THE GROWING PROBLEM OF THE PRIVATE REGISTRY

This particular piece relates to my other article ‘Levelling the playing field’ which was published in my Dog World column ‘Crossing the headlines’

A number of us have recently become increasingly worried about the number of private registries mushrooming up that claim to cater for both pedigree and crossbreed.

In America a number of these entities have had relationships with the ‘puppy mill’ industry and it seems a similar thing could be quietly happening here.

WHAT’S THIS GOT TO DO WITH PEDIGREE DOGS?

From my Dog World Blog on 3 June 2016.

You can certainly tell that summer has arrived when the county shows begin. I visited the Devon county show the other week and, as usual, it didn’t disappoint. While Marc showed the dogs I wandered around Westpoint and visited the various livestock exhibitions.

It’s always incredible to see how such a small island has managed to create and develop so many breeds of cattle, sheep and poultry, especially impressive when they are all presented together in one place. The breeders of these pedigree animals are very keen for the public to get close to their beautiful animals and wandering around the pens it was fascinating to see the displays some of these proud owners had put up, illustrating their breeds’ long and often illustrious histories.

IS THERE A ‘JACK’ FOR EVERYBODY?

From my ‘Crossing the headlines’ column in Dog World (21st January 2016).

A subject that has certainly generated lots of interest on social media and reams of column inches in both the canine and general press has been the recognition of the Jack Russell by the Kennel Club.

TRACEABILITY MAY LEAD TO RESPONSIBILITY

From my ‘Crossing the headlines’ column in Dog World (27th November 2015) about the misrepresentations in the national press on rescue charity intake statistics.

An interesting headline caught my eye in the Telegraph last week, ‘Pedigree dog owners abandoning their pets in alarming numbers’.

The article written by Patrick Sawyer went on to say that, “Welfare groups have warned that owners of pedigree dogs are abandoning their pets in alarming numbers after finding that they cannot cope with health problems caused by ‘irresponsible’ breeding.”

THE DAISY DOG – A MONGREL WITH A PEDIGREE

From my ‘Crossing the headlines’ column in Dog World (6th May 2015).

Have you got some bunting gathering dust at the back of your cupboard? Well get ready to dust it off and hang it out in the streets.

Why? Well haven’t you heard? There’s some great news. The Daisy dog has finally reached these shores. Hurrah!

Yes, the very first litter of “Kennel Certificate registered Daisy puppies” have been born in the UK. You can take your pick from a range of colours; from the run-of-the-mill blacks and chocolates to the rather more fitting creams and champagnes.

HAVE ‘DOODLES’ HAD THEIR DAY?

From my ‘Crossing the headlines’ column in Dog World (8th October 2014).

One of the joys of living in this country is being able to walk into a store like WH Smith or any one of our large supermarkets and being able to flick through the vast array of glossy magazines on offer on a mind-boggling amount of subjects. I find it incredible that subjects like model trains or stitchcraft, etc, can support three or four dedicated, high quality magazines – but somehow they do.

DON’T LET UNTRUTHS GO UNCHALLENGED

From my ‘Crossing the headlines’ column in Dog World (7th May 2014) where I question various studies into crossbreed health and longevity.

Carrying on with the positive legacy from Crufts, wasn’t it good to read the findings of the Royal Veterinary College last week? Scientists analysed the data of 148,741 dogs expecting to prove the conventional wisdom that selective breeding makes the pedigree dog more susceptible to serious conditions but, to their surprise, they discovered (what time working in boarding kennels had proved to me already) that both the mongrel and the pedigree have broadly the same chance of developing the most common health problems. In fact, for degenerative joint disease, the mongrel was found to be more vulnerable. This study’s findings echoed those published back in June 2013 by researchers at the University of California at Davis.