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Alaskan Malamute Club of the United Kingdom
CODE OF ETHICS
All members of the
A.M.C.U.K undertake to abide by the Code of Ethics.
Club members:
1 Will
properly house, feed, water and exercise all dogs under
their care and arrange for appropriate veterinary
attention if and when required.
2 Will
agree without reservation that any veterinary surgeon
performing an operation on any of their dogs which
alters the natural conformation of the animal, may
report such operation to the Kennel Club.
3 Will
agree that no healthy puppy will be culled. Puppies
which may not conform to the Breed Standard should be
placed in suitable homes.
4
Will abide by all aspects of the Animal Welfare
Act.
5 Will
not create demand for, nor supply, puppies that have
been docked illegally.
6 Will
agree not to breed from a dog or bitch which could be in
any way harmful to the dog or to the breed.
7 Will
not allow any of their dogs to roam at large or to cause
a nuisance to neighbours or those carrying out official
duties.
8 Will
ensure that their dogs wear properly tagged collars and
will be kept leashed or under effective control when
away from home.
9 Will
clean up after their dogs in public places or anywhere
their dogs are being exhibited.
10 Will
only sell dogs where there is a reasonable expectation
of a happy and healthy life and will help with the
re-homing of a dog if the initial circumstances change.
11 Will
supply written details of all dietary requirements and
give guidance concerning responsible ownership when
placing dogs in a new home.
12 Will
ensure that all relevant Kennel Club documents are
provided to the new owner when selling or transferring a
dog, and will agree, in writing, to forward any relevant
documents at the earliest opportunity, if not
immediately available.
13 Will
not sell any dog to commercial dog wholesalers, retail
pet dealers or directly or indirectly allow dogs to be
given as a prize or donation in a competition of any
kind. Will not sell by sale or auction Kennel Club
registration certificates as stand alone items (not
accompanying a dog).
14 Will
not knowingly misrepresent the characteristics of the
breed nor falsely advertise dogs nor mislead any person
regarding the health or quality of a dog. ( KC/GJ
September 2008)
15 BREED
STANDARD All
breeding stock should closely follow the official Kennel
Club Breed Standard in all aspects and it is important
that all members familiarise themselves with the Breed
Standard, with particular attention being paid to the
conformation and temperament of the dogs. Dogs, which
manifestly depart from the Breed Standard, are not
suitable for breeding.
16 BREEDING
PURPOSES All
breeding should include the overriding objective of
improving the overall standard of Malamutes. Equal
weight should be given to type, temperament, health and
soundness. Nervous or aggressive dogs are not
satisfactory as breeding stock or pets. Litters should
be conscientiously planned using both healthy mature
bitches and stud dogs, of sound temperament and
conformation. Members will be honest in dealing with
prospective buyers and fellow breeders and will
endeavour to co-operate towards a programme of
improvement for the breed.
17 REGISTRATION
& ENDORSEMENTS
All dogs used for breeding should be registered with the
Kennel Club and full details of their pedigree should be
known.
All puppies should have
their registration endorsed by the breeder “Progeny not
for Registration” and, in addition (unless being
exported by the breeder) “Not for Export”. The
purchaser of a puppy must be advised of these
endorsements in writing before the purchase has been
completed.
The purchaser of a
puppy and the breeder must sign an agreement which may
include a clause as to the conditions to be satisfied
for lifting these restrictions.
18 PLANNING
OF LITTERS
No one should breed a litter unless he/she has the right
facilities for dam and litter, and the time to devote
proper care and attention to rearing the puppies and the
well being of the dam. There should be some demand for
the puppies before the bitches are mated.
19 BREEDING
AGE LIMITS
Bitches will not be mated before her third season, and
will not under any circumstances be mated before her
second birthday. If a bitch is to be bred from, she must
whelp for the first time before her 6th birthday. A
bitch must not whelp after her 8th birthday, unless KC
permission is granted.
20 WELFARE
OF THE BITCH
No bitch will be bred from twice within a 12 month
period. No bitch should have more than 4 litters in her
lifetime
21 STUD
DOGS Only
entire dogs with two fully descended testicles should be
used at stud and not before eighteen months of age.
Members who own stud dogs should be aware of the need to
improve the breed and enhance the reputation of the
sires. They should refuse stud services to inferior
specimens of the breed. A stud dog owner must be
satisfied as to the conditions under which the litter
will be reared and acknowledge their own responsibility
for the resultant litter. It is considered prudent to
restrict the use of a stud dog services until the health
and quality of progeny is proven.
22 PUPPY
SALES
Prospective buyers of puppies should be screened for
suitability and ability to provide long term homes. They
should be advised of the characteristics and problems of
the breed. These include the need for grooming,
exercise, family contact and the need to socialize ass
soon as possible, as the breed has a tendency to dislike
other dogs.
