Australia RSPCA advocates eliminating breed standards based on appearance

Once again, another highly respected group has come out against breed standards based on appearance. In this case, it’s Australia’s RSPCA, which establishes national policies and positions on animal welfare and works with the government and industry groups on national animal welfare issues. The agency dates to 1871, when its first concern was the ill treatment of horses.

Today, the RSPCA is asking for a fundamental shift in the way purebred dogs are selected and bred. It asks that breeders put health, welfare and functionality ahead of appearance.

It lays out a perfect blueprint for the principles the Connemara society should be embracing. Unfortunately, Connemara societies across the globe have been shifting the opposite direction, pushing for more and more restrictive breed standards based on appearance, even as a large portion of breeders have decried the move.

Australia’s RSPCA defines a responsible dog breeder as one who prioritizes “health and welfare over appearance: they work to breed away from known inherited disorders, they provide a very high standard of care for their dogs and conscientiously work to match supply with demand.”

I have yet to read one word in Connemara inspections literature about the health or welfare of the animals. It’s all circumferences of bones, shapes of ears, lengths of body parts, etc.

The Australia RSPCA calls on its country’s national kennel council to “open studbooks and outcross (with another breed), then backcross where necessary to increase the genetic diversity within particular breeds.”

It advocates that all stakeholders get involved in overcoming the current problems of pedigree dogs, including breeders, buyers, judges, national federations, veterinarians, scientists and animal welfare groups.

And, it says governments can encourage responsible breeding through a compulsory registration and licensing system for breeders, which would include aspects of breeding practices.

The end of breed standards based on appearance is coming. Societies that continue to pursue this ill-fated way of thinking and require breeders to have horses inspected based on appearance are wasting members’ time and money and eventually will be held accountable for that wastefulness.