Responsible Breeder Definition
At the hearing held on Tuesday, April 10th, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, one of the authors of AB 1634, mentioned that he asked breeders, "Who is a responsible breeder?" and has never received an answer. I think the following letter defines it quite well. Please all you responsible breeders send him a certified letter telling him who you are and how a responsible breeder conducts business.
I OPPOSE AB 1634 IN ANY FORM OR REVISION.
At the hearing held Tuesday, April 10th, Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, the backer of AB 1634, mentioned that he asked breeders, "Who is a responsible breeder?" and has never received an answer. He also went on to say that, "The opposition to the bill was driven by the greed of breeders running profitable unlicensed businesses and not paying their fair share of taxes and of the social costs of pet overpopulation."
As a breeder and exhibitor of standard longhaired dachshunds for almost forty years, and an AKC judge for five years, I would like to address Assemblyman Lloyd Levine's question.
First, and foremost, I know of no breeder who makes a profit from being a breeder of purebred dogs. Responsible breeders breed for the love of our breeds. Let me put that in bold so it won’t be missed - WE BREED FOR THE LOVE OF OUR BREEDS. For all of us, this is fundamental --- we love our dogs. We make no money from doing this, and most of the time, actually go broke by breeding. We love our breeds and are concerned with their past, present and future.
Before responsible breeders even begin to think about breeding, we study pedigrees - we pour over them, and we compare notes with other breeders. Extensive research and reading is done including checking blood strains of potential sires and dams.
Responsible breeders abide to a Breeder's Code of Ethics. Some of these include:
- We have litters only to “replace” dogs
we currently have --- we do not breed
with the intent of simply selling these
puppies to make money. This amounts
to only 2 or less litters a year.
- We are stewards of our breeds and are careful
about our bloodlines.
- We belong to one of the reputable registries that maintain pedigrees of purebred dogs.
- We have the sire and dam checked for worms,
are current on vaccinations and test
for brucellosis.
- We only breed our dogs that show no shyness
or aggression to people or other dogs
- We check to see that our dogs are in good
health, excellent physical condition,
good skin condition, no allergies, and
are neither obese or anorexic. For
dachshund responsible breeders, this
would mean making sure there is no history
of disc disease in the immediate relatives,
no history of PRA or other eye diseases,
and not a carrier of vWD (blood clotting)
or other immune mediated diseases. For
other breeds, health checks are done
for genetic problems appropriate to their
breeds such as CERF (eye) - OFA (hips & heart)
- thyroid tests, - von Willebrands Disease
- and BAER (hearing.)
- And, this is of utmost importance ---
responsible breeders do NOT breed
a female until she is at least 2 years
of age (and, usually not over 6) and
not before she has had at least two heat
cycles.
- We hand-raise our puppies and give lots
of attention and love in a home setting.
- We spend time talking to prospective owners
about our puppies and our specific breed. We
ask questions about the prospective home
environment --- if it's fenced or not,
are their children and how old, are there
other pets in the home? We
also want prospective owners to come
and visit our home/kennel --- we invite
them to see the dam and sire of our puppies. We
have nothing to hide.
- Responsible breeders do NOT sell
their puppies at a public place like
flea markets, shopping center malls or
pet stores. Our
mantra is, "For each puppy sold through
an irresponsible breeder, room is thereby
made for another litter to be bred. The "pity
me-poor puppy-rescue puppy" sale
will only result in making room for more
back yard litters. This is NOT in
the Code of Ethics for responsible breeders.
- Responsible breeders expose our puppies
to other adults, children, animals ---
we put the puppies through psychological
testing --- we expose them to various
testing such as "The Rule of Seven" (exposing
the puppies to seven different surfaces.)
- We test our breeding stock for temperament
because good temperament is hereditary.
- Responsible breeders make sure prospective
owners know the breed's drawbacks or
specific breed requirements --- a dachshund
breeder would never place one of their
puppies in a home that required the puppy
to go up and down 5 flights of stairs.
- And, when a family finally picks their
puppy for life, we assure them that we
will take back this dog at anytime during
its life if they can no longer care for
it. We will
do everything in our power to make sure
our puppies do not wind up in an animal
shelter or in some backyard chained to
a tree.
- Responsible breeders insist new owners
take their puppy to “their” vet
for a check up within so many days.
- And, we insist that new owners, who do not plan to show the puppy in conformation or performance events, spay or neuter the puppy at the appropriate time --- which is not 4 months or younger. We know the effects of early neuter and spaying and would never put our puppies through this.
As I said in the beginning of my letter, responsible breeders breed for the love of our breed. Money doesn't even come into the equation. How could it? How can you equate money with love? Our dogs are members of our family. They are our faithful and forever loyal companion. They sleep on our beds, they kiss our tears, and we bury our heads in their ruff in times of sorrow. They bring smiles on the faces of our children and therefore, on ours. They help lower our blood-pressure. They create a sense of calm in our children when they are fearful of something. They are "always there" for us.
Responsible breeders want to end the reckless breeding of litters of puppies (and kittens) whose fate would be to wind up in animal shelters. But, this law - AB 1634 - would be dangerous to all responsible California dog and cat breeders. Spaying or neutering a dog at 4 months of age, besides being harmful to the health of our dogs, would end many of the time honored lines to which we, responsible breeders, have dedicated our lives. We need our animals intact until they can be shown in competition, and this is usually at an age of six months and older. Many breeds do not come into their own until they are more mature. Forcing this law on us, the responsible breeders, will only open doors for the "for profit" backyard and indiscriminate breeders.
Come up with a new and better law to target the puppy mills and the indiscriminate backyard breeders and provide better funding for existing laws --- but do not force this irresponsible bill on us - the responsible breeders.
Diane Young McCormack
Truckee, CA
Canine Legislation Committee Co-Chair
Northern California Dachshund Club
Legislative Liaison
Golden Gate Dachshund Club
Legislative Liaison
Gold Country Kennel Club (Nevada City, CA)
Legislative Liaison