Qualzucht: Your Newest Four-Letter Word

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210 – September, 2022

By Caroline Coile

The word “qual” in German can also be translated as pain, anguish, torment, agony and ordeal. It’s not a new word, or concept, coming into prominence in Europe at least a decade ago when it targeted brachycephalic breeds. In 2016 several German veterinarians joined together to work on hereditary health problems of dog breeds, targeting Pugs and to a lesser extent, Frenchies. They based their project on the German animal protection law and “expert opinion on health problems in dogs from 1999” (citing a 1999 book on the subject). The German Kennel Club (VDH) worked with them to create a stress test for certain brachycephalic breeds, and from the VDH’s point of view, it seemed as though progress was being made.

But in 2020, Germany’s Secretary of Food and Agriculture, Jutta Klockner, announced further changes in the dog keeping ordinances were in the works (No, Klockner is not perceived as an animal rights activists, as she is involved in the meat industry. As an aside, she is a Doodle owner). The new ordinance was pushed through in near-record time, and included a section prohibiting the public exposition of dogs with hereditary or other health issues in any circumstance in which prizes are awarded or tests administered. This includes not only conformation shows, but field trials, hunt tests, obedience, agility, canine good citizen tests, and so on.

The VDH presented veterinary experts to fight the new rules pointing out that the medical problems attributed to breeds was based on outdated 20-year-old publications. Encouragingly, in 2021, the second chamber of Parliament agreed the expert opinions needed to be updated. This was largely ignored, and the ordinance became law, and on January 1, 2022 the German Animal Welfare Dog Ordinance came into force.

Well, that sounds kind and innocuous, right? Especially as long as you don’t own a Pug or a Frenchie. Who wouldn’t want dog welfare, and who wouldn’t be against dog torture? Apparently, most of us who breed and show dogs of any breed.

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210 – September, 2022

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