An Open Challenge: Some Positive Coverage for the Kennel Club
Published on September 19, 2008 by Ryan O'Meara · 4 CommentsI would like to offer an open invitation for someone, anyone, to produce for me some statistics in order to provide some positive coverage for the work the Kennel Club advises us it is doing.
It is a simple challenge.
Please can someone provide a list of breeds which are now healthier, less disease prone and are living longer than they were say, 50 years ago.
So, for clarity – I am not seeking a list of breeds where a decline in health or hereditary susceptibility to diseases are slowly being stemmed, health issues that have occurred post Victorian times I might add, I am looking for a list of breeds that are now holistically better off than they have ever been in their evolution.
This should be relatively easy to do for the following reasons.
1) Critics (such as the BBC documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed) have been able to map the decline of many breeds, thus it should be possible to demonstrate improvements in the same terms, especially from those who claim that great work is being done and is not being given due attention.
2) If we are to believe that the Kennel Club is best placed to fix the problems it has presided over during the past century, one would expect they can substantiate this by providing stats to show a significant list of breeds that are in a better state now than at any time in their evolution.
As stated, an open challenge for anyone to educate the readers of this blog as to the improvements that have helped dogs to become healthier and able to live longer lives than ever before.
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Tags: Animal Welfare, kennel club
What about ‘non’ pedigree dogs, you could say that by the KC ignoring these dogs and their owners, they have contributed to the good health of these dogs!
This is ridiculous Ryan! 50 years ago who tested their livestock let alone their dogs before breeding. You seem adamant on trying to completely destroy the kennel club and all the resposible breeders out there. Shame on you!
You really do have a chip on your shoulder. I have only been on this site 15 minutes and you always seem to want the last say.
How about trying to stop the chinese dog fur trade???? no thats just pure evil and will scar you for life!!!
‘James’ – Thank you for your comments. As you have admitted, you’ve been on this site ’15 minutes’ if you’d been on a bit longer you’d realise we cover a multitude of welfare issues, the Chinese fur trade being one. The more you try and diminish the significance of the animal welfare disgrace happening under our noses, the more you make people like me more determined than ever to expose your apologist attitudes. You want to talk livestock? No problem.
From Patrick Burns’ ‘Inbred Thinking’
“On the farm, things took a different turn. The inbreeding of farm stock began earlier than with dogs, but was no less intense.
Because farm herds are large and often kept by families for generations, farmers were able to “tease out” data indicating drops in production, increases in mortality, declining fecundity, and a steady rise in disease and illness.
Inbreeding, which had initially boosted production, now appeared to be reducing it.
Because farmers had a clear “steak and eggs” axis for evaluation of stock, they were ready and willing to outcross to achieve the best results for their needs and their land. Consumers, after all, do not much care what breed of chicken their eggs come from, or what “champion” bull sired their steak.
Through experimentation, farmers discovered that outcrosses and hybrids of two “pure” types produce as well or better, while remaining more disease resistant, more fecund, and longer-lived than deeply homogeneous stock.
What may appear to be a pure Angus (the most common breed of beef cattle in the world) is likely to have a wide variety of cattle genes coursing through its system. In fact, entire breeds of cattle are now kept solely for their outcross potential. On today’s farms the cattle in the field may be Brangus (Brahman-Angus crosses), Braford (Brahmam-Hereford crosses), Beefmasters (a cross of Hereford, Shorthorn and Brahman), or any other combination or mix.”
Ryan this is the point we at Eurobichons have ben making for some time, longevity in breeding usually brings with it some serious concerns, after all as one poster above states “This is ridiculous Ryan! 50 years ago who tested their livestock let alone their dogs before breeding…..!”
If breeders dont keep updating information and have a fresh look at what is acceptable and what is not then dogs will suffer on a continuum. So , this will undoubtedly get up some breeders noses , but its clear that if they carry on destroying gene pools by inbreeding, using popular sires then the health of dogs can only get worse, In the Bolognese for example one committee member of the breed club stated how distasteful they found that one male dog was being used for most UK studding, yet this dog was never actually tested for genetic disease as this breed is said to be healthy ??? This breed is rare in the uk , YET its the breed club that are destroying it from within, WHY?