The Twins, Portrait of Kate Edith and Grace Maud Hoare, by John Everett Millais, who was an English painter and illustrator who, after about 1850, developed a powerful form of realism that can be seen in this painting of two twins born into the peerage.
And what of the deerhound?
This picture was painted in 1876, three years after the Kennel Club was created.
Just 20 years later, the Kennel Club was presented with serious questions about the health consequence of inbreeding in Scottish Deerhounds.
And what did the Kennel Club do?
The opposite of what they should have done.
In a 1905 publication entitled The Kennel Club: Its History and Record of Its Work, Edward William Jaquet, secretary of the Kennel Club, writes about the 1897 debate about Scottish Deerhounds that resulted in all the Kennel Club registries being slammed shut:
Health or purity?
Purity of course!
A dead dog is not a liability, after all; it's an opportunity for dog dealers to sell more dogs, and for wannabe rosette winners to try again with new stock.
Perfect!
Of course, it should be pointed out that Scottish Deerhounds ARE living longer now than they did only a few years ago.
Excellent!
So did the Kennel Club change its tune and decide to embrace a little outcrossing?
No, of course not!
Instead, they now suggest that all AKC dog owners buy veterinary insurance, which comes in so very handy when it comes time to pay for the chemotherapy!
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