In 2008 a programme called "Pedigree Dogs Exposed" made serious
allegations against several breeds of pedigree dogs. The German Shepherd
Dog was briefly mentioned in the programme. The Kennel Club, who took
part in the programme, were unprepared for the tone of these allegations
and were made to look incompetent and to have a lack of care for the
health and welfare of KC registered dogs. As a result of these
allegations the Kennel Club reviewed several Breed Standards and sent
out provisional new breed standards to the various Breed Councils.
German Shepherd clubs and leading breeders have always been
passionate about the health and welfare of our working breed so the
Breed Council, representing about 25 Kennel Club registered breed clubs,
and the two national clubs, the German Shepherd League of GB and the
British Association for German Shepherd Dogs formed an alliance called
the German Shepherd Partnership to represent the breed as a whole at
discussions with the Kennel Club. The partnership had some concerns
about these changes and arranged meetings with the KC to discuss and
clarify parts of the proposed new breed standard. Unfortunately, the KC
refused to have any discussions and changed the subject of these
meetings without any notice to the delegates. The new breed standards
were brought in without any consultation.
Early
this year each KC registered club holding Championship Breed Show status
was presented with a 10 point document which the Kennel Club refer to
as the "Undertaking". Each club was required to sign the "Undertaking"
or lose, forever, the chance to hold Championship Breed Shows from 2012
onwards. The points include;- an admission that the breed is unsound,
that clubs will not run any event under the rules of any other
organisation (i.e. the SV or the WUSV) without the express permission of
the Kennel Club and that judges and stewards must be "under contract in
writing" to abide by the regulations regarding "double-handling".
Shortly after the "Undertaking" was issued a number of clubs, who have a
large obedience membership and hold Championship Obedience Shows, asked
the Kennel Club if they would have their Obedience CC's withheld. The
Kennel Club refused to confirm or deny that Obedience CC's would be
affected.
On 20th February 2010 the Breed Council
held an emergency meeting of member clubs and members of the GSD
Partnership to discuss the "Undertaking". It became a heated discussion
but eventually it was decided that, as the home of the Breed is Germany
and a large number of those present had strong ties with the SV (German
National Club) and both national clubs were members of the WUSV (World
Union of German Shepherd Clubs), that item 9, regarding events under the
rules of other organisations, was unacceptable (and probably unlawful
under monopoly laws). The "Undertaking" was sent back to the KC with the
request that if item 9 was removed most clubs would sign.
Unsurprisingly this request was refused.
The Chairman
and Secretary of the GSD Club of Devon were still unsure of the advice
to give our members and the rest of the committee and it was decided to
have informal discussions with other breeders and officers from other
clubs at Crufts. At Crufts it became clear that most of the clubs which
had signed had done so to protect their Obedience CC's and, while at the
show, we had a glimpse of the future...... The judge for German
Shepherd Dogs had FOUR stewards sitting at the side of the ring with
clipboards making notes on his performance and, apparently, the
soundness of each dogs hindquarters (I have since heard that these
stewards could not agree on soundness!). The Best of Breed at Crufts was
Clokellys Lagos owned and bred by Carol Keen, a member of our club.
Lagos had been trained at our club since he was a puppy and we all knew
him and his siblings well. He was a deserving winner and we were all
very happy for Carol. This was shortlived as on the Crufts programme on
the More4 channel they showed slow motion footage of Lagos (moving
absolutely correctly) and Caroline Kisco, the Secretary of the KC, spent
several minutes rubbishing him, a dog which had been chosen by the KC
appointed judge as the Best of Breed. Needless to say, after much
criticism, the Kennel Club issued a press statement denying that they
had any control over the content of the More4 production. In our
opinion, if the KC Secretary does not represent the opinion of the KC
then who does? We have since noticed that the judges selected for Crufts
in 2011 and 2012 both favour the "Alsatian" type.
Over
the last couple of weeks we have consulted the breed members of our
club and discussed this important issue with the committee. The outcome
of this is below.

The Kennel Club have singled out the German Shepherd
Dog from all of the breeds mentioned in the programme "Pedigree Dogs
Exposed" and have taken no action against other breeds such as Cavalier
King Charles Spaniels and Boxers which have serious, even life
threatening, genetic problems.
In our opinion the
Kennel Club want to revert to the old "Alsatian" type with all its
problems in health and temperament, despite the "Alsatian's" dwindling
gene pool (these are still owned by many with influence in the Kennel
Club!) at the expense of the German or International type which is
recognised worldwide. The "Alsatian" is laughed at in Germany, the home
of the breed due to its swan-neck, sagging back and over-angulation. The
Kennel Club refuse to drop the incorrect name "Alsatian" from its name
for our breed, it is "German Shepherd Dog" worldwide NOT "German
Shepherd Dog (Alsatian)".
The Kennel Club will go
to any lengths to keep hold of its monopoly on purebred dogs including
unlawful actions, threats and outright lies.
Lastly,
the disgusting treatment of Mr Bob Kinsey, the German Shepherd judge at
Crufts and Carol Keen with her beautiful Best of Breed, Clokellys
Lagos, just to make a political point was unacceptable.
The
Officers and Committee of the German Shepherd Dog Club of Devon have
decided, unanimously, NOT to sign the "Undertaking".
James Apps,

Chairman