Weekend pet news round-up

Gina's off to Southern California to play with her dogs -- she claims it's a hunt test, but I think we all know the truth. While she's gone, I have the keys to the blog. Nice change from the last few days of obsession with human politics.



Great reading for the weekend:



We share our Kim Thornton with MSNBC, and she did a terrific piece on an epidemic of pet theft that's sweeping the nation:

Police reports don't make a distinction between pet theft and other property theft, so there's no way to pinpoint the exact number of stolen pets each year, but anecdotally, officers say that pet theft is increasing this year.

"More people are reporting it ... and it seems to be occurring more frequently," says Lt. John Kerwick, president of the U.S. Police Canine Association, Region 7, New York, an organization of officers who work with police dogs.

In the first five months of 2008, the AKC noted three times as many dog thefts as the year before.

In weird news, I couldn't believe this was true when I saw it, but it is:

Britain's environment secretary has sparked controversy with a list of proposed new rules that could mean jail time for pet owners who walk dogs on hot days.



Environment Secretary Hilary Benn's proposed new codes of conduct for dog, cat and horse owners include rules that would allow for prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act of 2006, of pet owners whose animals become too thin, become too fat, are fed from the table or are walked on hot days, The Daily Mail reported Tuesday.



"This means no one will be able to claim ignorance as an excuse," Benn said.



Some officials said they believe the new code of conduct goes too far.



"Some of these elements are over the top. This is not the sort of stuff we expected to be in the code," Conservative agriculture spokesman Jim Paice said.

Gosh, ya think?



And I'm not sure, but I think UC Davis just threw down a challenge to the AKC to finally recognize the descendents of the Dalmatian/Pointer backcross project as a means to eradicating the gene for a form of kidney disease that is present in every purebred Dalmatian:

A gene mutation that causes high levels of uric acid in all Dalmatian dogs and bladder stones in some Dalmatians has been identified by a team of researchers in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis.



The discovery equips dog breeders with the tools to eliminate that trait from the Dalmatian breed and yields clues to the cause of similar problems in humans. The findings were published November 7 in the scientific journal Public Library of Science.



"This defect, which in dogs is peculiar to the entire Dalmatian breed, has been reported for nearly a century and was probably unintentionally introduced as breeders worked to select more distinctive spotting patterns," said veterinary geneticist Danika Bannasch, lead author on the study.



"It is now possible that this trait can be removed from the breed by crossing Dalmatians with the normal offspring of the original Dalmatian-pointer breeding that occurred in the early 1970s," she said.



[....]



"In recent years, dogs that are about 99 percent Dalmatian and one percent pointer have been bred, successfully eliminating the elevated uric acid trait," said Bannasch. "The result is a healthy dog that that looks like a Dalmatian, maintains the Dalmatian breed characteristics and is genetically almost identical."



She noted that those "backcrossed" dogs, which have been registered as Dalmatians with the United Kennel Club in the United States, offer a valuable resource for correcting the genetic defect that results in the elevated uric acid trait in the Dalmatian breed.

The complete release is here.



So, what are you and your critters doing this weekend?

Comments

[glock]

Great news - really- for Dalmatian breeders.



Uric acid stone blockages can be life threatening...



For more info go to the Dalmatian Club of America Web page.

[straybaby]

It will be interesting to see where this goes. Here's a link to the current Backcross project with links regarding the history:



http://www.dalmatianheritage.com/about/index.htm



I'll prob get my girl tested (if they let non-breeders) since I have no history on her and it's possible she's a mix (dbl patch). It would be a nice piece of info to have as she gets older.

[straybaby]

forgot to comment on this from the 2006 AWA:



"are fed from the table"



WTF?! Guilty on 6 counts your Honor! Shame on me sharing my free range meats and CSA veggies!!

[H. Houlahan]

Re: pet theft



One thing the article leaves out (and it is a can o' worms) is that it is now possible to get "papers" issued on a dog from any of a dozen "registries" that were set up to serve the puppymill industry. They have no requirements for a trail of signatures, etc., so it's as easy to get "papers" on a stolen poodle as for a jenyoowine fullblooded puggledoodle.



Check the newspaper and kijiji ads selling dogs and puppies, and see how many of them are "registered" with a papermill.



Not that I am any fan of the AKC or UKC, but they do have procedures that made it much more difficult to get false papers -- which do not merely falsify ancestry, but falsely "certify" ownership.



The new puppymill papermills are a great resource for thieves as well as unscrupulous types who are circumventing neuter contracts and limited registrations, or breeding their dogs of unknown ancestry.

