Kennel Club to Permit The Planned Use of Dual Sires

Following a feedback process started last year and careful consideration by its Dog Health Group, the Kennel Club has agreed to permit the registration of puppies from planned dual matings without the need for permission in advance.

The idea was first floated by Kennel Club Chairman, Professor Steve Dean, in the April 2012 edition of the Kennel Gazette, the Kennel Club’s monthly publication. Among the reasons given for considering this change were increasing the genetic diversity in breeds and to reduce the detrimental impact of large single litters on gene pools in breeds which have a small population size.

Professor Dean also put forward the idea that the concept of producing a litter from two sires could help reduce the impact of popular sires whilst still allowing some sires to be used more frequently than otherwise might be considered desirable by breeders with restricted opportunities to mate an individual bitch, following the Kennel Club lowering the limit on the number of litters an individual bitch may have to four.

A request for feedback on the idea resulted in little response but nonetheless the Kennel Club was keen to gauge feelings towards the idea which is common practice in many countries.

Since the advent of DNA profiling it has been possible to separate progeny resulting from dual matings – and the Kennel Club has registered puppies accordingly. However, this has only been done in the case of accidental dual matings and in the past a breeder would have needed to request permission to undertake a planned breeding of this type.

Consideration was given by the Kennel Club to the possibility of allowing registration of puppies from planned dual matings as a matter of course and the committee responsible requested the views of the Genetics and Health Screening Sub Group of the Kennel Club’s Dog Health Group, which includes independent experts in both canine and human genetics, a canine epidemiologist and a BVA-appointed veterinary surgeon.

The consensus of the group was that the idea is sound. There were no objections based on welfare grounds, provided that surgical AI is not involved, and the point was made that a two sire mating mimics natural behaviour. In addition, it was felt that there may be possible welfare advantages for the bitch, which may in effect produce two litters in one gestation/whelping. There may also be advantages in those breeds where an expansion of the gene pool is being sought.

With the views of the Dog Health Group now recorded, the Kennel Club General Committee took the decision to permit the registration of puppies from planned dual matings, with progeny to be separated by DNA profiling prior to registration, at its meeting in June. The revised policy will be introduced with immediate effect.

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Posted by chesliepickett on Jun 10 2013. Filed under World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.