But codes of ethics tend to be toothless documents that get dusted off and waved about only when a club is accused of not having addressed an ethical issue. Codes of ethics ought to have sharp teeth, but this is not enough. And on funding research on those problems. No single entity will be more aware of what a breed's genetic drawbacks are than a breed club. It is in an excellent position to monitor those which have already been identified and look out for new ones.
Someone needs to bring the attention of the veterinary community to specific breed concerns.
In a pilot program, The Golden Retriever Club of America, with AKC's cooperation, distributed informational pamphlets describing the hereditary problems of the breed and how to test for them to everyone who registered a Golden, thereby by-passing pet stores and irresponsible breeders. If GRCA can do it, so can others. Which brings us to the breeders themselves. Every person who puts dog to bitch should do so only with the intention of producing puppies as good or better than their parents. Dogs with hereditary disease, however beautiful or intelligent, are not better.