S.B.T. Kennel Club Liaison Council Delegate's Report
David Levy 16th March, 2002
History
Is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier a fighting dog or not?
I suggest it is time we decided once and for all exactly what we have, what we are aiming to have and how we are going to represent it. I was heavily criticised on the internet for "denying the truth". My thanks to Archie Bryden, Juanita Hobbs and others who wrote in my "defence". I had expressed my opinion that the SBT is descended from Bull and Terriers that were originally bred for fighting but that for the last 60 plus years, the breed has been developed as a show dog and pet. I stressed that the name "Staffordshire Bull Terrier" was only invented in the 1930's to apply to the breed standard being registered with the KC and therefore could never have applied to the progenitors of the breed.
I believe that those who want to glorify the past should have the honesty to call their dogs by their real name of "Bull and Terrier" and not hide behind euphemisms like "Old Fashioned SBT" or "Irish SBT" that confuse politicians and result in our breed being included in bans.
KC Liaison CouncilThe meeting held on 28th November discussed:
· Making judging critiques Compulsory (Carried)
· Judges to be barred if they include ineligible appointment details on questionnaires (Carried)
· Interval between judging appointments to include a limitation of 6/7 per ten years (Defeated)
· KC or Breed Councils (where available) to co-ordinate lists of judges CC appointments. (Withdrawn)
· Known hereditary problems to be listed on puppy sales register (Withdrawn)
· KC to encourage 5 generation pedigrees (Carried)
Items for discussion
· Sales of Dogs Act 1999 re bitches whelping once in 12 calendar months (only applies to registered breeders)
· Confusion between Obedience, Working Trials and pedigree registration forms (KC to consider)
· Promoting canine activities including Open shows.
The next meeting will be on 30 May 2002. Any items for inclusion on the agenda had to have been with the KC by 28th February.
Dangerous Dogs Legislation
The world situation continues to change quickly and rarely for the better. Although France now seems to be as secure as the UK with regard to the Staffordshire Bull Terrier, little progress has been made in Germany and it now transpires that the state of Upper Austria is looking to introduce similar laws. The only response I have had from one of the main political parties is to confirm that they are looking at the German model but have not yet decided which breeds should be included. Through our contacts with the BVA, the European Veterinary Federation (FVE) has been notified of what is happening in Austria and has offered their support to the Austrian veterinary association to refuse to assist in defining "dangerous breeds".
The Domino stand proved very popular at Crufts and with the Dog World editorial imploring people to support the campaign, we were much busier than last year. Contacts were made with several influential people from the worlds of both dogs and politics and some further actions will hopefully follow.
As many of you will know, the Bull Terrier fraternity is much stronger than that of Staffords in Germany and Cathie Detmar has provided me with a copy of the leaflet describing the case being brought before the court in Lower Saxony. This will probably eventually pass to the Federal Court in Berlin. They do seem to have a strong case and have enlisted the services of breed experts from the USA and Great Britain as well as some top Barristers. Their fund raising is being overseen by Hans-W. Mueller, President of the F.C.I. Although their case deals primarily with the Bull Terrier we can only hope that they are successful and that the Staffordshire Bull Terrier can then also be brought to safety.
RSPCA
I am disappointed that only 11 clubs have responded to my request for contacts to be passed to the RSPCA. I hope I adequately explained the rationale for this list. I accept Mr Laurence's statement that the Head Office cannot impose total control on the many RSPCA kennels around the Country. By providing this list, and having it issued by the Chief Veterinary Officer to RSPCA, SSPCA and USPCA offices, we can at least remove the excuse that they had nobody to turn to for advice about our breed. I am therefore grateful to the clubs that did respond positively and the letter will be sent to Mr Laurence this week. Perhaps we can avoid another episode on television showing a litter of 9 week-old "SBT puppies" being killed for being too aggressive.
Westminster
I have met with Paul Tyler MP. His assistant has made enquiries on our behalf regarding the costs and conditions for hosting another Westminster reception which would be of the order of £1,500 to £2,500. Assuming we use the £500 or so remaining in the original Westminster account, the additional cost would be approximately £100 per club. I know that the breed has already collected a great deal of money to oppose breed specific legislation and also for the eye test scheme and in my opinion, the immediate threat to the UK Stafford from the potential spread of legislation from Germany has diminished.
It is difficult to quantify the remaining risk to our breed but I am constantly reminded of just how unprepared we were in 1991 and how the German dog owners were similarly caught unawares in 1999. We need to be sure that the current lawmakers understand the true nature of the Staffordshire Bull Terrier BEFORE any incident or media hype causes them to act irrationally.
Even if the likelihood of any government action seems remote right now, the effect would of course be catastrophic. I therefore ask the clubs to approve the formation of a small sub-committee (perhaps 3 people) authorised to plan another reception at Westminster for the Autumn when Parliament resumes after the summer break. A final decision to be taken at the enxt meeting in July.
Battersea Dogs Home
Harry Coble and I visited The Home as requested and Harry will be making a report. In summary, the number of Staffords and Stafford crosses has increased dramatically and the behavioural team had noted deterioration in temperament. There were about 30 Stafford type dogs in the Kennels of which we believed that only 3 were probably pure bred. One or two displayed some fear of people but of course we don't know just how traumatic their previous time has been.
It transpired that the Home was about to produce a leaflet to be distributed to anyone purchasing a Stafford or Stafford cross from Battersea. Harry and I had some concerns at some of the references and Ali Taylor, chief behavioural officer, asked if we could produce suitable text. With the kind permission and much assistance from Clare Lee I have done that and the Battersea SBT leaflet, based on the GSD leaflet previously produced by Battersea, is currently being printed. I have attached a copy of the text supplied to Battersea and I sincerely hope that this will be of use to the breed in general, carrying as it does, the "authority" of the World's leading Dogs Home. I will send a copy to each club secretary when I have them.
We have again agreed that it would be useful if nurses, and especially those dealing with temperament, could come along to some of the larger breed club championship shows to meet the owners and dogs that are most typical of the breed. I am hoping that both Southern Counties and East Anglian may be able to work with Battersea but of course there are large dogs homes in many more parts of the country including Manchester and Birmingham. Perhaps the clubs near those places could also offer support to those organisations.
David Levy