Question of the Week

Reginal Jose

Birmingham, Michigan 

Sounds like income tax: It’s yours, but someone else controls it.

Why would anyone relinquish control of their assets other than to contribute to a charity?

The AKC Board of Directors needs to put a stop to this nonsense and require DNA from the sire, the dam and the puppies in order to register a dog.

Anne Hier

North Branch, Michigan

Under the AKC's grandiose proposal, the parent clubs supposedly set the protocols for distribution, but the semen would be "donated" to AKC, and AKC would own it outright. In other words, despite those claims of parent-club directives, full ownership calls into question how long those directives would be followed. If, for example, a parent club stated that semen could only go to a member in good standing of their parent club, how would that be enforced? Semen from quality, health-tested purebred dogs has value, and it is rather outrageous that AKC would expect anyone to "donate" it to them rather than selling it for fair-market consideration or gifting it to another who has the best interests of any particular breed at heart.

While it is particularly important for those with rare breeds to preserve for the future, my suggestion is to simply have the parent clubs form independent foundations that they control. As 501(c)(3) organizations, they would be able to take donations to truly ensure the integrity and future of their individual breeds. It is not overly expensive or difficult to do this, as witnessed by the fact that there are currently 1.5 million 501(c)(3) organizations in the U.S. I can't imagine that there will be a lot of buy-in from a majority of the parent clubs, which would be necessary to make the AKC venture a going concern. 

This is particularly true considering that AKC has turned a deaf ear to numerous parent clubs questioning the flood of merle dogs that are turning up in dozens of breeds that have clearly been the result of unscrupulous cross-breeding to introduce that pattern, among other deleterious traits being introduced. Until AKC requires all purebred dogs in the registry to be both microchipped and DNA tested and actively purges the mixed breeds from the registry, they are hardly the optimal choice to have control and distribution of valuable biologicals. 

J. Charles Garvin MD

Marion, Ohio

Chairman, AKC Purebred Preservation Bank

To be clear, the AKC Purebred Preservation Bank (AKCPPB), who would own donated frozen semen — and pay for its storage — is a separate 501c3 organization from AKC, similar to ReUnite, Museum of the Dog and Canine Health Foundation.

When it comes time for distribution, which will not likely occur for many, many years, AKCPPB will follow the recommendations submitted by the breed’s parent club regarding both the proposed dam and the breeder. 

For example, the Fluglehound Club of America could specify that no semen should be distributed to a bitch who has purple coloration, or to a breeder who has never successfully whelped and raised a litter. 

AKCPPB, working with the parent clubs, provides an effective and efficient vehicle for the sustainability of purebred breeds for the distant future.

AKCPPB always welcomes questions, comments and suggestions, and more information is available on the www.akcppb.org web site.

Maripi Wooldridge

Gibsonville, North Carolina

Very interesting question … I’m more concern about which dogs will be selected for the process than what they would do with the collections. My feeling on frozen semen is pretty simple: Very few dogs are worth freezing to begin with. Who will determine the benefit to the breed in choosing the candidates for the program? Top-winning dogs are not a rule for a top-producing dog. We own the top two producers in Airedales with more than 100 champions each; neither was a top-winning dog. Yes, they won some, but not record holders in the ring, especially by today’s numbers. So again, who will determine their worth in the future …?

J.S. Shore

Nashville, Tennessee

NO WAY … AKC is a business, and, who knows, in the future you might decide it’s more profitable to make Doodles … Control should stay with the breeders who have worked for decades on their respective breeds.

Linda Scanlon

Eagle, Colorado

I cannot conceive of allowing someone else, potentially someone who is not even involved in the breed you have worked with for decades, being allowed to decide to whom semen you have decreed worthy of saving should be sent, or choosing the bitch on whom it is used.

