"Following the powerful Pedigree Dogs Exposed documentary on BBC1 the Kennel Club still seems reluctant to grasp the nettle, face the problems and reform itself. The program revealed it urgently needs to bring in mandatory minimum standards on levels of inbreeding, make health testing mandatory, prevent unhealthy physical exaggerations being rewarded and stop the culling of healthy non-standard pups by changing breed standards. The KC continually complains that it lacks the backing of legislation to bring in these urgent and much needed reforms, so we the undersigned urge the Prime Minister please instigate legislation to ensure pedigree dogs are saved from unnecessary future suffering."

If you would like to add your name to this petition please go to this link:

Petition to: introduce legislation to reform the Kennel Club. | Number10.gov.uk

You have to think carefully when a petition is worded.
Quote:
we the undersigned urge the Prime minister please instigate legislation to ensure pedigree dogs are saved from unnecessary future suffering
Unquote

How will such pedigree dogs be saved from unnecessary future suffering? Are they to be culled as puppies as their heritage shows they are most likely to have potenitally debilitating conditions such as hip displasia? Well there go the Pugs, over 60% of them displastic, and with eye problems and breathing difficulties -PDE never commented on the hips though did they? And if the Pugs go ( and I personally would not miss them but I accept that others would) then all the Designer Dogs with this as a cross should go too.

And what about the cross breeds and just honest mongrels, no legislation to ensure that they are saved from unnecessary future suffering?

Mongrels and cross breeds do not suffer from genetically controlled conditions that are adverse to health?

Take a Pug and cross it with a Beagle (over 60% of the breed dysplatic from the Pug and over 18% of the breed from the Beagle) and you might get something 40% displastic and call it a Puggle - I think they do. ESS as a breed are about 14% dysplatic but with 8.0% having excellent hips - the best you could say for a Puggle is the Beagle rating of 2.4% excellent (Pugs are 0.0% BTW) and say (about) 40% dysplastic for the cross bred. There would be only about 15 pedigree dog breeds worse than this, call it 20 to save unnecessary argument.

I am totally for the welfare of all dogs and totally against knee jerk and ill-informed reactions.

Let me put a case - Rytex Racine (ESS) won both the All Variety Spaniel Championship and the Irish Spaniel Championship in the very early 1990's. Probably the first spaniel ever to win two national championships - and to the best of my knowledge only two others have done it in nearly thirty years. Racine had the same sire as her half brother to whom she was mated. I do not condone this but I realize what it achieved in terms of a fit for purpose dog.

So we stop breeding pedigree dogs and just adopt rescues, and when the rescues run out we do what they are doing in the USA and import rescues from the third world? No we don't need to do that, we are already importing rescues and farmed puppies from Ireland and ensuring that dog welfare there is secondary to a quick buck or should I say punt? (edited to say Euro)

No, Iam not signing such an ill thought out petition.
There is much more to be done for all dog welfare, but this is not the way forward.

Sgurr

Excellent reply Sgurr! I won't be signing this petition either - for the reasons you state, but also because of these words:

prevent unhealthy physical exaggerations being rewarded and stop the culling of healthy non-standard pups by changing breed standards

The Kennel Club already does this.

and neither will I - sorry

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Sorry but where do you get that figure from? As a pug person myself, in this country at least HD is not a problem in pugs, there are odd ones as there are in any breed, but it's not a 'known' or common problem. As for breathing, everyone quotes pugs can not breathe, I can't vouch for all pugs but the vast majority have absolutely no problems at all, mine have never had any problems breathing or chasing down my cocker across my paddock for hours. The only times I have seen pugs struggling to breathe is if they are very overweight. Again with eyes, not had any genetic defects with pug's eyes, had the odd eye scratched, I will admit, but my cocker has scratched his eye before.

Sorry for the small rant, just keep seeing all these quotes about pugs and no one seems to want to stand up for them.

so you wont 'unhealthyphysical exaggerations to be awarded top placing in the ring do you? You also want healthy non-standard pups to be culled, I take it that is what you mean by not signingconfused:confused:
Mary
x

The KC don't place the dogs,Judges do, and to be fair judges can only judge the dogs they have infront of them.
The breed standards are interpretated differently by judges and breeders.

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ruardeanstaffords

confused:You've lost me now. As I understand it the idea behind the petition is to get the KC to make health testing mandatory and to also prevent extreme physical exaggerations being produced. With this in place, in time we would see healthier less exaggerated types in the show ring, well thats how I interpreted it anyway, maybe I'm wrong.
Mary
x

And yes I agree they should make health testing compulsary,breed clubs and Breeders need to push to get this in place,it's not all down to the KC I'm afraid.

Again it depends on what Jugdes think are exaggerated,one might think a dog is overdone in some departments another maynot.It's a vicious circle,dogs are placed which shouldn't be,dogs win which shouldn't,then you get some breeders who breed that type of dog because the judge placed it.

It has baffled me beyond belief,what I think is a good dog won't be placed and what I wouldn't give house room too is placed.
Why are dogs that are shown at all levels winning there class in CH shows yet do not get placed in open shows.
If judges stopped placing over exaggerated dogs then Breeders wouldn't keep breeding them,but again as I said it's how different judges view the dog against the standard.
You only have to look at the variation within some breeds.

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ruardeanstaffords

Perhaps if the KC were only to allow puppies to be registered that were bred from parents who had the relevant testing done this would encourage many breeders to get the tests done before hand. It isn't difficult most championship shows, breed shows and vets organise from time to time the relevant experts to come in and do testing. I used to breed and show English cockers and my bitches were always checked by a vet before and after mating. Also I would have already had eye and hip testing done along with heart checks and I always chose a stud for his nature as well as conformation and insisted in seeing his test results. OK so this all costs money but at the end if breeders were not getting testing done and were being prevented from registering puppies don't you think they would either give up or change their ways.