It came as little surprise to those in the Cavalier world that this year’s Best of Breed at Crufts, Pascavale Haiden, was crowned Best In Show a few days later at the UK Cavalier Club’s Championship Show. Haiden’s Crufts’ victory was greeted with sighs of dismay from health campaigners. Why? Because already he has 13 litters registered in the UK despite the fact he only celebrated his second birthday last week. Some of his puppies were fathered before his first birthday.
Breeding guidelines, put in place in an effort to tackle the inherited health crisis affecting this much-loved breed, state that Cavaliers should not be bred before the age of 2.5 years old. After a wait of over a decade, the UK Kennel Club introduced an official but voluntary heart-testing scheme for the breed. This states that the very earliest dogs can be tested is 18 months but recommends waiting.
Reaction to our post-Crufts blog from breeders has been mixed. There has been no shortage of those venting their anger not at those who jeopardise the health of the breed and make a mockery of guidelines but at us for calling them out.
This is nothing new.
Cavaliers are similar to many other breeds in that the most influential people in the breed – the most high-profile show breeders, club committee members and judges – are all too often the same people. This gives them incredible influence and power. When, in the case of Cavaliers, many in this cohort choose to ignore health breeding guidelines and shun official testing schemes, this is toxic and very bad news for a breed.
Some pointed out that judges can only judge the dog before them and not make decisions based on any knowledge of their background. True enough. But what are we to think when all too many of these judges themselves ignore guidelines when breeding? One of Pascavale Haiden’s breeders is down to judge at Crufts next year. Less of a rap on the knuckles and more of a pat on the back.
What of the judges that have awarded Pascavale Haiden top honours in the last few days. Some, including a former Cavalier Club puppy coordinator, have allowed their stud dogs to produce numerous litters before their second birthday.
And in case anyone is wondering whether Pascavale Haiden is unusual in his kennel for being so prolific so young, he is not.
Cavaliers need those with the power and influence to make a positive change to do so. Instead, they continue to exist in a bubble where they consider themselves faultless and instead claim the rest of the world, including puppy buyers, are to blame.
Our own research reveals quite how culpable the breed’s influencers have been. Over a third of KC-registered litters we examined in a five-year period had at least one underage parent but that figure was even higher among breeders who had been on the breed club committee or acted as a puppy coordinator (someone who liaises with members of the public looking for a Cavalier).
We are calling for testing for the two most serious inherited conditions, a distressing neurological condition known most commonly as CM/SM and Mitral Valve Disease, to be mandatory before breeding. Over 55,000 agree with this and have signed an online petition. Please join them.
You could also leave a comment on the Crufts or Kennel Club Facebook pages or email Bill Lambert, senior health and welfare manager at the Kennel Club, expressing your concern that the Cavalier breed is being left in the hands of breeders and judges who are not just failing dismally in that responsibility but being rewarded for it. health@thekennelclub.org.uk