The War of the Sausage Dog is raging in Germany.
German officials are currently debating a law that could put restrictions on dog breeders, saying the law is designed to ensure that traits that cause the animals pain are banned, according to Sky News.
So far, so good. But the current version of the law wants to ban what it calls “abnormalities,” and lovers of Germany’s Dachshunds say they think the breed is under attack.
The German Kennel Club says the German shepherd, schnauzer and beagle breeds could also be targeted, according to CNN.
“The sausage dog is part of Germany’s cultural heritage,” Dachshund owner Marion Michelet, chairwoman of the Deutscher Teckelklub Berlin-Brandenburg kennel club, said.
“The sausage dog is not torture breeding just because it is small and has short legs,” she said.
“The new draft law is exaggerated … and is aimed against breeding as a whole,” she said.
“Some of the disease characteristics listed in the draft law are too vague and undefined,” Leif Kopernik, the chief executive of the kennel club, said in a statement, according to The New York Times.
“Whether too small or too large, if the Animal Welfare Act were to be implemented in its current form, many popular and healthy dog breeds could be banned from breeding,” Kopernik said.
Should government have the ability to choose which small dogs people can have and which they can’t?
Kopernik said that the kennel club wants the law to have very specific characteristics to make clear what it considered a deformity.
A representative for the German Ministry of Food and Agriculture said the version of the law that currently exists is likely to be changed as it goes through Parliament.
“The issue at hand pertains to the characteristics stemming from breeding for deformity and the overall welfare of animals, not, as erroneously asserted, to a blanket prohibition targeting specific breeds,” the representative said.
“The focal point remains on averting breeding endeavors involving animals showcasing traits liable to cause anguish or distress,” he said.
Dachshund breeder Sandra Karthäuser bristled at the notion the government would regulate the breed.
“Because there is no evidence that the dog is somehow ill due to its exterior. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be able to survive the hunt.”
She noted that some variations within the breed may be prone to ailments.
“But to ban the whole breed because of this, that doesn’t make sense to me,” she said. “Then you can also ban Labradors” because some are prone to hip dysplasia.
A German official tried to say that breed banning is not the government’s intent, according to the BBC.
“No dog breeds will be banned,” a ministry representative said. “We want to prevent breeders from deforming dogs so much that they suffer.”
“There will always be sausage dogs,” he said. “We will just never see any with legs one centimeter long.”
But if Germany’s branch of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals gets its way, the law will be used to ban 17 breeds, including Dachshunds, pugs, French bulldogs and English bulldogs.