As either the owner of the brood bitch or the owner of the sire of a litter, I take personal responsibility for the life of every one of those puppies, to whom they go as well as what becomes of them should the owners have any issue with keeping them — no matter the age. Is AKC going to do that? Is AKC going to thoroughly investigate those who wish to purchase semen to make sure it does not get into the wrong hands? In taking control over the frozen semen, it appears AKC is taking the position of being the sire owner, and with that comes responsibility other than just supplying the semen.

Breeders learn which specific lines mesh well with theirs to maintain the desired outcome as well as the ones that do not. Conscientious breeders also learn (sometimes the hard way) who can be trusted in their breed to properly care for and place pups in the best homes for the breed. They often have restrictions regarding who they would allow to use their dogs or get one of their puppies. Will AKC consider these decisions when they sell semen? I suspect not, because it would take too much manpower to cover all the breeds as well as educational time to learn the specifics of what every breed needs. One size (temperament, special needs, life experiences, etc.) does not fit all. 

Also, some of the joys of breeding come from taking the time to do all the research a good breeder does to find the best pairing for what they hope to accomplish, not only with the current breeding but planning generations ahead, learning and appreciating the health and now, the genetic history of mates to include siblings as well as past generations.

Breeding is very personal and should not be done on a whim. Frozen semen should not be a common market commodity that anyone with the money to purchase it can do when they decide to make puppies. We are not breeding for livestock that produces the highest milk yield or the best layers. We are not living in a country that dictates to whom you can breed, how many puppies you are allowed to keep alive (and chooses which ones), or how young or old your dog or bitch is allowed to be at breeding time. Within the law we have freedom here — let's keep it that way.

Debbie Hollan

Marietta, Georgia

I would NEVER deposit anything with AKC. It has become painfully obvious over the years that the AKC has strayed from its intended duties. They have become all about making money and nothing more. It scares me to think how much they could/would eventually sell people’s semen for. I doubt seriously that most of the folks that work for AKC know how a dog show is run, much less how to run a breeding program. So, no, I would not deposit anything with them, ever.

Alexia Rodriguez 

Smartsville, California

Yes! I would absolutely use it in hopes that some of the males I have now may be able to contribute well after I’m gone. I think it’s an excellent contribution to purebred dogs.

Mark Cocozza

London, England

I read with interest your reporting on the AKC Purebred Preservation Bank.

This was discussed several years back by the Kennel Club board in the U.K. following a request to the KC to provide £1 million in funding to pay for collection and future storage charges from dogs selected by a couple of people! 

The arguments used were:

1. The dogs collected would be healthy and free of known genetic and hereditary conditions in order to preserve genetically clear dogs for the future.

2. It would be isolated to around 30 vulnerable breeds that were in danger due to low registration numbers and lack of genetic diversity.

While I am sure many will see the headline as something positive and proactive, it opens up a very complicated and potentially dangerous avenue to go down if not considered properly.

I was involved in this discussion several years ago, so I have given much thought to the subject and felt I would like to share my personal views, which will hopefully give your readers some perspective and also open up a healthy debate.
Personally I find the idea of a couple of people playing God quite abhorrent. Who will they be?

While breeders make these choices every day, that is their responsibility, earned through years of experience and knowledge. Do you want to potentially entrust the future of a breed to a couple of people to make future choices on dogs they know nothing about? 

The next question you need to ask is why are these breeds vulnerable? The simple answer is that they are not easy to live with in a modern urban life. Mostly, their original function no longer exists, and they are not the greatest companions in a modern world, because of sharp temperaments (which are characteristically correct for the breed), coats that require too much care, or size or exercise requirements. Many breeds that have experienced a boom in the last 10 years are primarily small to medium sized, smooth coated and easy to live with. That is just a fact we have to face. Most breeds other than companion dogs were developed for a purpose. Realistically, how many dogs perform any function today? Does this mean we should be developing new purebreds to suit a modern world? Please remember all breeds were man made and most within the last 150 years. A lot has changed in 150 years. We don’t have children sweeping chimneys anymore. Is it possibly just time to move on? I am not advocating creating countless new breeds — the puppy farmers are doing that already — but having a long-term plan to maintain health and genetic diversity is not as simple as collecting from dogs today. 

