An odd, but very positive, thing has occurred: The Kennel Club is moving to embrace an outcross breeding of miniature wire-haired dachshunds to miniature smooth-coats.
What has motivated this?
The optimist in me notes that a recent study of wire-haired dachshunds found that 10 percent of the breed carried the gene for day blindness -- an extraordinarily high genetic load for a very serious condition in these wonderful little dogs.
Perhaps the Kennel Club was simply motivated to do the right thing? Perhaps they are really serious about putting health first?
Perhaps.
But the pessimist in my asks: If the Kennel Club is concerned about negative genetic loads alone, then why have they not greenlighted the Dalmatian Backcross Project?
Good question! And I have no good answer other than to note that the person who petitioned the Kennel Club for permission to outcross a wire-haired dachshund to a smooth dachshund is Sigurd Wilberg who happens to be quite wealthy thanks to his co-owning a string of Domino's Pizza franchises.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with being rich, and I am all for pizza in any shape or form. That said, is this what it takes to get approval for an outcross -- bags of money and special access to the right people in the right circles?
Maybe. Perhaps.
But so what?
Let's just this once celebrate the fact that the Kennel Club is doing the right thing, no matter what the motivation or mechanism.
Click and treat.
Maybe, if we are patient, they will do it again!
.
What has motivated this?
The optimist in me notes that a recent study of wire-haired dachshunds found that 10 percent of the breed carried the gene for day blindness -- an extraordinarily high genetic load for a very serious condition in these wonderful little dogs.
Perhaps the Kennel Club was simply motivated to do the right thing? Perhaps they are really serious about putting health first?
Perhaps.
But the pessimist in my asks: If the Kennel Club is concerned about negative genetic loads alone, then why have they not greenlighted the Dalmatian Backcross Project?
Good question! And I have no good answer other than to note that the person who petitioned the Kennel Club for permission to outcross a wire-haired dachshund to a smooth dachshund is Sigurd Wilberg who happens to be quite wealthy thanks to his co-owning a string of Domino's Pizza franchises.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with being rich, and I am all for pizza in any shape or form. That said, is this what it takes to get approval for an outcross -- bags of money and special access to the right people in the right circles?
Maybe. Perhaps.
But so what?
Let's just this once celebrate the fact that the Kennel Club is doing the right thing, no matter what the motivation or mechanism.
Click and treat.
Maybe, if we are patient, they will do it again!
.
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