![editorial.gif (780 bytes)](../reuseable%20images/editorial.gif)
Virginia
Zurflieh, editor
Editors note: When
two members of one of the e-mail lists recently disclosed to the list and to the Boxer
Review that their very prominent show dog had been diagnosed with Boxer Cardiomyopathy
(BCM), their disclosure not only generated a storm of controversy on the list, but many
concerned and confused breeders put pressure on the ABC to stop what had become a very
acrimonious debate ("MY testing program is better than YOUR testing program!")
by formulating an "official" ABC policy and action plan for the control of BCM.
The ABC president responded with a statement on the ABC website, in which he said that the
research that is currently being funded jointly by the ABCs American Boxer
Charitable Foundation and the AKCs Canine Health Foundation has not yet produced
conclusive data about BCM, and therefore, the ABC could not make any recommendations -
official or otherwise - at this time. Because some breeders were not satisfied with the
ABCs response, we have asked Cecilie and Henning (a veterinarian and geneticist,
respectively) to give us their professional perspective on the ABCs response to BCM.
A BU GUEST EDITORIAL
DONT KILL THE
MESSENGER!
By Cecilie Strømstad and Henning Lund
Boxerhaven Boxers - Norway
While everyone would want the breed
club to take action against diseases like BCM, until the data are conclusive the club
can't do much. There are several reasons that it would be premature of the club to take
more concrete action at this time. So far, only a small percentage of the breed has been
holtered, and the situation in the breed as a whole could only be guesswork at this stage.
When you don't know what is normal regarding BCM in the population, and where to draw the
line between fit and unfit for breeding, there is a significant risk that you will discard
too much of the population, because you may be calling unfit for breeding a large
percentage of the animals that are better than average, and which could only help improve
the breed as a whole!
It is also important to keep in mind that
boxers have other health problems that we as breeders have to deal with - SAS, allergies,
cancer and spondylosis, to name a few. If we focus on only one problem (as it would be
easy to do once we have an overview of the BCM situation and know where to draw the line),
and set restrictions that are too rigid on that one, the other problems will inevitably
increase. ALL restrictions put together in a breed should not exclude more than 50 % of
the population!
A last point that should be considered, is
that a breed club must rely on their members to be motivated to follow their regulations
and recommendations. If the breed club decides on breeding regulations that are not backed
by conclusive data, it will be almost impossible to get members to comply with them. In
fact, premature regulations might do exactly the opposite of what was intended, by
creating a "contempt for the law," and for the organization that tries to
enforce such a rule. Many members will react negatively to what they feel is unnecessary
control from the top end of the club, and therefore won't bother to test at all.
Disease control isn't easy, and as we have
said before, if you want to get anywhere, most of the breeders must agree on where
we are going.