In the media - UK vet still worried re KC guidelines on inbreeding

Interesting article by UK vet Pete Wedderburn in the Telegraph. Someone has posted concerns re the UK Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer breeding programme in the comments section below.

"No relief being sighed here I am afraid Pete. Just more questions begging of Dr Sampson.

Point 4. Has the KC really taken this matter seriously in regard to for instance the Slovakian rough haired Pointer? I was told at DD that there are about 300 in the UK all with mostly common ancestors. Yet in Slovakia they are still crossing the breed with weims etc as they feel the gene pool is so small.
Point 8 – we need guidance NOW – half brother half sister matings are already happening on Yogi for instance.

Point 9. Jeff needs to take another look at the KC web site. I cannot find anything of any substance on diversity or inbreeding and nothing on the dangers of popular sires.

Yogi’s win yesterday tells me all I need to know about the KC’s attitude to such issues. They keep on rewarding them. Dr Sampson says one thing but the KC’s actions or rather lack of them speak louder."

You only have to look at the photographs of the Slovakian Slovaks to see how much more varied they are than the UK Slovaks. They have a wide variation in coat in terms of colour. Some are bi-coloured, white and brown etc.

Take a look at the UK pedigrees and you can count more or less three main active UK stud dogs (mostly two until recently) and a handful of bitches. And this is in pedigrees that were already said by slovakian contacts to be very closely related. They all seem to be mostly solid weimaraner grey too.

I'm still curious to see why Grey's dental treatment hasn't been added to the UK health stats for the breed. Grey's treatment was extensive (4 ops and the wearing of an acrylic plate for months throughout his adolescence).

An eminent UK dental vet stated that it is far easier to breed out such problems now while the UK breed has such small numbers than leave it. Prevention is better than cure. Grey was so badly overshot that the vets that treated him said they hadn't seen a mouth like his for years. He never had and never will have a correct scissor bite. His treatment was lengthy and costly as it was not covered by insurance.