Vets Decry Perverse Policy at the Kennel Club

Andrew Ashe, the President of the British Small Animals Veterinary Association (BSA) has released a statement on the broadcast of 'Pedigree Dogs Exposed – Three Years On' by the BBC:

Jemima Harrison has highlighted an important issue. It is essential that veterinary surgeons, dog breeders and the general public no longer accept that breeding for extremes of conformation or knowingly from animals with inherited disease is an acceptable practice. The programme highlighted two main areas of concern, firstly the small genetic pool that exists in many breeds and secondly continued breeding for extremes of body shape. Both these areas must be addressed urgently. A civilised nation must agree that it is not acceptable to breed dogs that cannot function as dogs. BSAVA supports the health schemes that are now available to owners as steps in the right direction. However it is difficult to believe that health schemes are going to be sufficient in themselves to tackle these problems rapidly and effectively. It is particularly perverse to be promoting health schemes and yet continuing to allow the registration and showing of progeny with Coefficients of Inbreeding as high as 47.5% or where the animal concerned is known to have failed a screening test (significant in that breed)

Mark Johnson, Vice President of the BSAVA goes on to note that:

... [T]he Kennel Club should adopt the Advisory Council on Welfare in Dog Breeding recommendation and not register puppies with a coefficient of breeding (over 5 generations) greater than 12.5%.

In short incest is not best, and the planned breeding of freaks who are unfit for function and are in discomfort and pain is a moral issue and, perhaps, should be a legal one as well.

Exactly right. As I noted in an article entitled Sick Puppies and Broken Dogs:

When pressed about the physical abuse and pain heaped on dogs by extreme standards, and the systematic inbreeding of dogs within a closed registry system, the Kennel Club is quick to blame “the Victorians.” There is little they can do to change things quickly, they explain. It will take time. Reform will be slow. But good news; they have created an advisory committee of show dog breeders to point the way forward! Right. And the Vatican has also put the question of what to do about pederasty to a group of celibate old men who think it perfectly fine to wear dresses to the office. What? Am I making a parallel between the Kennel Club and the Vatican? You think that’s outrageous? Really? Which side have I offended?

I would argue that Job One for the Kennel Club at this point should be to require pre-qualification of dogs from certain breeds to be shown at any Kennel Club sanctioned show. You want to end extreme brachycephalic dogs and other 'select for defect' issues? That's the way to do it!

Another idea comes from David Cavill at Our Dogs: banning certain deformed breeds, such as English Bulldogs and Neopolitan Mastiffs, from being used in advertising, TV shows and movies. Cavill notes that "that sort of legislation would be easy to pass, easy to implement." Yes it would -- and a brilliant idea.

Let's do it!
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