The portrait of Kate Edith and Grace Maud Hoare, is 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:
“At the same meeting of the roth July letters were read from Mrs. E. Maude Everitt and Mr. R. Hood Wright relative to the registration by Mr. Wood Wright of a dog. a cross between a Borzoi and a Deerhound.
“Mrs. Everittcomplained that as Secretary to the Borzoi Club, and a prominent breeder and exhibitor of Deer- hounds, Mr. Hood Wright ought, as a matter of duty, to use every endeavour to keep up purity of breed.
“Mr. Hood Wright, in his reply, asserted that, in his opinion, it was absolutely necessary to introduce fresh blood into the particular breed, asDeerhound were rapidly becoming so inbred that a large proportion of the pups died at birth, being too weak to suck, were difficult to rear, and when reared even the best seem especially liable to various diseases, and this entirely owing to the practice of inbreeding.
“The question having been fully discussed, the Committee decided that it cannot be permitted to register a cross-bred dog as belonging to a breed already recognised in the Kennel Club's classification of breeds.”
Right.
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 RKC and 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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To read the 1905 publication entitled “The Kennel Club: Its History and Record of Its Work” by Edward William Jaquet, secretary of the Kennel Club, see >>
www.terrierman.com/Kennel-Club-history.pdf
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