BYB - what can I do???

Hi all
After your thoughts and any advice you may have (particularly if you know anything about the laws governing breeding here in Australia). Here's the story:

We purchased Rascal from a friend who bred from her pet Staffy. The father belongs to someone she met through our childrens' school.

Out of a litter of 8 I know of one male who is totally deaf and I am becoming increasingly suspicious about Rascal's knee/hip - We're off to the vet next week to get her checked out.

My friend has kept one of the female puppies and now plans to breed from her as well. She now has two intact female staffies she is planning to breed from (I think one more litter from the mother and two or more from the puppy).

Now this person is a good friend however she has a very strong personality and will not accept that what she is doing is wrong.

What can I do? I am so distressed that there could potentially be at least 24 staffies to be born over the next year or two who a) have no thorough health checks; b) could be harbouring some serious genetic defects which may make the dogs' lives miserable; c) end up in the homes of people who shouldn't have dogs in the first place!

She sold the first litter for $800 per pup (we got Rascal for a "discounted" $500) - waaaaay too much for unpapered pups of dubious parentage!!!!! She assures me the pups are "all pure", but really there is no way of knowing.

One positive (maybe?) is that while Rascal's mum is black and white, her dad is red and white, so she hasn't bred from exactly the same colouring (or is it like the blue eyes/green eyes thing where it's the same gene???)

The only knowledge I have of breeding is what I've read on here - mostly from Caryll and Steve.

Is there anything I can do??

(Steve and Caryll I can hear you guys fuming from here!!!! - ok....breathe in....breathe out.....!)

Oh, and to answer any questions about why we bought from this friend - we had been considering purchasing a dog for a long time - we loved her Staffie and were considering making a Staffie the new member of our family. We planned on sourcing a reputable breeder, then our friend announced she was breeding from her dog and asked if we would like one of the puppies. We thought long and hard and in the end decided that we couldn't do anything about the fact she has bred from her dog, but we could at least ensure there would be no more breeding from at least one of the puppies, so we bought one. Well, we ended up with two but that's another story. Both Millie and Rascal are both desexed, woo hoo! so that cuts the lineage down by a quarter

I know what some stubbourn people can be like and when they get something into there head there is no reasoning with them.
Maybee you could try showing them a few dog home websites and ask how they would feel knowing one of there pups was in there.
sadly as they have already made money from breeding your probably on a uphill battle to convince them. Good luck though

I'm not fuming, just feel so sad. The bitches she has sound as though they are there just for breeding purposes, which is such a shame.

It sometimes feels so hard to 'do' anything at all that seems to make a difference. But even talking to someone who is breeding this way can make a big diference in the long run, although maybe not for the two bitches she already has.

The first thing to consider, I think, is how highly you value this friendship. If she's a really good friend that you would not want to fall out with then you will probably have to just consider dropping the odd hint & explaining why you think it's wrong to breed in this way. Explain about the health tests that are necessary nowadays to combat genetically inherited problems.

If you decide that you want to do more you will need to contact either a local dog earden or the local council (however they are set up in Australia) to ask what rules there are in owning breeding females & breeding from them. I seem to remember Vanessa saying something about having to get a license? I may be wrong, though.

Until you have that information to hand you can't really do anything other than trying to educate your friend.

So sorry to hear that Rascal's knee isn't getting any better. The good news, though, is that if it's the patella then they can operate with amazing results. Unfortunately it is something that is hereditary & could have been inherited from either sire or dam. As there were obviously no dna tests you will not know if Rascal has L-2-HGA or HC unless you, yourself, test for it. More expense, and it may not be covered by insurance.

Good luck - it's really great that you feel strongly enough to try & make a difference!

Would she have to declare any earnings from puppy sales to the taxman??? Depends how subtle you want to be !!

There are two ways to handle this, you can kindly tell her to look at these sites so she can make a more informed decision to breed, or you can go all guns blazing and tell her she is cruel blaba. Neither i fear will work. Shes not doing anything illegal so there really isnt much you can do but try to explain things to her a little better.