Petition: Stop killing Deaf dogs

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jbeer

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The Dalmatian Club of America (which is endorsed by the American Kennel Club) advocates killing any dalmatian found to be deaf. Here's their position on the issue:

With the rising popularity of the Dalmatian breed, there has been a rapid increase in the number of deaf Dalmatian pups showing up in homes, pet shops and Humane Societies across the country. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM.

Responsible breeders NEVER knowingly sell, place or give away deaf pups to pet homes. Deaf pups should ALWAYS be humanely destroyed by a veterinarian. In the event that a deaf pup is inadvertently placed, it should be replaced with a hearing pup. Many breeders have their deaf pups put down at three to four weeks, though some choose to wait a few weeks longer. Dalmatian pups normally start to hear at fourteen to sixteen days of age, and hear by five weeks of age if they are going to hear.

The Dalmatian Club of America Board of Governors feels very strongly that deaf pups should NEVER be sold, placed or given away, and most certainly should not be bred from. Deaf Dalmatians are hard to raise, difficult to control (they are often hit by cars when they "escape") and often become snappish or overly aggressive, especially when startled.

IF YOU ARE A VETERINARIAN, please advise your clients to put down any deaf pups they may have bred. PLEASE do not make it any more difficult for your client by suggesting that perhaps a "special" home might be found. With the enormous surplus of unwanted dogs in this country, there is no need to preserve dogs with problems such as deafness.
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Edited for brevity, read the whole thing here: Dalmatian Club of America Position on Dalmatian Deafness

I find this so horrifying I can't even find the words for it. There are a number of petitions circulating against this. Here's one: Stop the Murder of Deaf Dalmatians - ForceChange and you can find more by googling "deaf dalmatian petition." I also sent an email directly to the Dalmatian Club contact Darlene Chirolas (chirolas@uiuc.edu) and cc'd the AKC communications dept (communications@akc.org) and the New York Times (letters@nytimes.com).
 
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Wow!!! Just kill dogs because they are deaf? That is horrible!! I will sign petition and I hope more people do the same.
 
Sadly it's common practice with all purebred dogs.
 
I find this just so very upsetting. I sent an email to the Dalmatian Club's contact person two days ago (and cc'd the New York Times for the heck of it) but haven't heard a word back. When I was posting here this morning it occurred to me - her contact info is a .edu address, which usually means a university or something. I checked - it's the University of Illinois Champagne-Urbana, which actually has courses in ASL, Deaf culture & history! Why would they support such an awful thing? I just contacted the University about it (and cc'd a couple of their Deaf profs to boot!)
 
this is awful....on another thread i said american attitude to animals sucks so i stick by what i said....shame on you america...the country that made 101 dalamations making such thing out of these dogs
 
Yeah, the more pure bred you are... the dumber you're likely to be.

I've had a couple of mixed breeds and they were SMART!
 
caz12 said:
this is awful....on another thread i said american attitude to animals sucks so i stick by what i said....shame on you america...the country that made 101 dalamations making such thing out of these dogs
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That's what happened after the movie came out in theaters... there was a sudden increase in people buying dalmatians. Unfortunately, they didn't turn out the way people expected (soft fur becoming rough fur as they get older and bigger). So, many of those dalmatians were sent to shelters.

When 102 Dalmatians was about to come out in theaters a woman published an article in the newspaper warning people about owning dalmatians and not to suddenly go out and buy dalmatians just because the movie makes them look cute.
 
VamPyroX said:
That's what happened after the movie came out in theaters... there was a sudden increase in people buying dalmatians. Unfortunately, they didn't turn out the way people expected (soft fur becoming rough fur as they get older and bigger). So, many of those dalmatians were sent to shelters.

When 102 Dalmatians was about to come out in theaters a woman published an article in the newspaper warning people about owning dalmatians and not to suddenly go out and buy dalmatians just because the movie makes them look cute.
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When Lassie was popular, there were also a lot of really stupid poorly bred Collies out on the market.
 
VamPyroX said:
That's what happened after the movie came out in theaters... there was a sudden increase in people buying dalmatians. Unfortunately, they didn't turn out the way people expected (soft fur becoming rough fur as they get older and bigger). So, many of those dalmatians were sent to shelters.

