Statement FCI over kortsnuiten situatie in Nederland

06-07-2020

Bijgaand publiceren wij het FCI statement over de kortsnuiten situatie in Nederland. 

FCI statement: Position of the FCI regarding the “BOAS” issue in the Netherlands

During the last weeks, there has been extensive communication on official channels or in social media about the obligation imposed on the Dutch Kennel Club, Raad van Beheer (RvB) by the Dutch Government to follow the breeding requirements decided by the latter.  

The matter has been discussed lately by the FCI, and more particularly its General Committee, and the  Raad van Beheer.

We understand that the Raad van Beheer is now under the obligation to work according to the new Dutch law as far as the registration procedure of brachycephalic breeds is concerned.  The FCI rules cannot be placed above national legislations.

The FCI however find it essential to clarify one point which raised a lot of uproar for being misunderstood : in the new Dutch regulations concerning the brachycephalic breeds, the Raad van Beheer confirmed that any reference made to “cross” refers to mating between 2 animals (“morphological varieties”) from the same breed (2 x Pug, for ex.), one with a CFR > 0.3 and the other with a CFR < 0,3.  The Raad van Beheer does not register crossed breeds (eg : Staffordshire Bull Terrier x French Bulldog).

As FCI members are and will be (directly or indirectly) affected by the decision of the Dutch Government, the FCI put different questions to the Raad van Beheer in order to clarify the respective positions.

Please find below the questions put by the FCI to the Raad van Beheer and their answers, for the sake of transparency. 

FCI questions and the answers from the Raad van Beheer

1. What other breeds are being considered by the RvB to be included in this list in the near future?

The government does not talk about breeds. Only about the muzzle length CFR which may not be smaller than 0,3. These 12 breeds mentioned by us are the majority of breeds with an extreme short muzzle according to the FCI breed standard. With them we wrote our breeding plan because the majority of the population cannot meet the new criteria. It could concern more breeds but these are not in the picture now.

We first looked at the breed standards to see which breeds can be affected. The dogs who have a muzzle that is shorter than 0,3 are concerned.

We have special proceedings for puppies born out of those breeds.  They have to show that one of the dogs which are bred from had a muzzle that is longer than 0,3.

2. Has the RvB been in official contact with the country of origin of the breed in the present list and asked for support on this matter?

We have been in consultation with the French KC several times about the breed standard of the French Bulldog.

3. Will the RvB agree not to issue export pedigrees to those breeds

We will only issue pedigrees and therefore can give export pedigrees only to the dogs in the breeds that fulfil the requirements

All the breeds that get an official FCI export pedigree are purebred. Nothing has changed. But because of the measures of the Dutch Government there will be fewer FCI pedigrees in those breeds.

We will not register crossbreeding in the full FCI studbook.

4. What is the general background for the government decision?

Animal health and welfare and the related legislation

5. What is the plan of the RvB?

We will have meetings with the concerned breed clubs. We do not know in detail what the next step will be at the moment. An update whenever applicable will be sent to the FCI.

6. With reference to the RvB’s statement “The Dutch Kennel club regrets that the minister does not implement the necessary additional regulations for example the import of short-muzzle dogs. The imported dogs are not included in the enforcement criteria and, by focusing enforcement on the dogs bred by organized Dog World in the Netherlands, they are only more likely to increase in number. The health and welfare of the short-muzzled dogs will not improve if only breeding in the Netherlands is regulated. The Dutch Kennel club will, in collaboration with the breed clubs of short-muzzle dogs, take initiative to tackle this legal inequality with regard to import dogs and dogs originating from alleged puppy farms”, the FCI would like to know why the RvB called for an international action against these breeds?

The RvB asks for action against illegal import and puppy farms, not for an international action against these breeds. We want measurements in the Netherlands for all dogs and not only for the FCI pedigree dogs. We have 160.000 new puppies yearly in the Netherlands, 35.000 are purebred puppies from the Dutch Kennel Club and more than 80.000 are being imported. The estimated share of Dutch purebred puppies within a breed / look-alike is sometimes less than 10%. This means that 90% of the puppies within a breed are non-pedigree look-alikes imported from abroad.  

In the breeding plan it is also explained.

7. Does the RvB expect to register the breed-crossing related in this matter?

We will not register breed-crossing in the FCI main studbook. Everybody who is importing a dog from the Netherlands will get a purebred dog with a 3-generation pedigree of the same breed.

8. How does the RvB expect to handle and register the export for these breeds?

If a dog has an official FCI pedigree or a pedigree from an FCI contract partner, it will be checked. If the chip number is correct it will get an FCI pedigree. It is not forbidden to own or import dogs to the Netherlands that do not comply with the breeding rules of the Government.

The FCI takes note of the following last statements made by the Raad van Beheer :

The RvB does not ban breeds

The criteria drawn up by the Dutch Government are intended to ensure that the brachycephalic breeds remain healthy/become healthier.

The Dutch Government has not gone as far as to forbid the breeding of brachycephalic breeds; it concerns dogs that do not fulfil the criteria set by the Government. If the parents meet the criteria there will be no breeding ban imposed by the Government and pups are registered in our NHSB (Dutch Studbook) and pedigrees will be issued.

 

The RvB follows the rules of the FCI

The Raad van Beheer is acting in full compliance with the rules of the FCI and her own statutes and internal regulations.

 

The RvB will not register non pedigree dogs (look-alikes) in the main Dutch Studbook FCI (NHSB)

The Raad van Beheer will not register pups that are the result of crossbreeding, inbreeding with other breeds or look-alikes in the Dutch Studbook FCI (NHSB). For these dogs a strict procedure is followed according to which they can be registered but they will not be registered in our main FCI Studbook.

 

Thuin, 3^rd July 2020

On behalf of the FCI General Committee

 

Dr T. Jakkel

FCI President