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England Tackles Canine Health and Welfare Snowy yearRETRIEVER 2 - number 2 - RCI newsletter magazine England tackles canine Snowy championship Debby Kay and the A dog’s diet: health and welfare in Scotland functional Labrador starch l’editorialel’editoriale 1979-2009: Thirty years old and the Club is off to a new start Every birthday is an occasion for taking stock of one’s life. Thirty years for our Club is a milestone that has brought with it great novelties. Last year the restyling of the Club saw the creation of individual breed sections together with a section dedicated to work. From January of this year, these sections have become autonomous, also in an economic sense, and this should act as a catalyst for them to launch their own initiatives Skimming through old year books of the Club, I noticed that at the first Club Show in in this issue: October 1981 there were 20 entries, and the event was described as a nice day spent among friends. It was the beginning of an adventure bringing us to where we are today, with more than 400 entries at Club Shows. With regards to the atmosphere – well, that is not always so friendly. Editorial from the President - by Elena Casolari Videsott • •England tackles canine health and welfare - by Patty Fellows Competition and the wish to be first at all costs is pervasive, shadowing what could be the •Let’s enter the ring - by Cinzia Sgorbati opportunity for appraisers of our breeds to confront subjects in a serene setting. At times •An English-style field trial with quails- by Martino Salvo discussions around the ring are similar to comments overheard at the pub, about ‘bought’ and ‘sold’ referees and so forth. •Snowy championship in Scotland - by Phil Wagland •Tellington Touch - by Fabio Nicodemi It may seem unpleasant that I use the context of our 30 year- anniversary to talk about •Debby Kay and the functional Labrador - by Patty Fellows this unpleasant topic. Nevertheless, improving the atmosphere at our competitions – •A dog’s diet: starch - by Lucia Casini whether shows or working trials - by isolating those who do not behave properly and, at the same time, helping new people feel at ease in our world, is one of the toughest challenges Let’s help this puppy grow - by Cinzia Stefanini • that our Club faces in the immediate future.And here I arrive at our second painful topic: •Fuga d’inverno in Liguria - by Patty Fellows today we have 500 to 600 members, and this number is not sufficient to represent the •Winter escape in Liguria - by Gianni Dainotti thousands of retrievers in Italy. Attracting more people to our Club has to be one of our •Notonlyretrievers – books, tv, gifts, news priorities, and we can accomplish this, as we have started to do with Family Days, by edited by Patty Fellows and Alessandra Franchi offering events and courses to help people deal with owning pets, or simply by offering occasions for lovers of our breeds to get together. Martino Salvo The future of the RCI rests with its future members.We hope that by creating individual editor sections to decentralize a series of activities, the Central Council will be able to focus its energies on important institutional themes linked to breeding, illegal importations and the Patty Fellows welfare of our dogs – making you hear loud and clearly the voice of the Club. writers Dr. Elena Casolari Videsott – RCI President Alessandra Franchi writers Leonardo Langiu layout/graphics The RCI does not necessarily agree with or support the ideas published in every article, which freely express the opinions of individual authors. show world show world to suspend its involvement with all KC dog shows and events, including Crufts. The RSPCA explained that one of the reasons behind its decision to pull support for Crufts was the “worryingly low genetic diversity in pedigree dogs” today. In the field of population genetics, the level of inbreeding Crufts 2009 moves ahead (the “COI” or coefficient of inbreeding) in a particular despite row over population, such as a dog breed, is influenced by several BBC documentary factors: population size, the number of founders, use of popular sires, genetic isolation due to a closed registry as well as the practice of cosanguineous matings. This use of the term ‘inbreeding’ can create confusion, as evidenced by the BBC program’s accusation that the “deliberate mating of dogs that are close relatives is common practice.” As the KC responded, mating close relatives was a practice used in early years to BRITAIN TACKLES establish breed attributes, but is a rare practice among responsible breeders today. The KC recently decided canine health and welfare to preclude the possibility of close matings by imposing a ban on the registration of puppies from any mother/ by Patty Fellows son, father/daughter or brother/sister mating, taking place on or after 1st March 2009. For many, it signaled the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of dog showing in