Wording for breed standards, bullying is the same

There is a pattern between the language on websites that decry the use of bullying and those that herald the use of breed standards.

The words are the same. Yet, in one context, the concept of ostracizing those that don’t fit in is considered noble, and in the other, it is deplorable.

Breed societies want to be closed-minded. They want to be anti-diversity. They want to preserve something from centuries past and not allow animals in the breed to evolve.

Anti-bullying sites define bullying in the same terms that breed societies use to justify what they do.

For example, stopbullying.gov, a website run by the Department of Health and Human Services, says social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, includes leaving someone out on purpose, telling other children not to be friends with someone, spreading rumors about someone, or embarrassing someone in public.

Is that not really the purpose of a Connemara inspection, after you strip away all the puffery? The object is simply to say some horses cannot be part of the breed. And when that horse is failed at an inspection, it leaves the horse out on purpose; it tells others not to buy that horse; it spreads the word that this horse is not a quality horse when in fact that horse may be a far higher quality than those horses that passed; and it embarrasses the horse and owner in public. Often, in fact, the owner dumps the horse, and the horse winds up neglected or dead, not unlike a child who is ostracized and goes on to commit suicide.

Guidelines from the American Kennel Club on writing breed standards say: It shall be the duty and privilege of each parent member Specialty Club to define precisely the true type of the breed of pure-bred dogs which it was organized to promote and improve, and its definition, when approved by the Board of Directors of the American Kennel Club, shall and will be recognized by the American Kennel Club as the sole standard of excellence for which such breed of pure-bred dogs shall be bred and by which specimens of such breed must be judged in the awarding of prizes of merit. The standards of excellence of all breeds of pure-bred dogs now adopted by parent member Specialty Clubs and approved by the Board of Directors of The American Kennel Club shall not be changed in any respect until the wording of any proposed change or changes first has been submitted to the Board of Directors of The American Kennel Club and its approval of the same has been obtained.

In plain English, that says: “We are the anointed, and what we say goes.” I thought I left all that behind when I got out of school. I like the way the AKC capitalizes “specialty club.” There’s no grammatical reason to do so. But, these clubs are “special.”

I noticed the following justification for breed standards on a basset breeding website: “Master breeders commit themselves to safeguarding a breed’s original purpose and function because even though a breed may never be called upon to fulfill its primary purpose, breeders and judges must evaluate a breed based on: (1) how correct its structural build is to carry out its original purpose and (2) how effectively it uses that structure.”

What?

We are going to force a dog that is never going to hunt to be perfectly built and keyed up for just such a job?

Because … ?

Breed standards are sanctioned bullying. Not only will schoolyard bullying one day feel the full weight of the law, but related forms will be held accountable, as well. Breed standards and similar processes of forced coercion will not last forever.