Canine Health and Welfare
the Future of our Purebred Dogs,
our sports, Parent Clubs and the
AKC
Dr. Patricia Haines
Future of our purebred dogs and their
sports
depends on the continuation of our
selective, purposeful and responsible
breeding of our breeds.
Parent club breeders
• To meet the public’s concerns for health and
welfare, our parent club breeders need to stand
above all other puppy sources:
Purposely bred to improve the breed
Raised in proper environment
Healthy physically
Correct temperament
Home properly and for life
Parent clubs
• Parent clubs need to encourage their
breeders to address health and welfare.
• Parent clubs need to help market their
breeders’ puppies
Provide leadership and governance
HEALTH CONCERNS
• embrace new science, new knowledge
and understanding of health issues
• design programs to promote solutions
through education and acceptance of the
members.
Simple approaches to encourage
focus on health issues
• The important step is encouraging the testing, not
the results!!
• require positive identification and DNA parentage for
entries at nationals
• offer ‘health classes’ only open to dogs with testing
• premiums offered to winners if identification and DNA
parentage is present, or if individual is health tested
• awards to those addressing identification and health
Improve Canine welfare
• What is canine welfare?
quality of life
• Who should offer better quality of life
than parent club breeders?
Addressing welfare
• This is accomplished through Parent Club
codes of ethics:
• a) Address age of breeding
• b) Prohibit sale of puppies to pet stores,
auctions, research facilities
• this is a parent club concern, not the role of the
AKC
• c) Breeders must be responsible to all puppies
produced for the life of the pet.
• d) Develop care and conditions acceptable for
the respective breed
Marketing
To continue to breed and produce
puppies, we must have homes and
buyers for these special, selectively
bred puppies and supporters in the
public.
Acceptable market outlets
• Parent club breeders must outreach to
public to market puppies
• This would be achieved more positively
though a parent club program rather than
individually
• INTERNET is our outreach
Conclusion
• The future of our sport is in the hands of the
Parent Clubs. We must address the issue of
providing the best puppies available to the pubic
and this is accomplished by addressing health
and welfare. This is not accomplished through
punitive actions, but through education and
elevation!
• Develop acceptable outlets to market our
puppies to the public.