Hereditary
Defects Advice - Introduction
Introduction
In
most dog
breeds,
hereditary defects do
occur.
We in the
Border Collie Club of
Great Britain
are quite willing to admit to the presence of hereditary defects in our
breed,
but would like to point out that in our estimation, the Border Collie
is still
one of the soundest of breeds.
The
committee of the BCCGB was,
as most enthusiasts will know, the first to encourage breed lovers to
reduce
the incidence of hereditary defects in our breed. To
this end, advice sheets have been produced
by the BCCGB since 1990.
In recent
years
it has been necessary to revise the advice sheets as more is learned
about the
hereditary diseases, and as DNA tests have become available. This
latest advice sheet was revised with the
help of the British Veterinary Association and specialists in each
area, in
December 2011.
The
committee strongly commends
those who have made a determined effort to reduce the incidence of
hereditary
defects in the breed.
We applaud
those
who have had the courage to state publicly that they have found a
hereditary
problem in their own stock and we would without hesitation recommend
their
stock to those seeking puppies or breeding stock.
There
is no shame in producing an
animal with a hereditary defect. They
unfortunately exist within the breed and will only be eliminated when
all
breeders are willing to face the problems and deal with them. The
only shame that occurs is when less
enlightened
breeders refuse to face up to the facts and seek to hide the truth from
their
fellows.
If breeders
ignore hereditary
problems and continue to breed from stock they know to be defective,
there will
be only one possible future for the breed – a slippery
downward
slope.
The
Border
Collie Breed Council
coordinate input from all the UK Border Collie Breed Clubs, and liaise
with the Kennel
Club and British
Veterinary Association in
scheduling the risk to our
breed from different diseases.
The Pastoral
Breeds Health
Foundation leads on fundraising
for research into the
genetic and other diseases that affect Border Collies and all pastoral
breeds.
The
following information is
intended to guide those who seek within their own breeding choices, to
improve
the breed and eradicate or at least reduce, the incidence of hereditary
problems.
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