The winner of a dog
show is the dog judged to be closest to meeting perfection in its own breed
standard. That's how a judge chooses between a Lhasa Apso and a Bernese
mountain dog. Some breeders want to win that championship so badly that they
will breed mother to son or father to daughter to try to double up on the
exceptional qualities of one dog. This is inbreeding. Unfortunately, inbreeding
for good qualities also doubles up the bad--if genetic defects are present. The
result is some genetic faults that could be diminished and are not. Not every
inherited defect can be picked up by tests or bred out but some can: detached
retinas in collies, mitral valve dysplasia in small dogs (cairn terrier, miniature poodle),
deafness, urinary stone and dermatological problems in dogs bred for coat colour or pattern
(Dalmatians, merle-coated dogs).
The Kennel Club
revised 210 breed standards to address health issues. This newly buffed-up
health policy was behind the virtuous testing by "independent"
general vets of 15 breed winners right bang in the middle of the Crufts show,
which ran March 8-11 in Birmingham. At that point, happy holders of Best of
Breed ribbons for the bulldog, Pekingese, Clumber spaniel, mastiff, Neapolitan
mastiff and basset hound breeds were dumped "for health reasons" with
no chance to continue through Best in Group toward Best in Show. The British
Bulldog Breed Council was furious: its winning dog had an old eye injury from a
knock taken as a puppy--nothing to do with disease and invisible to the naked
eye--and had been vetted by the British Utility Breeds Association at a
previous trial.
Having asked
independent vets to examine the dogs, the Kennel Club then issued a contradictory
press release stating that the examination was external only and the health
problems could be diagnosed by judges in the ring. This made no sense and
infuriated breeders. "To understand this" said one U.K. dog breeder
asking not to be named, "you'd have to understand the British Kennel Club:
an old boys' club," one that only allowed women full membership in 1979.
In their favour, the KC has wonderful headquarters in London's pricey Mayfair
district with a truly magnificent collection of dog paintings. But all national
kennel clubs have this one fear: that breed clubs will, if aggravated, withdraw
and simply stage their own shows. This time, though, the KC has cooked its own
goose. The debacle at Crufts brought 6,700 people to a new Facebook page,
Exhibitors Choice & Voice, this past week. On short notice, 320 people,
including senior judges and breeders, attended a meeting to form the Canine
Alliance to work for the health and welfare of pedigree dogs and to postpone the clearly
ill-thought-out policy of the KC on vetting dogs. The Croatian owner of the dumped Clumber may
well sue the KC to have the Best of Breed title restored, as well as asking for
an apology and a monetary claim for loss of status. The KC might have to sell a
very small painting.
ON A BIT of land near
Toronto's Pearson airport, a vista of indifferent office buildings and scrappy
grass fronts, the Canadian Kennel Club is moving into its self-described
"dog-friendly" new headquarters. No paintings, cardboard boxes of
files spilling out all over the place-the natural consequence of a move.
Curiously, none of the executives and employees I spoke to owned dogsthemselves,
though they "would love to." Unlike every other kennel club in the
Western world, the CKC is incorporated under the Animal Pedigree Act, a federal
statute administered by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. It gets no funds from
taxpayers, but changes to its bylaws, including if the CKC wants to add a breed
to its registry, must be approved by the ministry. The CKC itself seems
perennially short of money as registrations go down, so when I asked about
doing kennel checks of breeders and enforcement of health standards, director
of events and operations Elio Furlan let out a little sigh of unhappiness.
"We don't have the resources," he said sadly.
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"The CKC wish
they had the independence of kennel clubs like the American and British ones to
do whatever they want," says longtime former chairman of the CKC board of
directors Richard Meen. "In fact, they are in the best position of any
kennel club to make a difference. They've got the full force of the Animal
Pedigree Act behind breed standards and could make significant changes."
For myself, I'm never
keen on government regulation of private businesses, even of dog breeding, but
since Ottawa is in charge here, the CKC might as well use it for the good. At
the very least, it could keep a tight rein on inbreeding and demand health
certificates of dogs to
be bred. X-rays and genetic tests can be given for all sorts of inherited
conditions, including hip dysplasia and progressive retinal atrophy.
Dog shows are like a
pop-up store: one weekend the space is full of humans, lots of shedding fur and
vendors of special products like whiz bands, which anchor up male doggies'
jewels so they don't whiz inside the house. Next thing you know, the space is
back to normal with grim-faced humans. The CKC sponsors a lot of shows in
Canada but when it spots anyone stepping on its toes, it goes into Rottweiler
pose (sorry Rotties: you're wonderful family dogs). Currently in its crosshairs is Robert Grieves,
a retired Ontario postal worker, with an unmistakable Glaswegian accent not
extinguished by his 28 years in Canada.
Together with business
partner Rita Grisani, Grieves organized a successful business to put on dog
shows called All Breed International Dog Shows, Inc. (ABI). It can't register dogs or hand out licences, but it uses some
CKC professional judges for its conformation shows. The ABI fills a niche the
CKC doesn't address by allowing dozens of rare breeds the CKC doesn't list or
no longer lists (the CKC radically culled its lists after chairman Meen left)
to compete--sharp intake of breath here--in the same venue with CKC-registered
purebreds. The ABI shows are informal, dress as you will. Amateur handlers try
out their skills free from the white-knuckled fear of the formal dog shows.
You'd think the CKC
would be cheering or see the ABI shows as a source of revenue for its depleted coffers.
