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A new report published today echoes calls for urgent action to safeguard the welfare of pedigree dogs and has been welcomed by the RSPCA.

A Healthier Future for Pedigree Dogs, the conclusions of an inquiry by the Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW)¹, says that current breeding practices cause dogs 'significant health and welfare problems'.

This supports the findings of an independent report commissioned by the RSPCA, Pedigree Dog Breeding in the UK: A Major Welfare Concern?², and our view that exaggerated physical features and inherited diseases cause serious welfare problems for pedigree dogs.

"This inquiry has come to the same conclusion as the RSPCA: pedigree dogs urgently need our help and the way they are bred must change," said RSPCA senior animal welfare scientist, Claire Calder. "APGAW calls for an independent panel to be set up to help tackle this complex problem, an idea we would also support.

"The report lacks some detail about how the problems facing pedigree dogs can be solved and doesn't recommend all the measures we believe are necessary; for example, we believe a strategy for monitoring how effective any changes are is essential.

"However, I hope this inquiry stimulates much more detailed and action-focussed discussion amongst everyone involved in order to identify practical solutions that will really make a difference. Pedigree dogs need our help and they need it now."

The APGAW report also concludes:

Breed standards should ensure dogs are 'fit for purpose' rather than look a certain way
A database to collate the occurrences of hereditary diseases and health and welfare problems would provide information to all stakeholders on the problems and their frequency
Future regulations concerning the breeding of dogs should impose clear restrictions on the breeding of closely related dogs.

We believes all key stakeholders should meet after a third report into the health and welfare of pedigree dogs is published in early 2010 in order to agree a way forward.
The RSPCA is extremely concerned about the unacceptably high levels of disability, deformity and hereditary disease affecting these animals, as is the public, following the BBC documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed which sparked a national debate on the issue.

To find out more go to: RSPCA || Companion animals - Pedigree dogs

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Puppy Mills breed misery, boycott pet stores that sell puppies. Adopt! Don't Shop

that's the RSPCA's viewpoint - here's the Kennel Club's Kennel Club Response to The Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare’s (APGAW) Report - The Kennel Club amazing how the same thing can be interpreted by two differing sides !

here's an interesting quote direct from the report which the R---A have ommited to mention

" However the real problem lies with the fact that many breeders are not registered at all and puppy farmers are also unlikely to be registered which means they are breeding with no regulation at all. while APGAW has focussed it's attention on dogs registered with the kC it is not possible to ignore the issue of puppy farming and irresponsible breeding particularly as it has been clear that many welfare organisations, veterinary professionals and pet owners beleieve they are reponsible for a large proportion of the dogs who suffer from poor welfare breeding "

I thought as the RSPCA response had been posted, i would post the KC one too.

The Kennel Club has today responded to APGAW’s report ‘A Healthier Future for Pedigree Dogs’.

Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club Secretary, said: “The Kennel Club welcomes any report which seeks to help improve the health of pedigree dogs and to improve breeding practices. We very much welcome the fact that APGAW has recognised that this is a hugely complex issue and that there is a real lack of reliable information about the precise extent of the problem which affects some breeds. We believe that this report contains a number of very sensible recommendations which could have wide ranging benefits for all dogs, not just those registered with the Kennel Club.

“We agree that the key to solving what the report acknowledges to be, the ‘complicated problems’ involved, will be through the Kennel Club and other stakeholders working together and pooling vital scientific information. The Kennel Club started this process by conducting the world’s largest dog health survey in 2004 and by working ever more closely with vets. But there is still a long way to go in order to ensure that we get a true picture about the precise extent of the problems that exist for certain breeds, and the best way to address them. As the report recognises, there can be no catch all solution and issues must be looked at on a breed by breed basis.

“It is with the objective of further improving pedigree dog health in mind that the Kennel Club has, alongside the Dogs Trust, commissioned and funded an Independent Review into the breeding, registration and showing of dogs, chaired by Professor Sir Patrick Bateson. We must await the results of this review before we take action on some of the specifics in APGAW’s report, but in general, we believe that the report contains some sound bases for future action.

“In particular, the Kennel Club is pleased that the report recognises the importance of health screening and DNA testing and of “supporting and encouraging” responsible breeders. The Kennel Club has been working on developing health tests with the British Veterinary Association for many years, and all Kennel Club Accredited Breeders are required to health test their dogs. We agree that those problems that do exist in specific breeds – and the health tests that are available for them - need to be clearly identified and the Kennel Club has taken numerous steps, and agrees it should continue to do so, in order to ensure that dog owners are fully aware of the problems and how to help minimise the risks. We also agree that compulsory permanent identification could be extremely beneficial in this area; this is already a requirement for KC Accredited Breeders.

“The Kennel Club has asked for legislation to be introduced that would require the breeders of all dogs – whether cross breed or pedigree and whether Kennel Club registered or not – to follow the same high standards, similar to those already followed by Kennel Club Accredited Breeders. We are glad that the report acknowledges that compulsory testing can only be enforced by government intervention, otherwise health tests will be taken up only by the more conscientious breeders who voluntarily register with the Kennel Club, but not by less ethical breeders who are outside the Kennel Club system. This would create a dangerous divide that could be detrimental to pedigree dog health.

“One of the issues raised in the report is the suggestion that a written contract containing certain standard terms should accompany any puppy sale. We are pleased to report that such a requirement already exists for puppies coming from Kennel Club Accredited Breeders. In addition we are working with the British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare Foundation (BVA AWF) to establish similar contractual requirements for the sale of all dogs – whether Kennel Club registered or not.

“Furthermore, the Kennel Club welcomes the role that the report says the show ring can play in improving dog health, through encouraging and rewarding the breeding of healthy, happy dogs. We agree that the Kennel Club is in ‘arguably the best position to improve breeding practice’ through the show ring. For that reason we are glad that More 4 is broadcasting DFS Crufts in 2010, in order to ensure that there is a high profile platform for the discussion of these important issues.

“Of course, this discussion needs to permeate all levels of society and we hope that all of those who care about the health and welfare of dogs, including the veterinary profession, will talk to the dog owners and lovers that they come into contact with about the health problems that exist in all dogs, whether cross breed or pedigree, and what we can all do to help eliminate them for the benefit of future generations. The Kennel Club will do everything it sensibly can to progress these issues.”


To be honest i'm pleased with the KC response

I also agree with the report and most of its reccomendations.

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“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.” Martin Luther King Jr

“Remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible but in the end, they always fall -- think of it, ALWAYS.” Gandhi

I also am pleased and agree with the report and everything in it.

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Caoimhe Irish Wolfhounds
www.caoimheirishwolfhounds.com

I too am pleased with the KC's response. I also think it's very telling that their response is forward-looking, whereas the RSPCA is still bleating on about the same old same old.

However, when you read the quote from the report by Bijou below:

it makes you wonder why the Kennel Club was the focus of this committee in the first place. If APGAW believe that it has been clear that many welfare organisations, veterinary professionals and pet owners believe puppy farmers (and NOT the KC) are reponsible for a large proportion of the dogs who suffer from poor welfare breeding, why are the issues surrounding them not being dealt with in this enquiry?

Could it be because they, along with the RSPCA and the dreadful program PDE, felt that attacking the Kennel Club was much easier than going after the real criminals - ie the puppy farmers?

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Bergies and borders - what more could anyone want? Siamese and maine coons, of course!