23 PUPPY
INFORMATION
Ideally no puppy should leave the breeder before 8 weeks
of age and in any event never before 7 weeks of age.
Each purchaser of a Malamute puppy should be provided,
at the time of sale, with an accurate pedigree, a Kennel
Club transfer form and a registration certificate.
He/she should also receive a diet sheet and information
about training, worming and vaccination. Advice should
be given about suitable books and membership of the
breed club. It is strongly recommended that breeders
identify their litters by a permanent form of ID
(microchip or tattoo) before sale. It is further
recommended that breeders provide a DNA profile for any
puppies they have bred.
24 PUPPY
VARIATIONS
No puppy, which has a physical defect or shows a clear
departure from the Breed Standard, should be sold
without the buyer being made fully aware of the defect
or departure from the Breed Standard. Breeders should
replace any puppy, which develops a defect to such a
degree, that, on the advice of two independent
veterinary surgeons, the puppy has to be put down, or
they should refund the purchase price. The breeder is to
be properly notified before any such action is taken. It
is advisable for breeders to take out insurance cover on
any puppy.
25 HEREDITARY
DISEASES
Breeders should not knowingly breed from any stock that
has known and proven hereditary diseases. It is a
requirement that all breeding stock:-
A) Must
have a permanent form of ID (microchip or tattoo) before
any of the tests in B and C take place and these numbers
recorded on all paperwork relating to these tests.
B) Must
be x-rayed for hip dysplasia and the x-ray plates
submitted to the BVA for scoring under the KC/BVA Hip
Dysplasia (HD) scheme. The breeder must be in possession
of the hip score certificate of the bitch and have
received a copy of the stud dog’s hip score certificate
prior to any mating taking place.
a) The
x-ray should be carried out by a suitably qualified
veterinary surgeon after the dog has attained the age of
twelve months.
b) Consideration
is to be given to the score of each hip (the lower the
score the less the degree of HD) and will influence the
decision to breed and the choice of stud dog. It is
highly recommended that breeding stock with an
unacceptably higher score than the prevailing breed
average or significantly uneven scores should not be
used for breeding purposes.
c) It
is recommended that the combined hip scores for both
sire and dam should not exceed 200% of the prevailing
breed average score. For example, if the breed average
score is 13, the combined hip scores for both sire and
dam should not exceed a total of 26. Scores over 20 are
to be considered high and a score of 12/1 although breed
average is unbalanced and highly undesirable.
d) It
is strongly advised that all x-ray plates are submitted
to the BVA for scoring, even if on general veterinary
surgeon’s advice the hips are considered poor, so that a
true picture of HD in the breed can be assessed.
C) Must
be eye tested under the joint KC/BVA/ISDS eye scheme for
hereditary cataracts (HC) before a mating takes place.
a) For
the avoidance of doubt, a current valid eye certificate,
within the last 12 months, unaffected by HC, must be
held by the dam’s owner prior to any mating taking place
and the stud dog owner must have furnished the breeder
with a similarly current valid eye certificate.
In cases where frozen
sperm is used a valid eye certificate must be held at
the time of collection
b) The
eye examination should be carried out by a suitably
qualified eye specialist under the above mentioned
scheme after the dog has attained the age of 12 months.
c) Breeders
must test for HC annually and only dogs which are
unaffected are to be bred from/to.
d) It
is recommended that breeders in their breeding
programmes have an awareness and a reasonable
understanding of basic genetics. When planning a litter
breeders should avoid mating a known carrier of HC with
another known carrier of HC as this may increase the
risk of producing a significantly higher number of
affected puppies in a litter.
If a foreign dog is
used in any breeding it must meet the breeding
requirements of the country of its origin or the country
where it resides and this must include hip scoring and
eye testing
It is recommended that
all breeding stock should have a DNA profile prior to a
mating taking place.
Should breeders find
hereditary problems occurring in their bloodlines, they
should be honest and open about it to ensure that it is
not unknowingly perpetuated in the breed. Breeders
shall keep accurate records of all their breeding stock.
26 CONDUCT
Officers and
Committee of the Breed Club are always ready to help
with members' problems, whenever possible. Members
should conduct themselves at all times to reflect credit
on the ownership of dogs. Members should not allow dogs
to roam and cause a nuisance to other people. They
should accept responsibility for cleaning up after their
dogs in public places
Breach of these
provisions may result in expulsion from club membership,
and/or disciplinary action by the Kennel Club and/or
reporting to the relevant authorities for legal action,
as appropriate.
A.M.C.U.K April 2009
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