Is it also possible that many vulnerable breeds are vulnerable because breeders are so protective of selling puppies to either competitors or allowing them to be bred from? There are certainly a few breeds that fall into this category. 
It is more important that breed clubs and breeders put together a breed-conservation plan to encourage new owners and educate on the breeds involved. By this I don’t mean a breed health conservation plan (which many breeds already do an amazing job at), but a plan to encourage new owners and families to enjoy their breeds. Do you think all breeds are doing a good job at this, or are many of them closed shops? 

If you go down this road, collecting from healthy dogs would need to be the number-one priority. That is fine today, but no one knows what genetic mutations will take place in the future that may actually render these collected dogs obsolete, as we currently have no way of telling in the future what new diseases or defects may occur, hence potentially rendering all the collected sperm a sitting time bomb that when mated to new mutated genes could have a worse impact.

If you need genetic diversity now, people and kennel clubs should be doing more outcrossing to similar type breeds. This way you will create a huge amount of genetic diversity in a generation or two, but still preserve breed type over time. Please don’t forget that is how all these breeds were originally developed. This still happens in many true working dogs today, as new abilities and characteristics are added or removed as the role of their work changes over time.

There are only two certainties in this world: We are all going to die, and every day things change. Look around the world at any industry or discipline that has not adapted. They get left behind in this fast-changing world that is only going to get faster.

Don Evans

Huntingtown, Maryland

I would rather donate to a parent club established and maintained semen-preservation bank than an AKC Purebred Preservation Bank where the semen is owned and controlled by the AKC.

Jennifer Gruneberg

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

I believe each parent club should set up an advisory council to oversee the distribution of that particular breed’s semen, to make sure that all bitches are up to date on health testing and are worthy candidates for the valuable semen from our past greats. We recently lost a valued breeder in the Boxer world, Barb Carrol of Bentbrook Boxers in Wisconsin, and she set up a person to oversee the distribution of the frozen semen she had, with all proceeds being donated to the ABC Health Foundation. I for one would be terrified of a puppymill owner getting ahold of the top Boxer studs and then using them on pet-quality, unhealth-tested bitches!

Kathleen B. Kolbert

Naugatuck, Connecticut

I have worked very diligently for the past 50-plus years to develop a line with my Turyanne Yorkshire Terriers. I do not do outside breeding. However, I have worked with several people who are interested in staying in the line and working toward a common goal. 

If this program is allowed, everything I have tried to do will be lost. The AKC will have no way of knowing if the people using this system are reputable breeders, or puppy mills or backyard breeders. To add to the problem, how would they know if the dogs are purebred?

I do hope they will give this program some thought and consider what this will do to the future of PUREBRED DOGS.

Larry Payne

Easley, South Carolina

I would never allow anyone to have complete ownership and total control over my dog's semen and how it is dispersed. No, thank you. Who knows where or what this could lead; it could be a future disaster once the owner no longer has any control of the semen. 

Wendy Willhauck

Port St Lucie, Florida

I have frozen semen on Alaskan Malamutes. The semen was frozen 40 years ago, and the bloodline goes back to the Byrd expeditions. I sincerely doubt if anyone from AKC would have extensive knowledge about possible health and temperament problems in the breed as well as intimate knowledge of the breed itself. My bloodlines and no personal involvement in the decision-making process? I will not participate.

Jo Ann Emrick

Pasadena, Texas

I am very selective about who my dog is bred to.

I most likely hold the record for refusals and have more than most have requests for a stud service.

Unless the guidelines are specific and up to my personal standards, I would not participate.

Pat Rock

Providence Forge, Virginia

I don't trust AKC to act in the best interests of dogs, although I am sure the goal is to be perceived as acting in the best interests of purebreds. I have mixed feelings about this, and their motives. On the one hand, for most of us it could be an opportunity that we would otherwise not be able to afford (to preserve semen beyond our lifetime), but on the other hand it could just be another money maker for the powers-that-be at AKC (non-profit doesn't always mean employees and directors don't benefit big time ...).

