Scheme here
It strkes me that the majority of the problem lay in the shows. Forcing the shows to adhere to stricter guidlines (i.e. no inter-breeding and no showing of ‘sick’ or ‘mutant’ dogs as they have been recently described) may help to remove some of the crisis. I find it quite interesting that most breeders appear to either not know or not care that they are the cause of such horrific pain and suffering in some of these dogs.
The people I know best who breed dogs for showing, appear to have no motivation other than money and status amongst other “breed to show” type breeders.
They show utter and lasting contempt for the people they live among and around. They exist in squalor, their dogs are barely exercised or stimulated at all and appear to exist soley to make the people feel good. And yet, devoid of any shame, they trot dutifully off to many of the regional shows, with their animals done up in ribbons and gleefully pocket the cash from a succession of gullible buyers. (They don’t sell at the shows – they sell from home but I imagine that getting “placed” in these shows gives t heri animals more value. It certainly boosts the owners’ egos.
Despite all this they seem to exist very happily in the little world of regional dog shows in Britain in 2008. They are, it has to be said, very good at presenting a false image of their lifestyle.However the idea of dog show people being VERY keen on the status they accrue and on the money they get as opposed to enjoying the company of the dogs, and feeling a responsibility regarding the physical and psycholgical welfare of the dogs, seems to tally very much with my own experience and observations.
Jack Jonson, I don’t know what breed the people you know breed, but MYGOD,If I were you Id name and shame these people, because rest assured the majority of breeders I know are nothing like you describe.
Showing is a hobby, as is agility, as obedience , all of which I do with the dogs I breed.
In 14 years I have bred ONE puppy . I have however , bought in 2 dogs, Ive had 3 hipscored elbow scored , eye tested , and heart tested.
My dogs are exercised and looked after, and yes Im proud of them when they do well at shows, as I am when they go out in public and are advocates for my breed.
The Kennel Club Accredited Scheme is not worth the paper its written on, there are at least 18 breeds on their list that do not need any tests.
So you see Jack please dont tar all of us who enjoy various activities with our dogs ,with the same brush as your friend !!!!
there are genuine caring breeders out there its up to the general public to demand a higher standard from breeeders, not just go to the cheapest ,who do no tests and call themselves accredited. do your homework.
Make money from showing dogs? Dream on! Showing costs. Breeding costs. Puppy prices don’t break even if you are actively involved in showing, or provide health tests and good care for your dogs. I don’t like the way many breeds have been changed over time, but there is plenty of blame to go around. Many resposible breeders have been trying for a long time to get the Kennel Club to back them in restricting registrations of dogs that are not up to par. But this means losing registration fees.
What would be great, would be having to prove your dog was able to perform the work it was originally bred for, or some other work or sport; before earning titles in the breed ring. But I know that is just a pipe dream.
Jack we aint all BAD just SOME are !
Why Breeders Must Learn to Dance with Disease !
Why Breeders Must Learn to Dance with Disease ! Remember how natural selection works. If a given genetic trait makes you stronger—especially if it makes you stronger before you have children—then you’re more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass that trait on. If a given trait makes you weaker, you’re less likely to survive, reproduce, and pass that trait on. Over time, species “select” those traits that make them stronger and eliminate those traits that make them weaker unless of course WE step in and this is what has occurred with mans best friend-The Dog! Breeders have selected traits that have made their dogs stand out within the show ring, that is human nature but we need to have some humility and admit It’s the show ring that has ultimately caused dogs much suffering, such as the inability to breathe without effort, the ability to safely deliver pups etc. All is not lost though we can survive the trauma of Pedigree Dogs Exposed (PDE) by declaring disease and rejoicing in it, disease is not something to be frightened of especially in dog breeding, there is NO dog free from some form of disease, no matter what the breed clubs or its membership say on many websites. It is saddening that so many breeders become aggressive when their name is associated with disease, they waste the opportunity to do something positive with their breed. By recognising disease, its prevalence, its hereditary factors we move a step closer to a happy healthy fit for life dog, by hushing it up, by hiding the facts we actually harm dogs. If your dog has a disease be open and honest, dance and sing and not hide and be secretive because by doing that YOU ARE actually taking notice and protecting the breeds you own. Do not gossip and besmirch reputations of those doing every effort to declare openly about their dogs , they are actually doing YOU some good. It will be their honesty that people will believe and pedigree dogs will once again be the Talk of the Town , for good reasons not bad. It’s not uncommon for breeders to attack the honest ones within their breeds, the people who declare disease such as hip dysplasia in newly imported rare breeds, or eye disorders in toy dogs and SM in Cavaliers , just because you may have unwittingly used the diseased dog doesn’t necessarily make you bad , because through selective breeding we can move forward from that mating. It would only be irresponsible if you then bred on from the progeny without due consideration for the gene pool. That is how we learn, dogs are a huge learning curve World Wide and we owe it to them to be progressive not regressive, pro-active not reactive. Adopting this new behaviour makes breeders produce progeny for betterment instead of profit. The task facing any breeder is to determine what genes are present in his breeding stock and to plan matings that will bring forth offspring which exhibit and carry desirable genes. You cannot do that by hiding or not declaring disease. The goal is to eliminate unwanted traits not only from the phenotype but also from the genotype for future generations. In this way the overall quality of dog breeds should improve. If we continue to allow breed clubs and breeders to hide disease from other breeders and hush up negative results or send back dogs to their country of origin without making that known then we stifle progress, we destroy honest breeding policy and more importantly we encourage poor gene pool management which in turns allows disease to flourish willy nilly and destroy the very breed that is making these breeders stand out from the crowd, when in reality they should be shunned. Now ask yourself, do you REALLY want to stand out from the crowd? Breeders also need to be honest when selling dogs, the new fangled idea is to offer a one year health and genetic guarantee to buyers, it’s a simple yet effective way to befuddle and confuse potential new owners. It’s also very misleading and borders on dishonesty knowing as we all do that some diseases are hereditary and cannot be detected until a dog becomes at least 18 months of age, some even later. So , if your dog has a disease don’t hide it away , stand up and be counted , you will be part of the new generation of responsible caring owner/breeders , the ones who will stand the test of time and give dogs a new lease on life, FREE OF DISEASE.