Kennel Club and Judges are reluctant about inbred ‘deformed’ dogs
Alison Jeffers, a leading Basset hound breeder has accused the Kennel Club of being “in denial” over the health problems caused by the inbreeding of animals for shows including Crufts.
Inspite of solving the situation urgently, The Kennel Club and many breeders are in denial. But The criticism from a leading breeder adds to the pressure on the Kennel Club to introduce compulsory health checks for show dogs, curb inbreeding and limit the number of times a stud dog can be used as a “sire”.
Ms Jeffers, who has a pack of 30 hounds which are not inbred, and are in good health and can work all day covering 25 to 30 miles. Whereas inbreds are weigh 35-40kg compared with jeffers dogs’ 20kg. They have very short legs, skin, ear and eye problems and suffer from arthritis, and yet judges turn a blind eye to all of that as if it is irrelevant.
Bassets bred for shows like Crufts are so inbred that most are incapable of being working dogs even though they win prizes in that category.
Last week the RSPCA severed its links with Crufts - the Club’s biggest and most prestigious show - after a BBC documentary revealed how inbred dogs had won prizes at Crufts despite suffering serious health problems.
Ministers are holding talks with the Kennel Club, dog welfare groups and veterinarians on the issue but want breeders to take the initiative in the meantime and start breeding out those traits, said a spokesman for the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
The BBC documentary revealed that prize-winning dogs suffered from a range of serious conditions as a result of inbreeding.
They included a Cavalier King Charles spaniel with a skull too small for its brain and a Best in Show 2003 Pekingese bred to have a perfectly flat face and subjected to an operation to enable it to breathe.
Pugs, boxers and bulldogs also had health problems caused by inbreeding, including female dogs bred with their male offspring.
The RSPCA urged the Kennel Club to halt the breeding of “deformed and disabled” show animals.
The Dogs Trust, Britain’s largest dog charity, has also withdrawn support for Crufts over the breeding techniques.
Clarissa Baldwin, the trust’s chief executive, urged Defra to bring forward laws to regulate dog breeding.
Beverly Cuddy, the editor of Dogs Today, said the Kennel Club was an old-fashioned and out-of-touch organisation governed by arcane rules.
Ms Caroline Kisko a spokesman for the Kennel Club said, the Kennel Club was already funding research into the dogs’ health problems but admitted that they could have started earlier.
However Kennel Club is furious about BBC and RSPCA’s role, and already lodged a complaint against the BBC programme with Ofcom, the broadcast regulator, and is reviewing its 44-year-old contract with the corporation to televise the show. Also define RSPCA as a traitor who betrayed them inspite of getting donation and have stabbed them in the back.
Source:Telegraph.co.uk
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