<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Wingdings;
panose-1:5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoPlainText, li.MsoPlainText, div.MsoPlainText
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:"Courier New";}
p.MsoAutoSig, li.MsoAutoSig, div.MsoAutoSig
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:Arial;
color:navy;}
span.EmailStyle20
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:Arial;
color:navy;}
span.EmailStyle21
{mso-style-type:personal;
font-family:Arial;
color:navy;}
span.EmailStyle22
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:Arial;
color:blue;
font-weight:normal;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:1981840292;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:629209900 -1278017546 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-start-at:0;
mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:\F0D8;
mso-level-tab-stop:.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Wingdings;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-bidi-font-family:Arial;}
@list l0:level2
{mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level3
{mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level4
{mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level5
{mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level6
{mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level7
{mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level8
{mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level9
{mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body bgcolor=white lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=blue>
<div class=Section1>
<div>
<div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>As one of your resident breeders/exhibitors, I’d like
to clarify that I *<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>don’t</span></b>*
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” ;)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>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...<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>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 *<b><span style='font-weight:
bold'>be</span></b>* 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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>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).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>.These issues, although sometimes emotional, *<b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>can</span></b>* 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. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>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”.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>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
*<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>don’t</span></b>* have Bassets any
longer – or at the very least that they don’t have access to
well-bred, *<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>responsibly</span></b>* bred
Bassets, within the next decade.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>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
*<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>ownership</span></b>* 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.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Sylvie McGee<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>HeavenScent Bassets<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'>SPDR Basset Pack<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><a href="mailto:sylviemcgee@comcast.net">sylviemcgee@comcast.net</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>