"Judges can get their hands on breeds they may never have seen" says
Grieves, "and we give amateur handlers ring experience." Glottal
stop, however, at CKC headquarters: Last January, it issued a
"reminder" telling judges to stay away from non-CKC conformation
shows. "We're trying to work with the CKC, not against them," replied
the ABI. "Our club's whole goal is about education and helping people
learn." This olive branch withered. Ours "is a recommendation to
judges and not an outfight prohibition for them to officiate at ABI shows"
wrote the CKC in reply to the ABI. Implicit prohibition perhaps? Defying the
CKC would not be a good career move for an aspirant dog judge in Canada. After
Grieves complained to the Competition Bureau, an investigation began. But the
enemy the CKC should focus on is not the ABI, but designer dog diseases.
Credit due: the CKC
can take a tough stand and mobilized itself for the welfare of all dogs when it came to the nightmare of
breed-specific legislation. Remember the days and nights when ferocious pit
bulls stalked our streets? Ontario's Liberals brought forth Bill 132 in 2004,
mandating all "pit bulls" be leashed, muzzled, neutered and spayed;
their future breeding or import to Ontario was banned. It was not clear what
was behind the vehemence of the legislation (the CKC always supported vicious
dog legislation) apart from political expediency-nothing like a bloody good hue
and cry over monsterdogs menacing your children when
substantive election promises haven't been met. Or possibly MPP Dalton McGuinty
Sr.'s family pit bull named "Tory" bit the young Dalton--if he
didn't, it goes to show the pit bull's loyalty tested to a fault.
The small problem was
that there is no such thing as a purebred "pit bull." If you went to the
Purina show you would have seen the jolly little bull terrier breeds clowning
around their booths. There are three terrier breeds--the American Staffordshire
terrier, the Staffordshire bull terrier and the bull terrier (a bulldog and
terrier cross with its endearing egg-shaped head), which make wonderful family dogs.
The lack of a specific CKC purebred pit bull breed did not deter the
enthusiastic Liberals who simply listed four breeds-two types of pit bulls plus
the two Staffordshire terriers--and threw in for good measure the basket
clause, "A dog that has an appearance or physical characteristics that are
substantially similar to those of dogs" referred to above, which could include
anything from the bulldog to all sorts of mutts. While they were at it, the
legislation also allowed police to enter homes without a search warrant if they
suspected a pit bull was inside.
"After the bill
came into effect," says Progressive Conservative MPP Randy Hillier, now
part of an all-party effort to repeal the legislation, "thousands of dogs were picked up from shelters or from
quiet walks in parks on leash with their owners and killed because they looked
like a pit bull." The CKC worked hard to convince breed clubs that the new
Ontario act mattered to all dogs, not just those breeds that might get caught in
the vague wording of the legislation. "About a million dollars was
raised," says Cathy Prothro of the Dog Legislation Council of Canada, a
group organized to fight the legislation and to promote responsible dog ownership.
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Dog shows are
narcotics for some of us. Until I saw it at Purina, I never knew there was a
breed called Eurasier (okay, how many readers did till reading that sentence?).
Nobel winning ethologist Konrad Lorenz had an Eurasier called Babett and
claimed it had the best character of any dog. The breed was invented ha 1960.
It's hard to break the news to one's husband, but I ache to get one plus
another kuvasz to add to my two, as well as a Caucasian ovcharka and an
American Alsatian. Of course, this would put me in jail because in Toronto you
are only allowed three dogs per
household-all part of the anti-dog campaign these days. If you can have
unlimited children, why on earth can't you have a handful of dogs,
so long as you are able to take care of them?
You probably don't
recognize those last two breeds I mentioned and that's because purebred breeds
aren't static. New ones are being invented all the time; they continue to
reflect our ever changing needs and through their evolution,
mirror our history. ThunderHawk Caucasians, just outside Peterborough, Ont., is
where Tamara Follett breeds the Caucasian ovcharka. This Russian breed, not yet
recognized (it's listed as "foundation" stock for the AKC, the first
leg to breed recognition), is one Of the fiercest but most sumptuous-looking dogs on the earth and Follett has spent 20
years carefully breeding for temperament.
The American Alsatian
(formerly the American shepalute) is so new that no kennel club has heard of
it. The dog was the brainwave of Oregon's Lois Schwarz, who began it ha 1987.
The breed is being developed under impenetrably complicated breeding rules
designed to prevent any genetic health issues. This is "a large,
dire-wolf-looking dog" with yellow eyes, according to Schwarz's website,
and photos of it are mouth-watering. American Alsatians are designed to be
companion dogs, super healthy, not barkers and not aggressive.
Dog politics are
human politics. We have a CKC positioned to lead the world in helping canines
with a brand-new executive director, Nancy Carey, who could bring in breeding
reforms and more proactive health checks. She knows that our four-legged
friends simply try to do whatever we expect of them. The gift they bring us
cannot be quantified. They have no say when we decide to make their curled
tails tighter, their bodies lower, or breed mother to son to accentuate a
feature at the cost of health. Whichever way you parse it, the bipeds are
getting the best deal, and the quadrupeds, our beloved dogs,
have no option but to keep looking up at us with liquid inscrutable eyes, with
ears alert (provided they haven't been cropped) and just keep on wagging
(provided their tails haven't yet been docked). It's a dog's life and they
deserve a much better one.
Go to macleans.ca for
behind-the-scenes photographs at the Purina National.
Amiel, Barbara
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