[EMoon]

I thought the AKC was willing to register the Pointer/Dal crosses, but it was the Dalmatian club that refused to let such horrid, horrid creatures into the gene pool?

[Susan Fox]

So, maybe someone can start a new fashion for unregistered dogs?



Also plead guilty to feeding from the table, but the dog does have to be in a sitting position. The cat? Sometimes she sits, too. Pizza crust is a major favorite for both. So much for the obligate carnivore ;-)

[Spotted Human]

Let me clarify the situation with respect to Low Uric Acid Dalmatians and the AKC/DCA. As a member of the DCA (Dalmatian Club of America) I can tell you that the majority of the club is bitterly opposed to registration of LUA Dals on the basis of genetic purity (they say). They think one pointer in the 12th generation makes these dogs mutts. There was a recent vote to this effect. Frankly they seem unconcerned about the seriousness of stone disease in the breed, many of them blithely saying its not a problem.



A minority of the club are fervent supporters of the effort, and there is a huge political divide with much nastiness.



As for the AKC, they have no real standing with respect to breed health issues as far as I can tell. They keep saying "we are just a registry" and allowing the parent breed club free reign regardless of political obstructionism, and regardless of the impact on breed health. In this case its even worse because a couple of prominent AKC people are from the Dal Club and side (politically I would say) with those opposed to the backcross effort.



In my humble opinion, as a long-time member, the actions of the DCA are abhorrent and indicate very little real regard for breed health. I think the essential political dynamics are not uncommon in other breed clubs.

[Marjorie]

And, ironically, I mentioned this Dal problem in a comment to a post over at DoLittler, concerning vegetarianism/veganism in cats and dogs. I pointed out that this problem in Dal's means many of them are prescribed a vegetarian diet, with great success.

[H. Houlahan]

Hi Spotted Human --



I'm sorry to hear that this obstructionism persists; I'd been incorrectly led to believe that the club had come around to its senses.



I see that Ms. Strand is an ACK board member and Dalmatian breeder. I guess any concessions of "purity" in favor of health and a life free of unnecessary chronic pain would just play into the hands of PeTA, right?



Methinks it is time for those who want to raise healthy Dals to take their ball and go home.



The marketing plan for a new normal hearing/normal uric acid metabolism independent Dal club is pretty easy -- "We're the guys who breed healthy dogs."

[Spotted Human]

Houlahan,



Maybe you were joking about PETA, but one of the arguments put forward by the opponents to the LUA backcross in Dals is that we really should not even talk about it because it damages the reputation of the breed and contributes to the perception that purebred dogs are less healthy than mutts. Never mind that it makes a statement if we do something about a problem, and a different statement if we can and don't.

[Spotted Human]

Hi Houlihan.



Since you mention Patty Strand, I'll tell you it was not her I was referring to at AKC. I know Patty but haven't spoken to her in a long time. She's not active in the Dal club anymore, and frankly I don't know where she stands on the backcross/LUA issue. However, if she is in favor of the backcross, I would think she might speak out. She isn't the only one at AKC who comes from Dals. (Since you're speculating, you might check the names Garvin and Lyons.)



The LUA breeders have formed their own club - Dalmatians of North America (DNA) - under the auspices of UKC. See: LUAdalmatians.com. There are some very respectable breeders, judges, academicians, other professionals in this group.



The DCA voted in 1984 to ban discussion of the Low Uric Acid backcross in any official capacity - such as club/board meetings. This was held to not allow the topic to be mentioned in the club magazine. The interpretation of the wording of the question voted on in 84 is highly problematic, but the board insisted that the vote bans discussion. Two years ago there was another vote which narrowly passed to partially lift the restriction - to allow discussion and investigation - as long the discussion doesn't involve the notion of registration. Then again in August this year there was a club-wide vote on whether to totally lift the ban and allow discussion of registration. This was soundly defeated after a very rancorous debate. BTW, apparently in sympathy with the anti-backcross faction, AKC announced that action toward registration would require a 2/3 supermajority of the club not just a majority as had been thought. That is essentially a death sentence from AKC for the backcross proponents.



There are two articles in the most recent DCA magazine, The Spotter, defending the majority club position, articles I find absolutely astounding and completely irresponsible hogwash, as does every academician I know. I think as an intelligent unbiased outsider you would be amazed by the mindset of these articles.



There has been a lot of publicity about pro-active efforts of the British KC with regard to health issues. The KC was light years ahead of AKC even before the BBC documentary which has accelerated things there a lot, and AKC is extremely susceptible to a similar investigation, which is likely forthcoming.