Showsight - April 2017

says Should AKC require DNA testing to both sires and dams prior to any litter registration processing? perhaps DNA could have prevented it. In horses every horse has to submit DNA before being registered, of course testing the sire and dam would be more cost affective in dogs since the litters can be quite large in comparison to a singular horse per birth. –Gina Schag

Yes, AKC should require a DNA number for both sire and dam on litter registrations. Also, I think microchips should be required for dogs being shown in conformation, and the microchips should be scanned and verified as the ribbons are being awarded to the winners. –Rosemary Wheatley An equivocal yes. AKC’s mission is to preserve, protect and defend purebred dogs. It’s a no-brainer to require DNA testing, but not the current DNA testing that is being done. UCDavis VetGen labs have a very useful panel that costs $80 and can give breeders information about the Major Histocom- patibilty Complex (MHC), the immune system genes. This information is going to be invaluable in reducing genetic bot- tlenecks and allowing purebred breeders to provide hard evi- dence that they can make purebreds “better than the average bear” as far as health is concerned. Doing this kind of DNA testing is the greatest public relations work that can possibly be done to demonstrate to the world that purebred breeders care about more than looks. I would much rather spend $80 and get some useable information than spend $40 to basically to subsidize policing fraudulent breeders. –Pat Rock Yes! I do DNA profiles on all my Border Terriers. We offer it at our national specialty and if all samples are submitted together we get the discounted rated. Also AKC usually offers it at the discounted rate at many of the big shows— just look for the AKC booth. It provides proof of our registry. – Marg Pough Yes! I think that DNA testing for parentage helps to keep people honest and keep our stud books and pedigrees clean of unscrupulous breeding. I do wish that they would use the DNA samples for research also not just for identifying a dog. This would give researchers a huge sampling of all breeds for research and genome mapping. –Garnett Persinger Yes DNA should be done on sire and dam before regis- tering a litter is possible. In our breed (Chihuahuas) it is speculated a Dachshund was used to bring in the Merle gene, “IT MAY NOT WEED OUT ALL THE UNETHICAL BREEDERS, BUT IT MAY GIVE A BETTER CHANCE FOR THE HONEST ONES. OUR DOGS ARE WORTH IT!”

Yes—it is getting harder and harder to trust a pedigree with so many unknown new breeders switching parenting! –Anonymous I do think DNA should be required. It hope it would increase the accountability. I truly think many unscrupulous breeders hand out “AKC papers” that may not be true or accu- rate. They know that pet owners/puppy buyers are probably never going to follow up and verify accuracy. –Shelly Fields Yes. My breed has had a real problem with fraudulent reg- istration. So far I am aware of, 85 fake Norwich in the AKC studbook have had their registrations revoked. This has led to over 100 of their descendants also having their registrations revoked. A DNA identification requirement was a recommen- dation of an AKC scientific advisory committee in the early 2000s. –Blair Kelly Yes, we have the science to control pedigrees and the price is very reasonable. We should be using DNA. By the way, the Vizsla Club of America has required DNA for partici- pation in National events since 2007. –Patricia Folz Yes! It may not weed out all the unethical breeders, but it may give a better chance for the honest ones. Our dogs are worth it! –Cathy Koss UKC has been doing this forever. I would like to see it as I know of bloodlines presented that are not true. This would stop that practice of guessing who was who. –Anonymous Yes I think they should have to DNA sires and dams prior to any breeding. It irks me that I know of more than one case where puppies have been sired by a dog not listed on the registration forms and that people get away with it way too much. It seems gone are the days when breeders could be on an honor system and be truthful about their breedings. Now it appears there are many people out there breeding who are dishonest and not at all concerned with the truth. I think DNA requirements would force people to be honest, knowing that all it would take is for one puppy out of a litter to be checked and they would be found out. At one time I even turned a breeder in to the AKC for substituting sires or assigning sires where she had no idea who had bred the bitch. AKC said it was unfortunate but they would not be doing anything about it. All they had to do was require DNA samples but nothing was done and this breeder continues her dishonest breeding to this day. –Anonymous

162 • S how S ight M agazine , A pril 2017

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