I shall take a guess at answering the cancer question; I think that it has
to do with the general fragility of the Berner immune system and the fact
that the population of the breed is exploding will only make things worsen.
As I said, this is only my theory; my answer to the question posed by
Jordan.
I like to be happy. I like those whom I love to be happy. The world should
be a happier place. I do not believe Bernese should be bred for the
specific purpose of making people happy. To me, this makes them like a
product on a conveyer belt, perhaps similar to a toy desired by children.
Let us suppose that the popular toy of the moment was a doll and every child
wanted one or more of these dolls. Let us imagine that it is two weeks
before Christmas and weary parents are lining up outside stores so that
their children will be able to play with these dolls on Christmas morining.
Let us suppose that a shopper takes one of these dolls home and, in wrapping
it for his daughter, finds a significant safety problem. The honorable
thing to do would be to take the product off the line until changes were
made, though the company would lose money and cause children to be sad.
I believe each life, including those of our pets, is sacred. Therefore, I
must put my happiness on the back burner, I feel, until I am guaranteed that
which might not be perfect BUT, due to the most stringent quality control
(inspectors, testing, etc.); if this means waiting, then that is a small
price to pay given that in the end, the result will be that with which I
shall be happier BUT, more important, the life for which I have accepted
responsibility, having been treated as sacred and having intrinsic value,
will possess more stability and longevity.
And, no, I am not comparing the Berner or any dog to a doll; QUITE the
contrary, I believe that dogs have souls, that God trusts us to exercise our
dominion over non-human creatures in a moral and gentle manner, and not mass
produce them, use them to satisfy our greed such as in the puppy mills, and
more.
In other words, if an agreed upon authority, hypothetically, told me that by
the time I was 80 years old, that particular year would be the time when the
breed could be offered safely in terms of drastically decreased disease,
longevity, type, etc., as desperately as I might want one prior to then, I
could not justify being a part of the demand, possibly "forcing" an
unethical person to become my supplier.
The Shar Pei lady whose first pup who came from a pet store died of
pneumonia, yesterday, told my friend, a local business proprietor, that if a
person wants, say, a black toy poodle, the pet store calls a Hunte?
warehouse and tells them to ship one and if the store has run out of say,
Yorkies, might demand that a few of these be delivered in the truck as well.
This lady has made a committment to never again be a part of this process,
now that she has studied it and has the most admiration that I can summon.
Instead, her new pup was shipped from an ethical, established breeder, whose
accomplishments she described in detail. Personally, I am striving to be a
part of the solution and not of the demand, which will spell the downfall
or, as Susan A. has more or less srated, the salvation of the breed.
Lisa Allen
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