Pedigree Dogs Exposed: Three Years On

**Karen and Ruby** · 26th February 2012, 12:43 AM

Ruby was diagnosed only because of PDE. Who knows how much longer she may have suffered with out it! I watched in horror, like Tania said, because I had a cavalier and knew at that stage she had a murmor. I knew in a second that Ruby had SM and so did my family. My sister called and said, thats Ruby, thats her symptoms!
So thank you Jemima for saving my babies life!!

**RodRussell** · 26th February 2012, 01:38 AM

Originally Posted by Kate H

... I am simply saying that even if one agrees with much of PDE, it is also true that a fair amount of editorial manipulation was going on. Investigative documentary makers start out with a thesis they want to prove, and it must be a constant temptation to see (or look for) only what proves their thesis. This is why people in many breeds got so angry with PDE (apart from those with a guilty conscience or their heads in the sand!) - they felt that there was another side - breeders who work hard to breed healthy dogs - and this was not, in their view, given fair coverage.

PDE should not be blamed or held responsible for failing to show that some breeders are not as bad as others are. The main accusations against PDE were that the content was nothing but lies, and the producer was filled with hate, and she manipulated the filmed dogs so that their pain and agony would be exaggerated. Those accusations were the real lies.

If members of the purebred dog community felt that they did not get a fair shake in PDE, then they should have produced their own documentary, showing how dedicated they and the KC and the breed clubs have been in discouraging breed standards which produce genetic deformities, and showing how the judges refuse to put up dogs which are obviously deformed, and showing how the KC and the breed clubs require breeders to health test their breeding stock, and how the KC has imposed mandatory breeding guidelines on certain breeds, like the MVD and SM breeding protocols for the cavalier.

Why did not those members of the purebred dog community produce such a documentary? I cannot imagine what has been holding them back, with all of their good works they surely must have done, to so inform the UK dog-loving public. Instead, the KC produced an Internet video called "Dogs -- A Healthy Future", in which the head of the KC, Steve Dean, lies that "the whole ethos of the Kennel Club is the health and welfare of dogs." And in it the KC lies further when it claims that it is "working to eliminate inherited diseases," and "the Kennel Club has always taken the lead in addressing the problem of inherited diseases." What's the word? Oh, yes, TOMMYROT!!!, that's the word. TOMMYROT!!!

**merello** · 26th February 2012, 07:34 AM

We'll be watching this with interest on Monday night and myself and Paul have posted various links to promote the show on our FB pages. It's televised 2 years to the day that we lost Sonny to MVD and on Friday the rescue dog we took on in April 2010, Kaley, was diagnosed with CHF and we had a dreadful day as in the morning our vet thought we might lose her. Well said Rod!!

**Kate H** · 26th February 2012, 03:33 PM

Reading the breed notes in Our Dogs every week, I don't ever remember anyone actually saying that PDE was all lies and skewed - where did you read that, Rod? The main accusation was that it was unbalanced, which can be said about very many documentaries on all sorts of subjects made by passionate people. I don't necessarily agree with the critics, but neither do I agree with everything Jemima Harrison says just because she is Jemima Harrison (any more than I would necessarily agree 100% with anyone else making a documentary on a subject about which I was quite knowledgeable)..

In Pekes, for example, numbers being bred and shown have dropped astronomically in the last 30 years, mainly because people have voted with their feet and refused to breed or buy the monstrosities that show Pekes have become. The same is true in Bulldogs, I think. But I don't remember anything being said about this - an uninformed viewer could have got the impression that producing show Pekes was a large and thriving industry (and that this is what all Pekes are like today), instead of a few dinosaurs clinging on to power, to the detriment of their poor dogs. Away from the show ring, there are breeders quietly continuing to produce old-type Pekes, with longer noses and without the huge coats - a friend of mine has a beautiful, active, healthy cream one, though she had to search patiently to find it and join a waiting list to get a puppy from this breeder. By all means attack the show breeders - they deserve it - but it isn't the whole picture, and a good point could have been made that not all Pekes are like this - even today they can be like the happy, active, healthy dog that I was given on my 10th birthday. The contrast would have been even more damning to the show people. It's a matter of balance. A similar telling contrast could have been made between working and show Labradors and working and show Cockers, which almost look like different breeds.

Kate (aka Devil's Advocate!), Oliver and Aled

**RodRussell** · 26th February 2012, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by Kate H

Reading the breed notes in Our Dogs every week, I don't ever remember anyone actually saying that PDE was all lies and skewed - where did you read that, Rod? The main accusation was that it was unbalanced, which can be said about very many documentaries on all sorts of subjects made by passionate people. I don't necessarily agree with the critics, but neither do I agree with everything Jemima Harrison says just because she is Jemima Harrison (any more than I would necessarily agree 100% with anyone else making a documentary on a subject about which I was quite knowledgeable)..

I have read a lot more than Our Dogs' breed notes, and in fact, I seldom read those, except occasionally the cavalier page, unless someone mentions that an article is worth reading. I have not saved copies of all of the attacks, but I have read many of them over the past 3+ years, and "unbalanced" was about the weakest that I remember. For example, here is what the chairman of the board of the American Kennel Club called PDE: A "piece of sensationalist fiction and tabloid journalism masquerading as a documentary", and he called on the BBC to do a documentary called “Jemima Harrison Exposed”.

