Boxer heart health : round 3

By email
Monday 10th June

'Dear Mr ,

Apologies for the very long email trail attached, by way of the history of my concerns.

I am trying to find the right person or group of people to initiate a serious discussion about the prevalence of aortic stenosis in Boxers.

I am not satisfied with the response of the Boxer Breed Council vet advisor, who admits that he is neither a cardiologist nor a geneticist. I have not had a response from the KC health breed survey. Indeed, the links on the KC website to the breed health survey do not open. I have not had a response from the breeder of my puppy.

In short, everyone seems to be saying 'bad luck'.

This is not acceptable. This is not bad luck. This is bad breeding. 

Clearly, the gene for AS is prevalent in the Boxer gene pool. It may even be more prevalent in the south of England, but there is no data to establish this. The gene for AS does not follow Mendelian inheritance, thus, more information needs to be collected on animals affected with, or who have died from AS, as the existing database is woefully incomplete.

I am not a breeder, nor do I show my Boxers. I am lover of the Boxer breed. Only when breeders are compelled to provide information on the incidence of AS in litters, and when the KC collects comprehensive data from owners of AS-affected Boxers and vets who see affected dogs in practice, will the AS gene be bred out of the breed.

To watch a young dog die of AS is heart-breaking. A Boxer unable to run and jump and box and play is pitiful.

I have not included the cardiology report and pedigree here, due to the number of recipients. Please let me know if this would be of any use to you.

I look forward to your response.'

Boxer heart health 1

Boxer heart health 2

Themba's story

Who gives a damn anyway? Update on Boxer heart health

Right. Well. I did get a response from the Boxer Breed Council. But it's pretty much as I expected. The Kennel Club can't force breeders to get Boxers checked for heart defects like aortic stenosis. Some breeders do. And some breeders lie. Some hope it won't happen to them.

And none of that helps us make a decision about which adorable puppy to buy. So you take your chances and hope for the best.

I've taken the decision to go public with the information I have on the pedigrees of my two Boxers (one deceased from aortic stenosis), in the hope that other people will be able to avoid these breeders and pedigrees when choosing a Boxer puppy in the south of England (Surrey/Sussex/Hampshire). 

My approach is not endorsed by the Kennel Club or the the Boxer Breed Council. I have not had a response from the breeder of my 6mo puppy, Zozi. I did get a response from the breeder of the dog (Themba) now deceased, who offered to take the dog back and destroy him. Themba lived a short but happy life with us.

I would welcome feedback from other Boxer dog owners about their experiences with aortic stenosis, particularly in Boxers with the same pedigree as either of my two. Please help to collect data on the incidence of aortic stenosis in Boxer dogs, because only by collecting this information, can we be sure that aortic stenosis is bred out of the Boxer gene pool.

Tyegarth Tololo (Themba b. s29/06/2007 d. 01/09/2012)

WidleyLodge The Hobbitt (Zozi the puppy b. 21/11/2012

You can read Themba's story here.

The last word from me on dog re-homing

Thanks to everyone who read, and commented on, my previous posts, which told of our experiences with dog re-homing. Before I continue the adventures of the Mad dog woman for 2013, I wanted to have one last say on the matter.

Through our interaction with two rescue centres (Boxer Rescue Service (Southern) and The Dog's Trust) and several comments on my blog and on Twitter, it seems that re-homing a dog is not an easy thing to do. Whilst we completely understand the need for rescue centres to properly 'vet' prospective dog guardians, we do feel that the system is unnecessarily long-winded, time-consuming and frankly a pain the neck. Sadly, I don't think we will ever go to a rescue centre again. 

In the case of Boxer Rescue, we never even got near the kennels, so we don't know how many dogs are waiting to be re-homed. We do know that they only re-homed 28 dogs in the year to the end of March 2011. They have over £50,000 in the bank, and they claim that it costs £1,100 to re-home a Boxer dog (from their accounts submitted to The Charities Commission). Boxer Rescue Service (Southern) are a breed rescue service, recommended by The Kennel Club. I have written to The Kennel Club expressing our concerns about the organisation. From the documents submitted to The Charities Commission, one can see that the organisation received funding from The Kennel Club, for the kennelling of rescue dogs. That is, much of their income comes from the number of dogs housed, and NOT from the number of dogs re-homed. Certainly, this service appears to be motivated to kennel dogs and not find suitable homes for them, in direct contradiction of their stated manifesto.

And from what we saw at The Dog's Trust, we believe this is true of that organisation too. The kennels in Shoreham are really lovely. Bright and warm, with arm chairs and blankets. Perfectly designed for tugging at the heart strings for more donations. For here's the rub. They are centrally funded, from public donations, based on the number of dogs they can house at any one time (approximately 60 at Shoreham). If they are not maximally occupied, they take vans of dogs from the Republic of Ireland. I don't agree with this practice. 

I don't doubt that the people and organisations discussed here are committed to the animals in their care. We met some lovely people who clearly had a close bond with the dogs. What they lacked was a common-sense approach to re-homing, to making it a streamlined process for dogs and families.

I heard a radio debate this week which added another side to this debate. That of breeder-bashing. I do not support puppy farming. I do advocate neutering. But I cannot join in with pedigree breeder-bashing. We have been interviewed each time we reserved a puppy, to ensure our suitability. We have met both parents in the home, and seen all the puppies in the litter. 

Getting a new furry friend is a wonderful addition to every family. Having a dog brings many benefits; companionship, exercise and unconditional love. Rescue centres would do well to remember that they are there to bring dogs and families together.

Happy new-dog-year!

An open letter to Boxer Rescue Service (Southern)

Dear Boxer Rescue Service (Southern),

Further to our email correspondence, I write to offer feedback on our experience with your organisation in our recent attempt to re-home a Boxer dog.

We wrote to you on 15 November 2012 outlining our credentials and our wish to re-home a Boxer dog to be a companion to Brin, following the death of Themba. Our decision was not undertaken lightly. 

We had a reply immediately from your website co-ordinator, and the following day (16 November) a further request for our address. We also telephoned both numbers listed and left messages. We had no reply. 

Ten days later (26 November) we received another email, asking if we were still interested in re-homing. I replied immediately 'Yes, please'. You telephoned me later that day to say that you had passed our details to your home 'vetter'. 

During that telephone call, I asked you the following questions:

1. Are the Boxer dogs in your care in foster homes or in kennels? You said all the dogs are in kennels.

2. Does the home 'vetter' know the dogs in your care, so that when she visits she will be able to suggest a suitable match. You said that she does not know the dogs and will write a report, following which you will decide which dog might be suitable. At no point did you suggest that we visit the kennel to meet the dogs in your care.

3. I asked you about the availability of a suitable dog for us to re-home, and got no information. In fact, the impression I was left with was that you did not think you had a suitable dog to re-home. 

Three days later (29 November), your appointed home 'vetter' contacted me. Due to the nature of my husband's work, and the need for Boxer Rescue Service (Southern) to meet both of us, we had to agree a meeting time on a Saturday (8 December), a further nine days to wait. You have now cancelled this appointment, as we have registered an interest in re-homing a dog through another charity. 

We appreciate that you are a small charity, however, your association with The Kennel Club breed rescue implies a standard operating procedure. On this occasion, we feel that your level of service to us and to the Boxer dogs in your care, falls well short of expectations.

We wish all the Boxer dogs in your care happy homes. 

Dr Lesley Beeton
Shackleford, Surrey