Dog News-- Good

No links, but AB 1634, the California Mandatory Spay- Neuter Bill, has been roundly defeated, at least for now.

Also just breaking: the AKC will allow basenji breeders to bring in new unregistered stock from its native regions--Northern Congo, Southern Benin, Southwestern Cameroon, and Central Congo, from 2009 to 2013. This is a GOOD precedent for genetic diversity, though just a beginning. Only basenjis and salukis even have a process for bringing in new genes, and both may be too restrictive-- a topic for another time.

On the topic of closed studbooks, Luisa has what may be the best post yet. "Consider one of the people featured in the AKC Gazette's annual breeding issue a while ago: she described her efforts to get a live pup from a bitch [a Peke, IIRC] that couldn't carry a fetus to term, let alone whelp, without round-the-clock supervision and intervention. The pregnant bitch was the lone offspring of a dam that had suffered from the same problems. You may be thinking, "They call this a good breeder?" Ah, but both dogs were Champions. It reminds me of the breeder in Dog World who noted a photo of an early Peke — one capable of breeding normally — and remarked, "That was before we perfected the head." I kid you not."

Please RTWT!