BRITISH KENNEL CLUB CAVES

The British Kennel Club has succumbed to months of pressure and announced the review of all dog breed standards. The review follows a anti-breeder BBC documentary which accused the Kennel Club of supporting the breeding of deformed animals through its standards. The documentary, titled "Pedigreed Dogs Exposed”, showed a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with syringomyelia, a condition which occurs when a dog's skull is too small for its brain. It also singled out Boxers, Pugs, and Bulldogs for criticism.

Top US Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
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Citing increasing public pressure, the Kennel Club stated that it was pushing through its review of all breed standards, “…with added urgency.” The RSPCA, which announced last month that it was pulling out of Crufts over concerns about the welfare of pedigree dogs, responded with this statement: "We welcome the (Kennel Club) review of breed standards and hope it will make a difference for pedigree dog health and welfare in the future."

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The Kennel Club also issued a statement against the action of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel national breed club for ousting a member that had appeared in the BBC documentary and criticized her fellow breeders. However, all of this did not placate the Kennel Club’s critics. The Veterinarian Director of the Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog charity, sniped, “We are saying that the Kennel Club should look at the consequence of what it hasn’t done in the past 50 years. We are more than happy to help in every way to resolve the situation, but doing it at a snail’s pace is just not good enough.”

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The Kennel Club, determined to make the most of a bad situation, is asking that it be given the legal power to make its Accredited Breeder Scheme compulsory throughout the country, which would allow only Kennel Club members to produce or sell puppies.

Top US Bulldog

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All of this bolsters two of my core beliefs.

1. Never give an inch to the animal rights wackos. I’m astonished that the British, of all people, fail to grasp the ramifications of appeasement, it didn’t work with the Third Reich and it won’t work with the RSPCA.
2. We have an obligation to police ourselves. If national breed clubs don’t take action to assure their breeds are protected, they risk having outsiders, who neither appreciate the breed or breeders, dictating to them.
   

Finally, take a look at these beautiful animals I have included in this post and imagine a world without them. How sad would that be?