Barbara Miller

Brookville, New York

Good question.  I’m sure lots of thought went into the establishment of the “Purebred Preservation Bank,” but being as my breed, Norfolk Terrier, is one considered low in numbers, I’m still in protective mode. Should I decide to transfer stored semen I have on many of my stud dogs to the AKC, what guarantees do I have that any bitch bred to the semen I’ve donated will be free of any genetic problems pertaining to Norfolk Terriers, such as MVD? Storing semen has a yearly price tag attached to it; will AKC be charging for storage? I am considering taking part in this because of my age, but I’m hesitant as I have so many questions, such as: Who will be paying for the shipment of the semen from where the semen is currently stored to the AKC? Who at AKC is familiar enough with my breed to decide which stud dog’s semen is to be made available to the bitch in question? At this time I feel confident to leave my Norfolk semen to my handler or someone within my Norfolk Terrier breed club whom I have great respect for. Or am I just fighting the unknown?

Jessie and John Gerszewski

Tucson, Arizona

We had not heard about the “Preservation Semen Bank” at AKC before this. We definitely would NOT contribute. We would not want anyone to make a decision on what to do with any semen we have collected. No one knows our dogs better than us. If a breeder is truly interested in breeding to improve their breed, you cannot leave these decisions in the hands of someone who not only doesn’t know your breed, but doesn’t know your dog, his attributes, what he throws, what lines or bitches complement him, what lines or bitches to stay away from. Semen is not like seeds in a preservation garden! We aren’t producing tomatoes, we are producing living, breathing animals. Will AKC keep track of the problems produced? Will AKC take the precautions needed not to reproduce the same problems? Will the Preservation Bank weed out and eliminate semen from dogs who have produced heart or hip issues or any other health concerns?

Helen Ingher

Port Orange, Florida

The AKC Purebred Preservation Bank has asked each parent club to create criteria for their breed based upon every issue that would happen. The AKC Purebred Preservation Bank has committed to abide by parent-club decisions based on the rules describing the criteria. 

If a parent club does not wish to contribute their criteria for the success of their breed's preservation and future, the AKC Purebred Preservation Bank has the right to make decisions for the donated semen. 

Gail Ferguson 

Elkton, Maryland       

Absolutely not! AKC won't have the information needed to avoid certain bloodlines that contain some diseases or seizures, for instance! Not one straw will be donated of any of my dogs for this ridiculous idea!

Jo Anne Mittelman

Pleasanton, California

If I were to donate semen to the AKC Purebred Preservation Back, I would need to understand how it would be dispersed. I have a breed with a high incidence of mitral-valve disease and incidence of SM. It would need to be by a body that understood the genetics of my breed and had a knowledge of the pedigrees and what is behind them. It is important to strive for health and longevity. Perhaps an informed release form would be needed, but certainly a good understanding of how this program would work and would benefit purebred dogs.

Susan Sidler

Scottsdale, Arizona

No. I don't want my years of careful health testing and breeding to be used indiscriminately. I’m leaving my frozen sperm to other breeders who will care for it like I do.

Bobbie Wood

Cranford, New Jersey

As a breeder for more than 50 years, each litter I bred was carefully planned. I studied pedigrees, went to nationals to see dogs, went over get produced by sires I was considering using. Talked to the owners of the sires to find out what qualities their sires tended to pass on to their pups and what things we needed to be concerned about. All this information helps me determine the best sire to use to produce the best-quality puppies possible. Who at the AKC is going to know my breed well enough and the dogs that are frozen well enough to make these educated decisions? 

Tina Thomas Batchelor, RVT

Summit, New York 

I have read everything I can find about this proposal, and I am left with more questions than if I had not read a thing. I sent an email to the Dalmatian Club of America's member email list and have not yet seen my email appear nor has it been answered, privately or via the list, even though Dr. Charles Garvin, our DCA board representative, is on the board of this new subset of the AKC. (I have been a member of the Dalmatian Club of America for many years, member of regional Dal clubs and all-breed kennel clubs, shown in conformation and performance, bred Dals, and was a registered veterinary technician for almost 50 years. So I'm well experienced with being "in the fancy," so to speak.)

