Health Registries
Registries are data information "banks",
where results of health screenings are evaluated, rated, and certified.
OFA (Orthopedic Foudation
for Animals), CERF,
and PennHip
are the most recognizable of the domestic U.S.A. Registries. Canada has
the OVC for hips, and Europe has there own respective health registries.
Registries were formed with the intent to give
Breeders data on dogs which have been rated "acceptable" by the
Registry's crieteria. This data would then be used to make decisions on
acceptable breeding stock, allowing breeders to better the health condition(s)
within a breed by selective breeding practices. To a large extent, these
Registries have been successful in providing the data tools.
Unfortunately, this is not the whole story,
as genetics (and modes of inheritance) is complex science. The information
on dogs that pass is very, very useful. But so is the information
on dogs that don't certify - to be truly effective, one needs data on as
large a group of animals as possible, both good and bad. In an optimal
situation, a breeder would want to know both good AND bad in the bloodlines
they are considering breeding. In that way, one could balance the good
against the bad, and assess any risks which might not be currently obvious,
breed towards the good and away from the bad..
This leads to a discussion of Open
Registries vs. "closed" Registries. This would seem to be
"no-brainer" idea, being able to use data on both good and bad.
But the American Bouvier des Flandres Club (the Board of Governors, that
is) seems to think that it isn't, and has been unable to give it's support
towards that end. This stance (ostensibly because it "won't work",
"breeders won't participate with 'failing' dogs", "what's
our liability", "too much effort and too much cost") seems
to fly in direct contradiction to the ABdFC's responsibility in making
this a better breed.
A number of other Breeds (most notably the
Portuguese Water Dog Club of America, in their goal to minimize PRA) have
established their own Breed Registries, administered by the National Club.
Several of the Regional BdF Clubs have started efforts at establishing
their own registry functions. Also already in operation is the progressive
"Five Star Program" of the Cascade BdF Club in recognizing breeders
who are doing complete health testing.
The OFA has both types of registries. The OFA
Hip and OFA Elbow Registries are "closed", in that only the dogs
that pass certification have information published and available to the
public. Strongly to thier credit, OFA recently has adopted a more progressive
stance, and instituted the OFA Heart and OFA Thyroid Registries as "open"
registries where all data (option checked by the owner) is availabe for
use.
You can make a difference. Make your opinions
known. Purchase from breeders who believe in health testing.
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- Health Concerns