Originally Posted by Kate H

In Pekes, for example, numbers being bred and shown have dropped astronomically in the last 30 years, mainly because people have voted with their feet and refused to breed or buy the monstrosities that show Pekes have become.

I had not heard that, but I hope word about it gets over here in the US. Too bad that word had not arrived earlier this month, before a judge who I know and consider a friend picked a mutant Peke named Malachy as best in show at the Westminster Kennel Club show. When a best-in-show judge picks a dog, she is choosing the dog that comes the closest, among all of the other breed representatives in the ring, to its breed standard. Was Malachy a closer match to the Peke breed standard than all of those other group winners were to their standards? If so, then there is something terribly wrong with the Peke breed standard.

I realize that the Westminster KC show is not in the UK, but is there any difference between the Peke standards in the two countries? I have not yet checked, but if Malachy stands a chance of winning in the UK, then all of that voting with feet has not sent a message to the Peke breed club.

Originally Posted by Kate H

... Away from the show ring, there are breeders quietly continuing to produce old-type Pekes, with longer noses and without the huge coats - a friend of mine has a beautiful, active, healthy cream one, though she had to search patiently to find it and join a waiting list to get a puppy from this breeder. By all means attack the show breeders - they deserve it - but it isn't the whole picture, and a good point could have been made that not all Pekes are like this - even today they can be like the happy, active, healthy dog that I was given on my 10th birthday. The contrast would have been even more damning to the show people. ...

Then those non-show Peke breeders and fanciers should embrace PDE, because PDE's focus is the breed ring, along with the KC, the breed clubs, the judges, and, of course, the show breeders. If you read Jemima Harrison's blog -- http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.com -- you will find that she highlights and praises the counter-culture purebred breeders who produce dogs that look like the show winners of decades ago, back before the craziness took over that has produced the mutant champions of today.

**Margaret C** · 26th February 2012, 08:27 PM

Originally Posted by RodRussell

PDE should not be blamed or held responsible for failing to show that some breeders are not as bad as others are.

'Watchdog' programmes highlight bad builders and unscrupulous plumbers and 'Panorama' programmes expose careworkers that abuse those in their care.

Good builders and trustworthy careworkers do not blame the messenger & complain that it is unfair to disclose poor practice, they are much more likely to put the blame where it lies. They disassociate themselves from those that act disgracefully & express their disgust that such people tarnish the reputation of good practitioners.

It is such a shame that reputable breeders do not speak out about those that they are quick enough to condemn in private. Instead they collude to protect and defend those that bring the whole breeding community into disrepute.

Originally Posted by RodRussell

If members of the purebred dog community felt that they did not get a fair shake in PDE, then they should have produced their own documentary, showing how dedicated they and the KC and the breed clubs have been in discouraging breed standards which produce genetic deformities, and showing how the judges refuse to put up dogs which are obviously deformed, and showing how the KC and the breed clubs require breeders to health test their breeding stock, and how the KC has imposed mandatory breeding guidelines on certain breeds, like the MVD and SM breeding protocols for the cavalier.

The Kennel Club and the Cavalier Club both refused invitations to appear in the programme. The Cavalier Club has this statement on their website:

The Cavalier Club & PDE 2

The Cavalier KCS Club offers the following: The Cavalier Club has decided not to take part in the programme other than to give the following statement which we request is read out in its entirety:

"The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club has continued to support by its actions, the health and well being of this much loved breed. We have worked with the Kennel Club and the BVA with regard to its new CM/SM scheme and its accompanying explanatory advice leaflet. We have raised funds for specialist veterinary equipment and are sponsoring vital veterinary research into Mitral Valve Disease at the Royal Edinburgh Veterinary Hospital."

**Brian M** · 26th February 2012, 08:59 PM

Hi
I can watch all the terrible news that appears on T.V. about the ongoing atrocities in Syria and all/any other disasters that happen
to mankind on this planet of ours, but I cannot watch any programmes or read any news that relate to any form of animal cruelty.
So I admit I have never viewed P.D.E. though of course I am aware of its content and thank the makers for all the improvements in health and welfare that have occured as a direct reasult of it, and I will no doubt record P.D.E. 2 but I am unsure whether I will be brave enough to actually watch it,though I did enjoy my amateur boxing days so am not averse to a bit of blood and guts so long as its the human type and not from any animal ,is there anybody else with similar thoughts .

**RodRussell** · 26th February 2012, 09:18 PM

Originally Posted by Margaret C

... The Cavalier Club has this statement on their website:

"... We have worked with the Kennel Club and the BVA with regard to its new CM/SM scheme and its accompanying explanatory advice leaflet."

Help me here. Exactly WHAT new CM/SM scheme? Here is what the BVA has on its website about the so-called scheme:

BVA/KC chiari malformations/syringomyelia (CM/SM) scheme

The new BVA/KC Chiari malformation/Syringomyelia (CM/SM) Scheme will launch in January 2012. Full details will be posted shortly on the website but Procedure Notes and submission Certificates are now available from the CHS office. Telephone No. 0207 908 6380.

Notice anything odd about that notice? Here are a couple of clues:

(1) This notice was first posted by the BVA on February 1, 2012.

(2) No such "launch" has yet taken place.

And, here is the full content of what the KC has on its website about the scheme:

.