[Dailydrool] FW: Breeders/exhibitors on the list and what's going on in our world

[Sandy Gaston]

As one of your resident breeders/exhibitors, I'd like to clarify that I
*don't* use this forum for entertainment. I honestly can't get through most
of the "dog speak" postings. Probably because I write for a living, so I'm
pretty attached to "standard English" ;)

 

I do hang out here to stay in touch with what is happening with various
Basset Rescues, and to learn from other's experiences with Basset health and
behavior, and - I hope here that I am sometimes helpful - to pitch in with
what I know about Basset health, behavior, and the management aspects of
living with multiple dogs...

 

I am very active in rescue day-to-day (anyone want to help with the four
incoming I've got this week? ;) - and I think it is great that members of
the DD support rescue as well. But I'm also a responsible breeder/exhibitor
- and I treasure Bassets as they have been and continue to be developed as a
breed by reputable and careful breeder/exhibitors. This has led me, over the
past several years, to really have to learn about the difference between
animal welfare - which I think we all support - and which advocates for good
care, responsible ownership and responsible breeding of dogs....and the
animal rights movement - which has as its stated purpose the elimination of
animal ownership and of animal's status as beloved pets.

 

They are part of a world-wide Animal Rights movement that has as one of its
aims the complete elimination of breeding of dogs - including responsible
breeding. Within another generation (of humans), if the Animal Rights agenda
is passed, there will *be* no Bassets as we recognize them now. Bassets, as
other purebred dogs, are a product of selective and careful breeding. Their
characteristics - all that floppyness, long ears, low build, and particular
temperament - are maintained through selective breeding and disappear within
two or three generations (of dogs - think maybe 30 years max) if not
maintained. Leg length, in fact, will disappear in a single breeding.

 

It's ironic that support of the Animal Rights agenda (and this includes the
Humane Society of the US) may lead to dogs being bred only by backyard
breeders and fly-by-night puppy mills - exactly the kind of breeding most of
us active in rescue are burdened by (because they will not take back their
dogs) and deplore (because those dogs often have not been appropriately
tested, raised, socialized).

 

.These issues, although sometimes emotional, *can* certainly be discussed
rationally. For breeders/exhibitors like me, and others on this list, these
issues strike at the heart of what we invest hundreds of hours and thousands
of dollars doing, to insure that our dogs are healthy, well-bred,
well-socialized, and tested against objective standards - both in their
health and in their conformation. 

 

The animal rights movement, however, also strikes further than just at
breeder/exhibitors. They are active in pushing for dog-limit legislation,
which can have a chilling effect on people involved in rescue who have
multiple dogs. In their attempts to "license" breeders - they often catch in
the same net of regulation and fees those who are providing shelter to
homeless dogs, or who simply enjoy the company of a Basset "pack".

 

If members of the DD don't become aware of the threats to the breed that are
posed by the current discussions by the animal rights movement - in the UK,
a group has managed to remove the Crufts dog show from television, and is
advocating for Bassets to be bred with shorter ears, less skin, longer legs
- and in the US right now, PETA is lobbying to have the USA network suspend
airing of the Westminster Dog Show this winter as a possible precursor to
similar action -  then DD folks may find that they *don't* have Bassets any
longer - or at the very least that they don't have access to well-bred,
*responsibly* bred Bassets, within the next decade.

 

If you are interested in these issues - on either side of the fence - I'm
very interested in hearing from you and in fostering a respectful,
considered discussion of how to respond both to the needs of Bassets and
other dogs for solid animal welfare (which includes figuring out how to
foster not only responsible breeding, but also responsible *ownership* so
that dogs don't get dumped in rescue or at the pound), and to the threat
posed by Animal Rights activists who have a very different, much more
radical agenda of eliminating the dog/human bond that has developed over
thousands of years.

 

 

Sylvie McGee

HeavenScent Bassets

SPDR Basset Pack

sylviemcgee at comcast.net

 

 

 

 

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