No response...

[lakeportfarms]

No response from my letter regarding the comments made by the Region 3 director in the recent Dexter Bulletin where she hoped that we can finally eliminate the "death-dealing defect" of chondrodysplasia out of the breed.   Anybody else send a letter or receive a response?  Now what?

[genebo]

I sent a letter to the ADCA president, but didn't get a response.

[Deleted]

Ok I am a little behind just sent my email to the president and to my regional director today.

[jamshundred]

Ha!  Waiting with bated breath.   Interesting to me there was such an uproar when a red polled breeder wrote a very timely and cogent article a few months ago about concerns she had over the red polled fad. .  and a few  ADCA  members who also happened to be polled breeders who complained were immediately given apologies.   So, when a member of the board suggests that the genetics that ARE the Dexter breed should be removed. . . . . . the response isn't quite so accomodating.  I am guessing. . .it is because of ignorance.   I am guessing there aren't two people on that BOD that realize that Dexter cattle were formed as a breed of DWARF cattle. For clarity;

In the beginning, ( 1870's) there were TWO breeds of cattle organized into ONE herd book.  Kerry cattle and Dexter cattle.   In early pictures  it is obvious that the Kerry cattle had (1) longer legs and (2) longer, narrower faces in most instances.    One can note in the early herdbooks that some breeders who raised and registered Kerry cattle also raised and registered Dexters.

SO HOW DID THEY TELL THE DIFFERENCE! !     THERE WAS . . . . . . NO. . . . .   DNA TESTING!.   The animals were registered by INSPECTION.  Every single foundation Kerry and every single foundation Dexter were registered BY INSPECTION.    So, what criteria sent a black horned cow into the Kerry herd book and which sent it into the Dexter herd book.    THEIR APPEARANCE AND TRAITS.    The long leg cattle with the longer faces were called KERRY.  The short little dwarf cattle with the wide foreheads and dish faces with the wide expressive eyes were called DEXTER.   The traits and characteristics that are described in EVERY Dexter brochure are connected to the CHONDRO genes!   Remove the chondro genes. . .  . remove the DEXTER! !    The success of the effort to change the Dexter breed has been astonishingly successful in a short period of time. . . . . . but .. . . .. alas. . . . . . . there is still a small segment of breeders who won't give up and those little pockets of DEXTERS will sustain this breed into the future. 


We have had leadership in this breed for decades now that have NO knowledge of the foundation of the breed they represent.  We also have owners with NO knowledge of the roots of the breed they own.  Why else would one GRADE polled  bull ( 4 beef outcrosses in a ten line pedigree equal GRADE and then some) be permitted to enter a rare heritage horned breed in America  which had, at best, a couple thousand breeding animals living and in service?   Arrogance and ignorance and a complete and total disregard for the breed itself.  At the time that polled animal was permitted the Dexter was still on the Breed Conservancy endangered watch list.  Do any of you realize what an egregious decision was made for this breed by folks who were short of wisdom and foresight?  

Dexter cattle are a DWARF breed of cattle.  To maintain this breed the dwarf carriers absolutely must be not only retained and used in breeding. . . but honored for all the wonderful traits they have given our breed and that are so valued. 

Judy

[wvdexters]

My Regional Representative Chad Williams telephoned me in response to the letter I wrote to him. We had a very good conversation on the subject and I felt that he was both honest and sincere during our discussion.

There are two main things that I have come away with from all of this. First, Chad assured me that neither the ADCA nor the Board have any plans to discriminate against chondro carriers within our breed in any way, or to keep them from being registered in the future. He said there are far too many carriers registered for that to happen and far too many Members breeding them!! YES

The second being, How important it is for all of us to stand up and let ourselves be heard on the IMPORTANT issues facing our assoc. today. Not always and easy thing to do, but necessary. How else can we be truly represented. I know I for one, am going to start paying a lot more attention to things than I have in the past and hopefully many others will soon see the need and join.

[Deleted]

I did receive a response back from the president. I am not going to post the email in a public forum. I will say that it was in support of chondro and those comments should not have made its way into the bulletin.