The Washington herald., 1914-03-15
KENNEL editor
Answers CRITIC
Herald Man Offers New Evi-
dence to Prove Need of
Dog Quarantine Law.
WHOLE CASE ANALYZED
British Resident Of Philadelphia Out
WHOLE CASE ANALYZED
British Resident Of Philadelphia Out.
lines His Views-A. P. O'Conor
Answers.
Philadelphia. March 10. 1914.

Philadelphia March 10. 1914.
To the Editor Of the Kennel Page: The
writer was deeply interested in your ar,
ticle which appeared in The Washington
Herald on Sunday. March s. in connec,
ton with a proposed quarantine law
having for its purpose the barring OF
English dogs. This law may eventually
be enacted. but il will be a step back.
ward. You have admitted the melan.
choly fact that your BREEDERS cannot sue
cessfully compete with the best products
Of English kennels, after thirty or forty
years OF drafts from the best bred stock
in England. II the proposed quarantine
law becomes effective, il will be only g
matter Of a few years until your entire
family OF dogs become degenerate
You breeders need continual fresh i'm
portations in order to keep up your pres
ent standards. You have admitted that
an American-bred fox terrier was sent
to England, kept in quarantine for the
regulation period. yet won its champion
ship, which is evidence that the quaran-
tine law In England does not seriously in
terrier with the health Of dogs~which are
placed in its care.
the breeding and exhibiting of dogs Is a
pleasant pastime. and not. as you infer
a commercial enterprise. They, however
sell their surplus stock. by which means
they are enabled to remain in the fancy
thereby doing a great deal OF good. Many
of our most successful exhibitors are what
might be termed poor men. They are
especially strong with the smaller breeds
which can be conveniently kept in small
yards, consequently. all the so-called
fabulous prices which are paid for Eng
lish-bred dogs do not find their way into
the pockets of the wealthy breeders.
.Un-Amcrican,"C Correspondent Says
Your Boston terrier would be well
come addition to our kennels in Great
Britain, but for the fact that In order
to be properly shown. their ears must be
cropped which is a violation of the Eng
lish law, therefore, 1t would be useless
to breed them.
For the sake of the fancy, as well as
for the pleasure of international compe-
tition among the members Of the canine
family. we sincerely hope that your great
newspaper will drop this un-American
proposition; it would he OF no benefit to
your American breeders or exhibitors;
your stock would soon fall into decay
from lack of fresh, healthy blood; your
millionaire fanciers would soon quit ex-
hibitinS and, taken all in all, your stock
would be the real sufferers. I am an Eng
Iishman, temporarily residing in your
hospitable country. being neither a breed
er or exhibitor of dogs here. and l am
only- actuated by a spirit of fair play.
We DO not quite approve of our stringent
quarantine law. but We must bow to the
inevitable, and hope for at least a modi-
fication Of our laws in the near future.
Yours sincerely,
F. ]. BARRINGER.
The above is a fair sample of several
letters of the same tone which have
reached this office. We have not admitted
.'the melancholy fact" that American
breeders could not successfully compete
with the best products Of English ken
nels.
For years American millionaires have
imported, at fabulous cost, many of the
best dogs produced in England. yet they
have not improved the breed. for the
very good reason that many Of the So
called best dogs" have been physically
unable to reproduce their kind We did
not say that the English quarantine af-
fected the health of dogs placed in its
care. Our complaint was against the in
convenience of having dogs detained
there, which discouraged the importation