When 102 Dalmatians was about to come out in theaters a woman published an article in the newspaper warning people about owning dalmatians and not to suddenly go out and buy dalmatians just because the movie makes them look cute.
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alas they cartoons shame people so stupid as to believe they real......everybody know dalmations mostly deaf....as are blue eyed white persians cats do america want kill them aswel at least china eats them..so animals deaf have no intrinsic value...it sets awful poor value on life that not so called perfect
 
caz12 said:
alas they cartoons shame people so stupid as to believe they real......everybody know dalmations mostly deaf....as are blue eyed white persians cats do america want kill them aswel at least china eats them..so animals deaf have no intrinsic value...it sets awful poor value on life that not so called perfect
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It wasn't the cartoon. It was the live action version.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101_Dalmatians_(1996_film)

102 Dalmatians - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
cartoon in the way people cartoon moments in life that not real and egsatgerated.....based on the cartoon film disney 101 dalamations....it dont really matter what cartoon is ,it what happening is awful cruel nasty vicious.Have to wonder what sort of things want to kill animals that not perfect because these sadistic creatures are not human even if look it
 
bloody thats' just wrong, and indeed they tend to do that with pure breeds (breeders are real wankers, but as their idea is to breed out faulty bloodline, still its really uncalled for. try do that with humans, well they are already doing that now, like jsut last month they found the genes for deafness and will rid it...

id would never kill a puppy cuz they cant hear, dammit, they have a lot of love to give and be given, damn you selfish humans!!

but harder to look after but once 'done training to keep them knowing they are visual and seek visual commands or visual signals for cuddles' then you got a freind for life...

so senseless...
 
Well, I heard back from the University where the Dalmatian Club person works, and they are not happy about her using their resources for this. So at least the websites might get taken down.

Dogo Argentinos also tend to be deaf, but I haven't heard of them being killed for it... wonder what the AKC stance on that is?
 
jbeer said:
Well, I heard back from the University where the Dalmatian Club person works, and they are not happy about her using their resources for this. So at least the websites might get taken down.

Dogo Argentinos also tend to be deaf, but I haven't heard of them being killed for it... wonder what the AKC stance on that is?
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AKC, destroy them, or it used to be. Now they rule that deaf dogs can't compete in anything, even agility.

I rescue deaf dogs when the opportunity presents, and now have a deaf Pekingese. There are organizations that work to rescue and find homes for deaf dogs, and they have a much harder time getting a home. Here is one link to an organization if you are interested in helping deaf dogs.

http://www.d2care.org/news/
 
Such a despicable practice. When I was younger we had a Dalmatian/lab/husky mix. He was a wonderful dog with beautiful blue eyes. He also had a black patch over one of his eyes, and we were told they also kill Dalmatians with a patch over their eye. So wrong and inhumane.
 
american attitude for animals surprise me, rip cats claws out which mean yanking most of toe off,nutters go around killing rattle snakes in name of jesus,puppy farming and when i was there i saw people standing on rd corners with box of pups selling them...
have not settlers taken advice from indiginous american the indians on how to respect and care for animals,apparently not
 
Good Lord, would you kill the dog because it went blind? Why would someone kill a healthy animal just because it can't hear and why is this a deal breaker? Sick...thank you for posting this.

Laura
 
I haven't any research, and now I'm curious so I just might do a little googling. But I remember years ago my parents neighbor had a dalmation that was just nasty. My husband was over at my parents house once, and somehow this dog came up. He was telling me about how after 101 Dalmations came out (not sure if he was talking about the cartoon or the live action) but people were going out and getting them for their kids. Apparently they're not very nice dogs, not just my neighbors :giggle:, and not kid friendly at all. So people were trying to get rid of them. If that's true, then I don't think it's just because the dogs are deaf, but that it makes them harder to train. If they already have a nasty disposition, and being deaf makes them hard to train...... it probably makes it more likely they'll bite someone, and having to be down later. Not sure haven't looked it up yet, but it makes sense.

me? I'm not a fan of pure breeds anyhow, too many problems from inbreeding, I'll take a nice mutt any day over a pure bred.

edited to add.....So I read a couple articles, it's not that they're nasty but they are extremely energetic and hard to train. They don't respond to traditional dog training, and require a lot of time and attention. One article says if you work long hours or are away for extended periods you should not own a dalmation, both of the articles said something like this in regards to kids....Dalmatians were made extremely popular by Disney's 101 Dalmatians films and programs, especially for families with children. Ironically, the breed is not ideal for smaller kids - though proper training and socialization can make all the difference. Dalmatians can make excellent companions for the right household. This affectionate dog breed that bonds closely with its human companions and can make a lovely companion for the active individual or family.
So if a dalmation is hard to train in the first place, and it's deaf, I can see why there would be problems. I wonder if my parents neighbors dalmation was deaf.
 
This breaks my heart...
Deaf dogs make excellent pets if the owner is willing to learn a few hand signs and work with the dog. We had a Deaf pitbull that came in as a stray several years ago at work and it was the sweetest dog there. Not once did I hear of any of the vets wanting to put the dog to sleep because it was deaf. Instead it was adopted out to a loving home.
I'm sure there are plenty of vets that will find this article horrifying and then there are some out there to subscribe to this belief that deaf dogs are useless.
thankfully, the majority I know do not feel this way.
 
I would rather have a deaf dog than a hearing one and plan to adopt one when my ole' basset hound passes. A dalmatian it'll be!
 
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