From what I have read, this proposal has a lot of questions yet to satisfactorily answer before it should ever get off the ground, not the least of which is ... just WHO will be making the decision to use your donated semen on what bitch ... and what will litter ownership look like. It’s been my understanding lo these many years that the AKC leaves the breeding decisions where they rightly belong ... in the hands of responsible breeders themselves. There are no AKC rules for what dogs you should breed, the exception being those concerning AKC registration, but nothing about adhering to breed standards, or inbreeding/linebreeding/outcrossing, or genetic testing, etc. But if you bequeath semen to the AKC in your will or your estate donates it, who acts in your best interests with the full scope of the knowledge you had about your dog, if you are no longer here to do it?

The answer tentatively given is the breed's parent club, and I suppose that would be the logical choice. However ... we all know how the politics of those in leadership positions may color judgments that should otherwise be in the best interest of the breed ... yes? Furthermore, breeders quite knowledgeable about the breed even among themselves do not agree on traits that are important to propagate. And then there is the knowledge of dogs in your own dogs’ pedigrees that are known to you but not common knowledge: Who will step in and advocate for that, particularly if the traits aren't very well known or known only if a person has had experience in that particular niche of sire and dam via a previous breeding?

This is personal to me, as I own frozen semen from a dog I bred and owned who was shown successfully in the 1990s and was one of the top Dalmatians at that time. I no longer actively breed, so I am concerned that my dog's semen is not left to expire needlessly if it can be used to further promote and enhance the breed. (I have left it to someone in my will, but of course she has to survive me to collect it.) But — and I should write that as BUT and underline it! — there are things I know about my dog and what he has produced and how he might complement a certain type of bitch that not everyone else knows. Do I leave written instructions on how it is to be used? Will that be taken into account? For that matter, will a parent-club committee even judge him worthy of keeping and what will that criteria be? 

And I hate to admit it, but I have had the thought ... is this another way for the AKC to be lucrative? Will they be in competition with current and existing semen banks? Not that that matters to me — I'm not a stockholder in any of those companies — but I know how much it costs me to store my dog's semen annually, and how much it costs to ready a bitch for breeding (testing, monitoring ovulation, etc.), have the semen shipped and a veterinarian implant it. The cost of doing all this will only continue to rise. 

I hope these concerns are accepted in the spirit in which they are offered. Make no mistake, I love my breed and I can see the value of this (possibly) in its preservation. And yet ... I am quite apprehensive of all the details that have to be ironed out by AKC and the parent clubs for this to move forward. And they have to be implemented honestly and fairly, with the goal of breed enhancement and improvement. As a responsible/ethical breeder myself, the most important question to answer for me would be: What guarantees would I have that the donation of my dog's semen would be handled with the utmost care when being used to create life ... the hidden traits that might surface that we aren't even able to prepare for NOW, some desirable, and some not and in fact quite harmful to the breed.  

I can see the value of it and yet ... Isn't it taking the breeding decisions out of the hands of the breeders themselves by choosing what dogs can be stored and/or bred?  

Linda Dick

Westhampton Beach, New York

Absolutely NOT.

I will leave the frozen semen that I have stored of my beloved Irish Setters to an Irish Setter friend who will choose who may and may not use it. This person will be made aware of my preferences based on pedigree, health, potential genetic issues, conformation and movement.
I would never let the AKC, or any other organization or strange person, choose where 30 years of my beloved breeding go.

I have had a male win Best of Breed at the Irish Setter national, and his 11-month-old grandson just won WD/BOW at the recent national. I also own the sperm of several other of my lovely males. I inherited the frozen sperm of one of the most desired sires in the breed.

Why would I want a stranger to decide who they could be bred to? Never happen!