QUIZ Gotta pee, but can't?

Message #129 of 148

Have you heard about the trouble in Dalmatian dogs?

Dalmatians get an inherited disease called hyperuricemia. One dalmatian breeder told me that the disease makes the dog's urine stink worse than most dog urine. Actually, it has a much worse of an effect on the dog's health.

Back in the 1970s one brave man, Robert Schaible, decided to fix the problem by crossing the Dalmatian with the breed most like it, the (English) pointer. He made a line of Dalmatians that looked like other dalmatians, but who didn't have the gene for hyperuricemia.

The American Kennel Club, accepted his Dalmatians.

But the AKC's structure is what is sometimes called a "club of clubs" - that is, the AKC has clubs for members, not people.

The AKC "recognizes" various clubs. There is a club for each breed. One of these clubs is a dalmatian club.

QUIZ:
How did the AKC's dalmatian club react to Schaible creating a line of healthy dalmatians?

1. They made him president of their club.

2. They gave him prize money.

3. They held a banquet in his honor.

4. They named their biggest club after him.

5. All of the above.

6. They asked the AKC to un-register the healthy dalmatians.

If you answered with any of the nice smiley answers, you don't know the world of purebred dogs.

Of course, they un-registered his dogs!

Why? Only they know why.

Maybe because a few of the healthy dalmatians had solid black ears instead of spotted ears?

Dalmatians also often have deafness. I've read that deafness is associated with white coloring, especially white around the base of the ears.

Maybe his healthy dogs made some breeders of deaf and sick dogs look bad?

Maybe the show breeders felt breeding sick dogs would improve the breed?

Maybe the purebred dog breeders had some notion about letting a dog breed with any dog that didn't look like them? But English pointers do look a lot like dalmatians.

Maybe some of the purebred dalmatian breeders had a thing about making a little group of dogs and calling them "pure" and not letting them breed with any other dog, even if it was necessary to do to produce healthy puppies?

Maybe some of the dalmatian breeders wanted to breed unhealthy dogs with a genetic disease? Who knows?

QUIZ:
What did the AKC do?

1. They said "We are glad you brought this to our attention, there is a conflict between the kind of dalmatian you want and the healthy kind Mr.. Schaible has produced. We like his healthy kind better." So the AKC, un-recognized the old dalmatian club, and recognized a new dalmatian club started by Mr. Schaible.

2. They said "We are glad that Mr. Schaible made this new kind of dalmatian that looks like the other dalmatians, but is healthy. We are going to have both kinds in the breed. If the public wants to buy your unhealthy dogs, they can. If the public wants to buy Mr. Schaible's healthy dalmatians, they can."

3. They said "We want to make both clubs happy. We will have two breeds of dalmatians, the "dalmatian", and "American Dalmatians" - which will be those from Mr. Schaible's line.

4. They said "We recognized his dogs, they are in the breed, get over it. We have spoken."

5. They said "We will un-recognize Mr Schaible's healthy dalmatians, and remove them from our registry."

Let me give you a hint: despite this being over 25 years ago, dalmatians are still suffering from hyperuricemia.

That's the world of purebred dogs that we daren't say anything detrimental about, even when it is true.

The AKC un-recognized the healthy dalmatians.

Across the pond, in England, in 2008, the brave Margaret Carter, spoke out about the problem in her breed, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.

These spaniels often suffer terribly from a horrid genetic disease which makes the little spaniels have terrible pain. They also often suffer and die from heart disease.

QUIZ:
How did the the Cavalier's dog club over there re-act to Margaret Carter's words?

1. They did nice things.

2. They ignored it.

3. They promised to work on removing unhealthy Cavaliers from breeding.

4. They took a vote, and by a huge majority voted out all the people who knowingly bred unhealthy dogs.

5. They took a vote, and by a huge majority voted Margaret Carter out of the Cavalier dog club.

Would I have called her "brave" if this was easy?

Of course she was voted out by a huge majority.

Can't have anyone telling the truth about club members or their unhealthy suffering dogs, can they?

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