Animal Protection: Stop inbreeding, open registries, ban unhealthy breeds, curtail shows

[Henk ten Klooster]

Ban unhealthy breeds, attack inbreeding by opening up of registries permanently, stop breed standard exaggeration, curtail shows.

That is the advice of the Animal Protection the Netherlands (Dierenbescherming). With more than 40% of purebred dogs something is wrong, states the organization. Main source of that according to Animal Protection: dogshows.

Most Dutch media were focusing on this these days, after broadcasting of the British documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed on television.

How is that in your culture and what is your opinion?

[Pat Aldridge]

Thanks for that, Catherine - I will contact her via her page.

[Pat Aldridge]

Help! There are several Leens - which one?

[Catherine Carter]

Hi Pat,
She is just Leen....if you go to my own page and look in my own friends....this the one to contact!

[Pat Aldridge]

Thanks Catherine & Barbara - have emailed Leen.

[Pat Aldridge]

Just as an aside to the above - I must be one of the VERY few breeders in NZ who have no Night Fever at all in my dogs - I am not counting the US lines here in NZ. Is there anyone else out there who has lines like this? Mine are predominantly Wendover - my next planned mating will be using frozen semen from a straight Wendover dog - it will be in the lap of the gods as to whether it will work LOL! This is why I'd like to do COIs of my pedigrees.

[Pat Aldridge]

Henk & Gennadi: your opinions please on the following hypothetical question:

What would you think of a mating using a dog with 29.04% COI to a bitch with 21.66% COI? BTW it isn't the planned mating in my previous post!

[Henk ten Klooster]

If you do not have the currently topwinning UK showlines in your pedigrees, congratulations because that is needed for survival of the breed.

I don't know the pedigrees involved of the dogs you mention, but unrelated dogs with high coi's make in the first generation a huge dive down of coi, so it could be okay for that aspect.

[eva ciechonska]

That is unfair Henk. There are many european, american and australian dogs that have problems of a possible genetic predisposition who do not have any UK bloodlines, let alone the top winning showlines in their pedigrees Lets paint a balanced picture here please.

[Henk ten Klooster]

Never in the history of Irish setters, a gene pool became that narrow as nowadays in the UK after the top winning Sh Ch’s Kerryfair Night Fever-Danaway Debonair-Caspians Interprid.

Nearly all experts entered in health topics say genetic diversity = main tool for survival of breeds. This means all breeders choosing nearly the same are digging the grave for a breed in the long term.

Where-ever this happens, all people who care for the breed need to stand up and call for action.

[Pat Aldridge]

The dogs are closely related, Henk - they do not have the currently top winning UK dogs in their pedigree - just solid, *linebred*, and mostly Wendover. My point being - high COIs do not necessarily spell the doom and gloom you imply in your posts. Bottle necking pedigrees do, however, IF breeders do not take notice of problems in the lines they choose to use. Having a "red" pedigree is not the be all and end all - some of the most prepotent Wendovers were not shown. From the point of view of a breeder geographically divorced as it were from the UK and Continental scene, the Irish Setter there appears to me to be in the situation of "as ye sow, so shall ye reap" - burying heads in the sand has not done anyone any good, least of all the breed. With high COIs knowledge of the dogs in the pedigrees is essential.

One other point - breeding dogs, any dogs, is NOT an exact science. COIs are an exact set of mathematical measurements. Nature has a way of producing to the "mean average", always. If a COI not exceding 10-15% becomes mandatory, we may as well just clone the "perfect" Irish Setter and use that dog or bitch "ad infinitum".

[Henk ten Klooster]

Knowledge about all dogs and their siblings in extended pedigrees is a main tool for dog breeding. The essence of purebreds is circled around that.

Lack of knowledge and low coi’s are no highway to health. Lack of knowledge and high coi’s certainly are proven highways to hells. So leave breeding of high coi’s up to experts, maximize it for the rest.

Dog breeding may be more an art than science, but a lot of self appointed artists with insufficient knowledge make a mess of our heritage, the Irish setter.

[Cheryl Gorey]

Hi Henk, This has been an extremely valuable discussion and I think we should be happy with what has been started here with regard to action and progress forward.

However, I would like to know what the jurisdiction of the Animal Protection in the Netherlands is? Do they have the power to enforce their rulings on the rest of the world or are we working on a plan to firstly stop the implementation of these restrictions for the Netherlands before it impacts on that Country as well following on to the rest of the World?

Would be interested in your opinion and also the opinion of anyone else who lives in the Netherlands as it obviously is going to impact directly on you/them. Are you happy with these rulings that are going to come into play in the Netherlands? What is your dog world fraternity in your Country doing?