Question:
In our search for a new dog after losing our beloved Dalmatian to cancer, we have been visiting the Dalmatian rescue Web sites. On one site, I saw an available puppy who was found abandoned by the road. Although we had been eager to find an adult dog that no one else would want, we are ready to consider this pup because, like lots of "Dals," she is deaf and might be hard to place. While researching deaf Dalmatian training, however, I stumbled upon the official position on these dogs as laid down by the Dalmatian Club of America. The policy is, in a word, extermination (see www.thedca.org/deaf1.html).I was sickened. Is such a position common among the purebred dog clubs (whose quest for certain characteristics encourages over-breeding)? Can such an organization be shut down on grounds of inhumanity? I urge those who belong to such organizations to register their objections to the destruction of animals in the name of "preserving" the breed.
M.B., Washington, DC Jul 10, 2005
Answer:
What the various breed clubs mean by extermination is "to eliminate from the gene pool." All dogs (like yours) with one or more inherited diseases should not be bred, thus avoiding the transmission of the genetic defect to subsequent generations.Some breeders may drown or otherwise dispose of "defective" pups in a litter in order to cover up the fact that they are from a mother and/or father carrying the defective gene. They may fear that if they gave away or sold these pups at a discount, owners might still breed them -- or blow the whistle.The solution is to have them neutered, but few people want the burden of a deaf or otherwise handicapped animal or one with a costly inherited disease.
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