A FANCIER ’ S NOTEBOOK
The Age of Volatility
SUSI SZEREMY
Few avocations don ’ t experience ebbs and flows of popularity over time , but one would be hard pressed to find a pursuit more battered by societal fluctuations than that of the breeder / fancier . If history were to assign a name to the stretch of time facing breeders between the end of World War II and the present day , surely the “ Age of Volatility ” would most vividly describe the climate in which hobby breeders have had to pursue their passion . How else to describe the extremes of perception of what they actually do , and how ?
Following World War II , Midwest farmers struggling to survive crop failures , as well as soldiers returning home from the war , were advised by the USDA to raise dogs as a means of supplementing their income . Roughly 60 years later , the same Department of Agriculture updated its definition of “ dealer ” to more narrowly regulate the very people it encouraged to breed dogs in the first place . With a lack of foresight , the USDA failed to see potential abuses among people breeding dogs who were interested only in the bottom line , just as years later , it would fail to see the impact its new regulations would have on fanciers committed to improving their breeds , not their bottom line .
Magazines of distinction in the 1930s routinely sold puppies through classified ads , a common practice used by respected breeders . Fifty years later , the fancy would regard the use of advertising as the mark of a shoddy breeder with dubious motives . Things flipped yet again when home computers became as commonplace as telephones . Breeders came to be persuaded that beaming pictures of their dogs across the world in seconds had educational value by showing what proper type really looked like in their breed .
Those of us of a certain age will remember a time when the worst thing any ethical breeder could do was to sell a puppy to a pet shop . Most breed clubs , in fact , made it grounds for expulsion . In less than a generation , the animal rights and “ adopt-don ’ t-shop ” movement made strange bedfellows of hobby and commercial breeders , both invested in creating a new generation of puppies , but with vastly different goals . Foul was the taste of the pill swallowed by heritage breeders
If history were to assign a name to the stretch of time facing breeders between the end of World War II and the present day , surely the “ Age of Volatility ” would most vividly describe the climate in which hobby breeders have had to pursue their passion .
faced with the notion that to protect their own right to breed , they had to protect the rights of others acting commercially to do the same .
Breed clubs were not immune from “ dancing with the devil ” when faced with an impossible choice thrust upon them by commercial auctions : Should they sacrifice dogs of their breed to a life of relentless breeding , often in substandard conditions , or should they purchase the dogs and become the very market they wanted to dry up ?
Bombarded with dire warnings that pet “ overpopulation ” was out of control , the public was duped into believing that every dog bought from a heritage breeder sentenced a shelter dog to lethal injection . Unable to compete with the emotional pull of “ saving a dog from certain death ,” many fanciers cut back on the number of litters they bred , or stopped breeding altogether . As stories emerged of rescue dogs creating havoc in families unprepared to deal with damaged dogs , or dogs that bit people , a newly emerged rescue industry delighted at having a ready scapegoat , and blamed all breeders for the dogs they had put up for adoption .
So called “ designer breeders ” seemingly have gotten a pass . Ignorant of how genetics really work , the public has been persuaded that puppies produced by parents of two different breeds will inherit only the best qualities of each breed , neither parent ever having been health tested . Evidently , only dogs that have undergone OFA , BAER , CERF certification as well as DNA testing by breeders invested in their respective breeds for decades are unhealthy . And chocolate doesn ’ t have calories when eaten with Diet Coke .
Recently , several municipalities have passed legislation requiring that shops sell only rescue animals . Given that more than 300,000 dogs a year are imported from foreign countries ( Center for Disease Control 2007 ) to fill demand , the supply of rescue dogs is unlikely to dry up . This can only hurt the breeder / fancier whose “ market share ” stands to shrink among prospective buyers oblivious to the illogical act of importing more dogs if overpopulation really is an issue .
SZEREMY , CONTINUED ON PAGE 124
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