"THE GREATEST ANIMAL WELFARE SCANDAL OF
OUR TIME.... PEDIGREE DOGS EXPOSED
A SHOCKING EXPOSURE OF PEDIGREE DOGS. THE
DOGS ARE FALLING APART AND THE NUMBER OF GENETIC PROBLEMS ARE INCREASING
ALARMINGLY…
…WE ARE IN EFFECT BREEDING THEM TO
DEATH"
and that's just the first 30 seconds!
Whilst I do not agree with censorship, I feel that this
programme was biased and served only to sensationalise and shock. It did not
offer a balanced view at all, more importantly it did not even mention puppy
farm breeders who are breeding many breeds for financial gain without thought
of dam and sire relationship, often not even sure who the sire is.
I felt the film was out to sensationalise without
offering any real discussion of the best way to get everyone working together
with a view to breeding out these awful conditions that exist in an awful lot
of breeds. A missed opportunity to actually DO SOME GOOD. It was a
shame, to me, that show breeders were targeted exclusively, I felt, and yet
nothing said about the dogs produced by puppy farms and backyard breeders
too.
I am a cavalier owner - not a breeder - I have four very
healthy cavaliers of ages varying from 5 to 1. With the exception of minor
complaints (upset tummies and the like) we only visit the vets for annual
vaccines and health checks. When we started getting dogs we researched various
breeds and found many more with more serious hereditary problems than the
cavalier. We also made sure we researched local breeders and this is what I
attribute to us having a healthy foursome now. Unfortunately a lot of pet
owners will buy a dog without researching breeds or breeders, simply because
they like the look of the dog, and then they buy one from a puppy farm because
it's cheaper. This programme could have addressed this issue by having a
section on "how to find the right dog and breeder" which could have educated
potential pet owners rather than terrifying them.
I didn't think it right to show the surgery and the
screaming pain of that little tricolour cavalier in such graphic fashion, why
was the first SM affected dog shown being walked on a collar and lead, when it
was specifically said that anything round the neck aggravated the condition?
Was this done purposely to show the dog at its worst?
Is it really valid to compare today's dogs with
paintings from over 100 years ago - when we all know that a painting is only as
true as the artist's talent, and that back then artists were paid more to
"enhance" the looks and beauty of their subject?
It is widely accepted that Mitral Valve Disease is an
alarming cavalier condition, however I feel that too much time was given to
Syringomyelia - when this condition is still in the very early stages of
research - not anywhere near enough is understood about it yet - and more
importantly the programme did not even mention the latest findings in a very
large study carried out in Canada and the US. This study found that it is NOT a
cavalier disease, it is a SMALL DOG disease, and has been found to cause more
serious problems with YORKIES PUGS and CHIHUAHUAS. The full article can be
found here at the bottom of the page:
Syringomyelia.
The links with
Vaccine reactions can not be ignored, yet they were not
mentioned at all during the programme. Thiomersal (also known as thimerosal and
mercurothiolate) is a mercury-based substance that is added to some
vaccines to prevent them from being contaminated by bacteria and fungi. It is
used in the triple vaccine given to puppies at around 6 and 8 weeks old, and
annually to most dogs. This substance has been banned for use in human vaccines
due to its links with autism - why are we still using it in dogs? Why
was this not included in the programme?
Vaccines can cause inflammatory reactions in the
nervous system and interrupt that Myelation . The result cases is
Encephalities(inflammation of the Brain)and other reactions. If inflammation of
the Brain has occurred ,has this stopped the flow of Cerebro Spinal Fluid and
caused Syrinxes to form.
Is it more than a co-incidence that the combined
Vaccine was introduced in 1983 and the first cases of Syringomyelia were seen
around that time? Also according to H H Merrit, Professor of Neurology at
Columbia University ,America ,Encephalaties can affect the Spinal Cord ,that is
where most Syrinxes are seen. It was stated that the first six months of life
nobody paused to add up the doses of mercury being given to tiny babies
(substitute this for Cavalier puppies). The compound which was chosen to keep
multi-dose vials of vaccines free of infection was thiomersal, which contains
50% mercury. In 1999 in America it was found infants were receiving
mercury in excess of Federal legal limits for an adult. Could the link for
Cavaliers be the same as for infants, in that the blood brain barrier is not
developed for the first six months and that there is bio-chemical evidence in
autistic children that they have an impaired capacity to excrete mercury which
is a heavy metal and retain it in tissues including hair and the brain? Current
research has shown that affected children have a genetic pre-disposition in
that they lack an enzyme called metallothionein which normally detoxifies and
protects against heavy metals. Because of this, when mercury is given in
vaccinations, there is no protection for brain, gut and immune system which
suffer damage. Could the information from the British Government that
mercury has to be withdrawn from vaccines and also, that mice researched
at Columbia University, U.S.A. have been found to have damage in their brain as
the result of being exposed to mercury, be of particular interest to Cavalier
owners whose Cavaliers have been confirmed as having Syringomyelia, which also
can affect the brain? Mercury is a highly toxic substance which can damage all
organs of the body, including the brain, and is known to have been used as a
preservative in vaccines. Is it possible that some of these genetically
susceptible Cavaliers, like the mice researched in America, have had damage to
their brain because of the mercury in the vaccinations and had Syringo
problems, especially now that many neurologists have come to the conclusion
that most Cavaliers have a misshapen occipital bone and are living normal,
unaffected lives.
Another study has over the years collected about 100
pedigrees of Cavaliers already suffering from heart trouble (MDV) and within
about a month of having their vaccination, their heart condition suddenly
worsened and they died shortly afterwards, and, also, trying to find out
whether the shape and size of the Cavalier skull could be involved in the
Syringomyelia problem.
May I be allowed to pass on this quote which has just
been made by Dr Marino; I have been given permission by the Cavalier Breeder to
do this. This Cavalier Breeder has just taken part in a CHIARI/COMS Project at
LIVS, America. I really think what Dr Marino has said will give some comfort to
many Owners of Cavaliers. Dr Marino stated that CHIARI/COMS is CLEARLY not a
Cavalier Disease, and that the medical community needs to stop classifying
it as such. IT IS A SMALL DOG DISEASE and CAVALIERS are only ONE of the
BREEDS that have a problem. He actually sees more serious problems with YORKIES
PUGS and CHIHUAHUAS. Other affected Breeds are MALTESE TERRIERS MINATURE
DACHSHUNDS TOY POODLE BICHON FRISE, SHIH TZU, POMERANIAN, BOSTON TERRIER,
PEKINGESE, and MINATURE PINSCHER.
Hopefully now ,because of Dr Marino's comments ,as he
has said that SM is NOT A CAVALIER DISEASE it is a SMALL DOG DISEASE, that
the speculation that only Cavaliers have SM will now stop, and the SM
Researchers will be allowed to find out why SMALL DOGS are being so affected by
SM. Finally Dr Marino was so definite in his comments which were, WE HAVE TO
CHANGE OUR WAY OF THINKING AND STOP CALLING THIS A CAVALIER DISEASE. THERE are
many other SMALL DOGS involved in the SM Problem
Whilst I didn't think the Kennel Club came across very
well, I do agree that such a body is necessary to keep some semblance of
legitimacy and to show the puppy farmers from the good breeders.
I do feel that it really is time for everyone who has
the welfare of dogs at heart to sit up and take notice - there ARE good
breeders out there who TRULY have the welfare of their breed at heart -
this programme served only to scare the public into thinking that all pedigree
dogs should be avoided at all costs. It could have been an excellent platform
on which to educate, instead it was a biased, ill-informed attack on selected
breeds, and I feel a waste of my licence fee.
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