Germany\u2019s beloved sausage dog, the dachshund, could be under threat in the country, its national kennel club said Wednesday, citing a new draft law that looks to prohibit the breeding of dogs with \u201cskeletal anomalies.\u201d <\/p>\n
The draft bill, published in February and currently being considered by the authorities, was introduced as part of the Animal Protection Act, which seeks to strengthen existing laws on so-called \u201ctorture breeding,\u201d the German government said. <\/p>\n
The document said it could ban the reproduction of breeds prone to particular problems, such as the frequent spinal issues seen in dogs with short legs and a long back. <\/p>\n
According to the German Kennel Club (VDH), other national favorites like the German shepherd and schnauzer, and even Snoopy himself, the beagle, could also be affected. <\/p>\n
History has seen many famous lovers of the low-slung but feisty dachshund, or \u201cdackel\u201d as it\u2019s known in German. <\/p>\n
Napoleon Bonaparte owned\u00a0several dachshunds, and Germany\u2019s last emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, had a headstone erected for his dackel, \u201cErdmann.\u201d <\/p>\n
The painter Pablo Picasso was photographed with his dachshund, Lump, who inspired the artist\u2019s famous line drawing \u201cLe Chien.\u201d <\/p>\n
A dachshund even became the first official mascot for the Olympic Games \u2013 in Germany, of course \u2013 when organizers unveiled Waldi the Dachshund for the 1972 Summer Olympics. <\/p>\n
Michelet added\u00a0that she believes \u201cthe new draft law is exaggerated\u2026 and is aimed against breeding as a whole.\u201d <\/p>\n
The VDH has launched a petition to save \u201cour favorite dogs,\u201d arguing the reform would leave too much room for interpretation in determining what constitutes a genetic defect. <\/p>\n
As of Wednesday, the petition had attracted more than\u00a015,000 signatures. <\/p>\n
On its website, the VDH said that \u201cmany of the proposed changes, such as regulating the online trade in animals or taking action against illegal puppy trade, make sense.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, the animal protection law contains requirements that could mean the end of many healthy dog breeds in Germany,\u201d it added. <\/p>\n
Germany\u2019s agriculture ministry denied that the new draft bill would amount to a ban on particular breeds, including the sausage dog. <\/p>\n
The ministry said the new regulation seeks to prohibit breeding practices that inflict long\u2013term suffering on the animals. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to consistently protect animals from pain, suffering and damage,\u201d the ministry said, adding that details of how the new regulations would work are still under discussion. <\/p>\n
She argued that the kennel club she belongs to has adhered to the same breeding standards since 1888. \u201cFor 136 years we have not changed our standard breeding practices.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIf the breeding ban happens it would have a significant impact\u201d on dog breeders like her, she said, adding: \u201cI hope it\u00a0won\u2019t come to that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
Germany\u2019s beloved sausage dog, the dachshund, could be under threat in the country, its national kennel club said Wednesday, citing a new draft law that looks to prohibit the breeding of dogs with \u201cskeletal anomalies.\u201d The draft bill, published in February and currently being considered by the authorities, was introduced as part of the Animal <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17354,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}