RodRussell
Well-known member
In a December 21, 2011 press release, the UK Kennel Club attacked the RSCPA for its "Bred for Looks, Born to Suffer" campaign. The KC wrote:
“We believe that the RSPCA would have been far better to have invested in a more focused campaign to educate potential buyers to only buy from responsible breeders, such as Kennel Club Assured Breeders, who have their dogs health screened, socialise them and provide excellent after care and advice.
“With the exception of Kennel Club Assured Breeders, who sign up to standards that ensure that they put their dogs’ health and welfare first, the rest of the dog breeding market is effectively unregulated. There are sadly large numbers of dogs out there, both pedigrees and ‘designer’ crossbreeds, being bred entirely for looks by puppy farmers, often in terrible conditions. ...
"Health comes first
“Instead they have chosen to focus on the Kennel Club’s breed standards, which are simply the description of how different pedigree dog breeds look and their likely temperament and characteristics. These standards make it absolutely clear that health must come first and that good temperament is all important. ..."
--------------------
So it is true: KC's lame response to its failure to really put health first is to claim that its breeders are not as bad as the rest of them -- so lay off of us and pick on the others!
Second, KC tells you to not believe your lying eyes! It claims that its official breed standards don't really mean anything, because, no matter what, health must come ahead of those breed standards.
Did you know that?
Tell that to all of the wobbly-legged German Shepherd dogs you see being forced to run in the KC's conformation rings, or likewise to the English Bulldogs that hardly have the breath they need to make the full ring circuit. And, tell that to the conformation judges who pick and praise hounds with cherry eyes and ears that practically drag on the floor.
When is KC going to get that message to the judges, and when are the judges going to have to graduate from veterinary school to be able to know when a purebred dog is unhealthy, or just happens to come closest to the breed standard that day?
“We believe that the RSPCA would have been far better to have invested in a more focused campaign to educate potential buyers to only buy from responsible breeders, such as Kennel Club Assured Breeders, who have their dogs health screened, socialise them and provide excellent after care and advice.
“With the exception of Kennel Club Assured Breeders, who sign up to standards that ensure that they put their dogs’ health and welfare first, the rest of the dog breeding market is effectively unregulated. There are sadly large numbers of dogs out there, both pedigrees and ‘designer’ crossbreeds, being bred entirely for looks by puppy farmers, often in terrible conditions. ...
"Health comes first
“Instead they have chosen to focus on the Kennel Club’s breed standards, which are simply the description of how different pedigree dog breeds look and their likely temperament and characteristics. These standards make it absolutely clear that health must come first and that good temperament is all important. ..."
--------------------
So it is true: KC's lame response to its failure to really put health first is to claim that its breeders are not as bad as the rest of them -- so lay off of us and pick on the others!
Second, KC tells you to not believe your lying eyes! It claims that its official breed standards don't really mean anything, because, no matter what, health must come ahead of those breed standards.
Did you know that?
Tell that to all of the wobbly-legged German Shepherd dogs you see being forced to run in the KC's conformation rings, or likewise to the English Bulldogs that hardly have the breath they need to make the full ring circuit. And, tell that to the conformation judges who pick and praise hounds with cherry eyes and ears that practically drag on the floor.
When is KC going to get that message to the judges, and when are the judges going to have to graduate from veterinary school to be able to know when a purebred dog is unhealthy, or just happens to come closest to the breed standard that day?