Why all the Fuss about EUGENICS ?
written by Karen Clark-Stapleton of EuroBichons.com
The recent BBC programme exposing some of the appalling practices performed as a matter of course by some KC breeders has left a dirty taste in some mouths, but not ours!
For many years we have researched how good gene pool management can be effected by not using your dogs as a cash cow, by using breeding programmes to select the best to improve the breed not just having a quickie behind the show ring as many do especially with toy breeds.
Many show breeders have accused pet breeders or those not connected with the show ring as being at fault,but hey lets wait a minute here.When these breeds became popular it was those very show breeders who sold pups for profit to enlarge their numbers to enable more competition .
They decry the use of the word EUGENICS, but in reality isnt that exactly what they practice, if we choose to use this definition :
Literally “well born.” The attempt of artificial selection towards a particular set of desired characteristics
Obviously we are not comparing dogs to humankind, but the principles remain the same, or should do.Sadly with that comes issues that cannot be foreseen , that may occur recessively, what many breeders simply don’t understand is that, these recessive problems do not die , they remain dormant until they meet up with a partner and hey presto, we have a problem.
Testing is a way to select the best gene pools yet many show breeders today live life with heads in the sand, they refuse to believe that their breed has any hereditary disease. They remain steadfast in blaming everyone except themselves. They shout from the rafters that only breed club members produce quality dogs when in reality they simply do not know this. They have never undertaken a full breed health screening in which the breeders details have been used to assess disease.
They all like to keep quiet about what line is producing what problem, whereupon we actually like people to know. We feel that potential new owners SHOULD know that someway down the line their treasured pet may suffer from xyz. That way they can choose whether to have that puppy or leave it for someone else. We never had that choice, our dog came from two of the UK’s best show lines, yet at just 10 months that dog was not fit for purpose. Loved just the same .
The dog was recommended by the breed clubs and was assessed as a show dog. Now come on here, we cannot be the only ones that this has happened too, yet some owners wont give the kennel names in case they want a dog in the future. How absurd is that, would you really want to buy a dog from the same breeder again after your first dog was rendered ill?
That is simple snobbery, nothing more, you have a duty to inform other potential owners when a line is knackered, or you fail the very dogs that you purport to love, personally we couldn’t do that.
Every breeder of animals practices Eugenics otherwise they couldn’t better their previous matings, so why all the fuss, well simply these breeders do not understand the concept of breeding to improve, they must either practice breeding to sell for profit or breeding for fun, either way that would be fundamentally wrong, so lets have some truth here.
Why do you breed, and why are you so afraid to admit that you breed to select a certain set of characteristics, that is EUGENICS……and STOP pretending that only show breeders produce quality as this is simply untrue , its meant to mislead and misinform, its also meant to set show breeders above anyone else…. If show breeders are so good where did all these diseases start , it sure wasn’t puppy farms, they are a relatively new phenomenom.
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Why all the fuss?
Try equating the eugenics movement and principles to Nazis and rascists.
Granted it is not the same as breeding ’supermen’ or the like, but surely it is a similar concept!
For the Kennel Club to be associated with such breed standard requirements is very wrong for all their puny denials that they cannot do anything!
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