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In the letters that were sent by the Dutch Kennel Club recently, to various foreign breed clubs and kennel clubs, it is stated that the Minister has not banned any breeds and has only imposed health requirements on the short muzzle dogs. This is correct! She has done this in order not to have to name the breeds. It is also possible to describe the short-muzzle breeds by defining the length of the muzzle and then setting requirements for extension of the nose. Those requirements are impossible to realize in one generation within the FCI breed standard. With this detour they aim the extinction of those breeds.
The minister does not want to name the breeds.
The reason for this could be that if she names the breeds, she can be held accountable for past experiences and final advice concerning the RAD (Aggressive Animals Regulation (law)). This concerned the Pitt bull Terriers whom were picked up and euthanized on their appearance before 2008. The Committee of “Wise Men” finally decided in 2008 that it had to be proven for each dog that it was aggressive and it was not anymore allowed to euthanize a dog because it looked like an aggressive breed. The law RAD was eventually withdrawn.
Aggression falls under mental health while BOAS falls under physical health. One should not judge a pedigree dog on its appearance, but must show that every dog within the breed is unhealthy, mentally or physically. This is an impossible job, as shown by the problems that still exist around the aggressive dogs.
If the Minister Schouten has obliged the Kennel Club to refuse entries in the studbook, the Minister must, in accordance with article 2.6.3 of the Animals Act, describe the breeds for which this will apply. If the minister does so, it could be that on the basis of the above experiences with the law RAD, it can be enforced that for each dog or at least each breed it has to be proven that it does not meet the health requirements.
In order to prevent this legal pitfall, the Kennel Club reached out a helping hand to the Minister Schouten. The Dutch Kennel Club issued a ban on the registration of the 12 breeds they previously named.
As you can see the Dutch Kennel Club is collaborating with the Minister to prohibit breeding with the short-muzzle breeds and allow the breeds to become extinct. The Dutch Kennel Club allows to be pushed by the Minister who does not want to appoint the breeds by name at all costs because the enforcement criteria and the CFR could be questioned again.
This is partly because the University of Utrecht cannot demonstrate (even with literature studies) that most of the short muzzle breeds suffer from BOAS and BOS and could pass this on to their descendants.
The conclusion must be that the Dutch Kennel Club, out of free will and in order to serve the Minister, wants to deny the pedigrees to 12 breeds in the first instance and more than 24 breeds in the second instance, and is therefore still in violation of the FCI regulations. (Article 8.3 of the Statutes of FCI and Article 20.1 of the Standing Order).
The Dutch Kennel Club also states that the Minister implies crossbreeding between a dog with CFR>0.3 and a dog with CFR < 0.3. We do not know where this is stated in the enforcement criteria. The reason for this could be that if the Minister implicitly refers to crossbreeds, it could be contrary to the same article with which she could prohibit entry in the studbook:
Article 2.6.3 which refers to ‘in the interest of the promotion of breed purity or the improvement of breed characteristics’.
The Kennel Club is therefore be used as an extension of the Minister for this as well. After all, crossbreeding might not be in the interest of breed purity.
Ir. E. Meyer Viol
Stichting Ras en Recht (Foundation for the rights of the pedigree dog)
25 June 2020
From: Animals Act in force date; 01-01-2020:
2.6.3 By or pursuant to an order in council, rules may also be laid down for the subject referred to in the first paragraph, in the interest of promoting breed purity or improving breed characteristics, for animal species or categories of animal designated by this order in council which relate to, among other things:
– a. organisations which maintain stud books or registers;
– b. the requirements for animals, their semen, ova and embryos, including for entry in a herd book;
– c. the inspection of animals;
– d. the methods of research into and assessment of the performance and genetic value of animals;
– e. proof of registration in a studbook of animals; and
– f. conditions for the admission of breeding animals for reproduction.
Information concerning the RAD (Aggressive Animals Regulation)
Intrekking regeling agressieve dieren en huidig beleid
https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/kst-28286-228.html