An article that beautifully explains why health testing should not be used to eliminate dogs from the gene pool:
http://caninechronicle.com/current-articles/health-testing-education-or-elimination/
Some quotes from the article:
“One of the best ways to assure the health of a breed is to keep the gene pool from shrinking.”
“After spending years caring for, loving, exhibiting, and paying for health tests on a dog or dogs, it begs one to ask the questions, ‘Why do the health testing if you just decide to eliminate them from the gene pool? Don’t we do health testing to have the information and education to make the best choices for moving the breed forward?'”
This concept may work for non fatal conditions such as hip or elbow displasia, or in our breed, Factor VII carriers or affecteds, but I think if we ever have a genetic test for osteosarcoma, I for one would favor eliminating those that test positive from the gene pool. Having just lost a bitch to this disease, it’s just too heartbreaking to see them die young and in pain.
But isn’t that going to depend on the mode of inheritance? For instance, if it’s an autosomal recessive, you could breed an affected to a clear and never produce an affected dog. I’m not saying that it is an autosomal recessive mutation — we have no idea what the osteosarcoma mutation is — just throwing out a “what if,” because there are scenarios where you can breed from an affected dog yet not produce any affected offspring. Like we have with Factor VII.
I totally agree with these wise words,
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