No harm.
The post is somewhat illuminating about the speed of collapse at the AKC, but it is hardly controversial, as the graph is from the DVM News.
What's funny is that someone who signed her name "Bev" then chipped in to say:
If one reads his blog for any amount of time you will begin to wonder how he can support the AR's, bash the AKC and yet still breed and hunt with purebred dogs?? I e-mailed him last year and asked him what his logic was in supporting both sides..... still waiting for an answer.
Eh?
Now here's the thing: I keep all my emails. All of them. I have no email from this person. None.
And yes I checked.
You see, "Bev," it turns out, is someone by the name of Bev Hale who, along with her husband Kirk, breeds "Olde English Bulldogges."
No, I have never heard of them either. More on that in a minute.
First you may ask: What's an Olde English Bulldogge?
Well, to make it simple, it's a breed invented in America by dog dealers selling romance and nonsense.
Sadly, we have lots of this stuff over here.
Look through the back of any dog magazine, and you will find dog dealers hawking "testosterone" dogs to young men.
The list of dogs includes the "Olde English Bulldogge" along with the Old English Bulldog, the Original English Bulldogge, Olde Bulldogge, the Campeiro Bulldog, Leavitt Bulldog, the Catahoula Bulldog, the Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldog, the Aussie Bulldog, the Victorian Bulldog, the Valley Bulldog, the Olde Boston Bulldogge, the Dorset Old Tyme Bulldog, the Ca de Bou, the Banter Bulldog, and the Johnson Bulldog, to say nothing of the Alana Espanol, Cane Corso, Bully Kutta, and the recreated "Alaunt."
These new-age molosser breeds are sandwiched between the English, Neopolitan, and Bull Mastiffs, the Rottweilers, the Dogue de Bordeaux, the Dogo Argentino, the Fila Brasileriro and, of course, the English Bulldog.
Now here's a question: Do we really need pretend bulldogs in America?
What's wrong with American Pit Bulls?
We have them everywhere. In fact, over 45 million pounds of Pit Bulls are killed in U.S. shelters every year.
And unlike the dogs being sold by the Hales, most of these American Pit Bulls can actually work feral pig or move a rangey cow if they need to.
The dogs Bev and Kirk Hale are breeding, however, look like cartoons. These aren't true working dogs. These are "show off" dogs bred for intimidation and designed to be paraded around on heavy chains by men who need that kind of thing. John D. Johnson created these kind of dogs back in the 1970s -- "kegs on legs" which are too heavy in the body, and too short in the face to really move in hot country.
Of course, there is no stopping dog dealers, is there?
The Hales tell us on their web site that their dogs are registered with the Continental Kennel Club, which is the favorite registry of puppy millers and order-by-mail dog breeders.
Caveat emptor!
On the home page of their web site, the Hales tell us that "The Olde English Bulldogges are a new venture for us," and in almost the same breath they tell us that "After much thought we have decided to let the chickens go."
Right.
Trading one short-term hobby for another. At least you can eat the chickens. But the dogs??
I have fired off an email to Ms. Hale. It will be interesting to see if I get answer. I write:
- You claim you contacted me last year. Please send me that email. I have never heard of you and recall no emails.
- You claim I breed dogs. When was that?
- You claim I "support the AR's." When was that?
- You claim I hunt with pure breed dogs. Which ones are those?
For the record, as regular readers of this blog know, I do not breed dogs. I have said this many times, and it is not closely held information.
Nor do I hunt with "pure bred" dogs." I hunt with working Jack Russell terriers which are a type of dog, not a breed. This is Working Terrier 101.
If I have ever "supported the ARs" I am sure it is news to them! The Humane Society of the U.S., PeTA, and a few others I can tick off (such as the RSPCA and LACS) have all felt withering fire from me at one time or another.
So what are we to learn here?
Nothing more than what I have said many times before; the boards are full of anonymous cowards, trolling pretenders, and fantasy flakes and fakes.
Caveat emptor.
If you are looking for a dog, do your research and stay away from people who clearly fit the puppy peddler and dog dealer mold.
If you are looking for a molosser breed, please consider going to a shelter and rescuing a Pit Bull. There are a lot of beautiful, sweet dogs to be found there. One is at my feet right now, and I assure you she does not look like a cartoon and she can move like the wind. She is a dog you can be proud of -- my son's pride in his dog is evidence of that!
Before you get a molosser breed, however, make sure you know what you are doing and that you are a forever owner. Make sure you have a stable housing situation, a fenced yard, and are willing to excercise and train this dog which is not a Labrador Retriever.
Molosser breeds are too often victimized by get-rich-quick dog dealers who are only too willing to sell to anyone who comes along.
Dogs bought in haste are too often dumped in leisure, and a million dead molosser dogs a year is the legacy of that.
The molosser world does not need more of this. In fact, it needs a great deal less.
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