Press Release: Kennel Club to Clamp Down on Breeders to Safeguard Health of Pedigree Dogs

[Flamincomet]

KENNEL CLUB TO CLAMP DOWN ON BREEDERS TO SAFEGUARD HEALTH OF PEDIGREE DOGS

 

The Kennel Club is launching a complete review of every pedigree dog breed

in the UK in a move that will have far-reaching benefits for the health of

many breeds. It has also called on the government to give it the statutory

powers to clamp down on breeders who fail to make a dog's health their top

priority.

 

A breed health plan will be coordinated for each of the UK's 209 pedigree

breeds and will benefit from the extensive research that has been funded by

the Kennel Club in conjunction with renowned veterinary research centres

over the past 40+ years. This will include updated breed standards to

ensure that no dog is bred for features that might prevent it from seeing,

walking and breathing freely. Judges will be fully briefed on the new breed

standards so that only the healthiest dogs are rewarded in the show ring.

 

The Kennel Club is releasing the first of these new breed standards today,

for the Pekingese, and has taken a tough line with the breed following

extensive and abortive consultations. This is set to radically improve the

health of the Pekingese which for nearly a hundred years was bred to have a

flat face; a feature which can lead to breathing problems; under the new

health plan the breed will be required to have a defined muzzle.

 

The breed health plans, which are scheduled to be completed by early next

year, will also incorporate the results of a thorough, ongoing analysis of

the health status and genetic diversity of each breed, drawing on results

from the world's largest dog health survey, conducted by the Animal Health

Trust and funded by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust in 2004. This will

ensure that breeders and buyers are aware of the health tests that should be

carried out for each breed. The final part of the plans will look at ways

breeders can expand the gene pool of the breed.

 

In order to ensure that the plans are effective and reach all dogs, the

Kennel Club has called on the government to give it statutory powers to make

its established Accredited Breeder Scheme compulsory throughout the country.

If successful, this would mean that all breeders who are not part of the

scheme and who have not officially confirmed their willingness to follow the

health standards set by the Kennel Club would be unable to produce or sell

puppies within the law.

 

Additionally, breed clubs are now required to adopt the Kennel Club's Code

of Ethics, to ensure that their practices fall in line with Kennel Club

policy for putting the health and welfare of puppies first. This includes a

clause that explicitly forbids the compulsory culling of healthy puppies.

 

To complement these steps the Kennel Club is developing plans for a new

Canine Genetics Centre. This will be run in conjunction with the Animal

Health Trust, confirming the Kennel Club's commitment to research into

inherited diseases and the provision of DNA testing programmes which

identify the genes underlying inherited health problems.

 

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: "The groundswell of public

attention on the very important matters surrounding dog breeding is a

welcomed momentum that will enable us to drive through, with added urgency,

new and extended initiatives that will help to safeguard the health of our

pedigree dogs. We have been listening and agree with the general public's

view that more needs to be done.

 

"Steps such as our breed health plans will enable us to ensure that the

health of every dog is the number one priority and we are taking a tougher

line with breed clubs by adjusting those breed standards that fail to

promote good health. By asking the government for statutory powers we will

be able to take a tougher line with all breeders and breed clubs that fail

to abide by our high standards. This in turn will enable us to extend the

reach of our Accredited Breeder Scheme, which is the quality control

mechanism within our registration process, so that all dogs will be bred by

people who abide by our stringent rules and regulations for the breeding of

healthy, happy dogs.

 

"We have been working hard in recent years to identify and address health

problems that exist in dogs, and we are taking advantage of the

opportunities that advances in science have given us to improve dog health.

We look forward to continuing our work with various institutions and

organisations that share the same objective: to protect the health and

welfare of all dogs."

 

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Does this mean ALL pedigree dogs in the KC's "reach" will be forced to register with them and abide by their, "stringent rules and regulations for the breeding of healthy, happy dogs??"

 

I think it's great that they are working to improve overall health, and changing the breed standards is a great way to go about it (I wonder how the peke people feel about that??) but it sounds like they aren't just going to limit it to the dogs in their registry!

 

Anyone else have info on this?

 

Autumn

[KrisK]

Seems to me, this won't affect anyone in the US directly since this is in the United Kingdom. I suppose anyone purchasing dogs from the UK would be indirectly affected.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Uh, I didn't read anything about any distinguishing between dogs registered with the KC and dogs with their own registry? I'm a bit befuddled by pain meds and could have read that wrong, certainly.

 

This could affect me directly - I'm looking at helping someone import an LGD into the UK - a breed not AKC recognized here but KC registered there!

[Flamincomet]

Seems to me, this won't affect anyone in the US directly since this is in the United Kingdom. I suppose anyone purchasing dogs from the UK would be indirectly affected.

 

I was referring to how it would affect the breeders in the UK, not the US, though I suppose if anyone in the US wanted to import a dog from the UK it would affect them.

 

Autumn

[Sue R]

But the question remains, will this affect the breeding of the working sheepdog/Border Collie, and any and all other breeds that are not bred under the registration of the KC? In other words, will the KC be given draconian powers over dogs/breeds that are not even registered with them at the current time? Would this (and how would this, if it did) affect the ISDS and any other currently non-KC registries in the UK?

 

It sounds like the KC may be asking to become a doggie-dictatorship for the UK.

[Flamincomet]

Thanks Sue, that's exactly what I meant, I'm just not the best at wording my thoughts...

 

Autumn

[Lenajo]

Those who do not police themselves, will eventually be policed by others by force.

 

I don't think it will effect ISDS by the KC rules, but if the act goes into force the ISDS may be forced to apply a similar scheme or be included under the KC. There will be some serious scrambling....

 

All of this because people insisted on deliberately breeding unhealthy and sufferring animals in the name of fad and profit.

 

All that aside...why would the KC be capable of doing their own monitoring? They've been in charge for years and done nothing. Isn't this like the fox guarding the henhouse?

[Eileen Stein]

As I read it, whether this would affect ISDS-registered border collies in the UK depends on whether the KC can get the government to pass the legislation it seeks. It apparently wants the government to compel all breeders of "purebred dogs" (i.e., breeds they recognize) to register with the KC, and to administer the health tests the KC dictates to all breeding stock (currently hip scoring and eye exams as far as the BC is concerned), etc. My guess is that the venerable ISDS would be able to obtain an exemption for its dogs even if the legislation were to be passed. What the chances are of legislation passing at all, I'm not sure. Such a law would give the KC sweeping monopoly powers over dog breeding in general, which is unprecedented. OTOH, without a law, whatever the KC did would affect only those breeders who chose to continue registering with the KC. It would be interesting to see what show breeders would do in that event. I kinda suspect the UK would experience a mushrooming of new registries, at least for breeds whose breed standards themselves are unhealthy or grotesque. But I dunno. It will be interesting . . .

[Tranquilis]

This looks to me to be part power-grab, and part smokescreen against the criticsm raised by the recent documentary.

 

Considering how poorly the KC has done so far in guarding the health and well-being of dogs, and their aggressively head-in-the-sand response to the Pedigree Dogs documentary, well, IMO, granting the KC statutory enforcement powers seems a very bad idea, indeed.

[Soda-pop]

KENNEL CLUB TO CLAMP DOWN ON BREEDERS TO SAFEGUARD HEALTH OF PEDIGREE DOGS

 

The Kennel Club is releasing the first of these new breed standards today,

for the Pekingese... under the new health plan the breed will be required to have a defined muzzle.

 

They're all going to look like needle nose collies now. lol