Britain. BBC documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed sent shock waves throughout the UK dog world, generating negative publicity for the Since the controversy erupted, the KC has attempted Golden Retriever being assessed in Crufts show ring UK Kennel Club (“KC”) and purebred dog breeders. As a consequence, this year’s Crufts, Britain’s to allay dog owners’ concerns and present fairly their premier showcase for dogs, will no longer be covered by the BBC and has lost the support of its position and the work the club has undertaken to major corporate sponsor and a few animal charities. On a more positive note, exhibitors and show The first setback for the KC following the BBC address canine health issues. Their 2004 Breed Health organizers are working together in an unprecedented fashion to ensure that Crufts 2009 is an even documentary occurred on September 15, when the Survey, carried out on 52,000 dogs in the UK with the bigger success, and the KC has stepped up its campaigns to deal with canine health and welfare RSPCA, an animal welfare charity, cancelled its stand help of the Animal Trust, found that 90% of surveyed issues. at Crufts and the KC’s Discover Dogs show, citing dogs do not suffer from health problems negatively the need to develop more health-focused breeding affecting their quality of life. Furthermore, the survey Aired last August, Pedigree Dogs Exposed portrays in some breeds are paying a terrible price for the strategies and steps to increase genetic diversity. shows that only 2% of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels a crisis within the world of purebred dogs, suggesting inbreeding being carried out: “If dog breeders insist on This decision was closely followed by Dogs Trust, suffer from syringomyelia, a long mark from the 1/3 that serious genetic diseases and conditions are the going further down that road I can say with confidence another dog welfare charity. Dogs Trust explained that reported in Pedigree Dogs Exposed. result of decades of inbreeding and the emphasis that there is a universe of suffering for many of these its decision to withdraw support was intended as a to win at all costs in the show ring, placing “looks breeds and many, if not most, will not survive.” message to the KC and breeders to take immediate The KC has outlined three ongoing strategies to deal over and above function and health”. action to ensure that the health and wellbeing of with canine health and welfare. Regarding science Sensational footage shows a Cavalier King pedigree dogs is ranked over appearance and breed and research, the KC actually enabled the study of dog Charles Spaniel in agony with the brain standards. Unlike the RSPCA, Dogs Trust disease syringomyelia, estimated by the stated that it was engaged in talks with the program to affect up to 1/3 of the breed, and KC to help bring about changes, and that a boxer suffering from epilepsy. Scientists it hoped to reassume its relationship once at Imperial College are cited for finding that animal welfare points were put into place. pugs in the UK are so inbred that “although there are 10,000 of them, it is the equivalent The following month pet food brand of just 50 distinct individuals - making them Pedigree ended its 40-year sponsorship more genetically compromised than the giant of Crufts, estimated at £500,000 per year. panda.” The documentary also mentions Spokesmen for the manufacturer Mars breeds like the bulldog, whose physical refused to comment on whether the decision exaggerations have led to “such an unnatural had been influenced by the documentary, shape that they can no longer mate or give stating only that the Pedigree brand had birth unassisted.” decided to prioritize initiatives supporting a broad community of dog owners. Another Steve Jones, Professor of Genetics at blow for Crufts occurred on November 5, University College London, comments in when the PDSA, the UK’s leading veterinary an interview during the broadcast that dogs Health screening stand at Crufts charity, announced that it had also decided Crufts agility competition 4 5 show world show world group competitions at the show. Twelve of these breeds are under review by the KC, to which the BBC added the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the Rhodesian Ridgeback, citing viewers’ reaction to Pedigree Dogs Exposed. The BBC has televised Crufts for the past 42 years, and last year was estimated to reach over 14 An introduction to million viewers in the UK and thousands showing dogs more overseas. KC Chairman Ronnie Irving regrets the impasse, commenting that Crufts this year will focus on dog health and welfare, care and training and charitable work. The event will highlight “the remarkable diversity of Chairman of KC Charitable Trust with dogs and activities on show at Crufts”, with a rescue dog special tribute to “the unsung heroes who LET’S ENTER THE RING take part in breed rescue.” Mr.
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