The Bearded Collie Breed Liaison Committee

The Bearded Collie Breed Liaison Committee

In light of recent questions raised by Club members following the publication of the report into CEA by the JBLC, the recent discussion on the subject in the breed notes in Dog World and the letter published in Dog World by the breed Health Co- ordinator, the JBLC wish to inform members of the issues surrounding this topic.

The JBLC were first advised of CEA in the breed in August 2012 by a memberand it was then formally discussed at its meeting in November 2012. At this meeting the Chair – Dr Buckley explained that she knew the owner of the dog and something of his background, but did not divulge its identity. However she proposed a study should be undertaken, conducted by AHT and funded by the JBLC to confirm the presence of CEA in the breed and to estimate the prevalence, and she offered to manage it.

This proposal was accepted and the AHT completed the investigation and produced a report in May 2013 but still without dogs identified. At this meeting it was agreed to seek AHT advice on suitable steps to take to work towards eradicating CEA in the breed, as it appeared to be confined to a limited number of pedigrees. Again the Chair undertook to manage this investigation.

In October the Breed Health Coordinator, Miss Kershaw, produced a brief report which was published in the ‘’Dog Press’’ and on club websites. At this time the JBLC became aware of the name of the affected dog and connection of the JBLC Chair to it.

At the JBLC meeting in November 2013 the Committee were disappointed that there appeared to have been little progress since the last meeting. Despite significant opposition from the Chair and Breed Health co-ordinator a further report and action plan was produced by the committee and published at the beginning of December 2013. They undertook to advise owners with dogs which shared common ancestry with the pedigree of the affected dog, that if they were to consider breeding from them that they should have them tested for CEA. These letters have been issued, but again there was opposition and criticism from both the Chair and Breed Health Coordinator.

At the beginning of January 2014 five of the six Bearded Collie Clubs issued a statement to the Chairman informing her that her actions, comments and conflict of interest meant they could no longer support her in the role of Chairman. They also felt that it in the best interests of the breed, herself and the JBLC that she stood down from her role as Chair of the JBLC.

With no response to this statement a list of questions that the JBLC were awaiting answers to was sent to her but again no response has been received.

Unfortunately over the last few months there have been various difficulties and differences of opinion on the implementation of the recommendations made in the report. For this reason it was agreed by all of the JBLC Representatives that it would be fairer to all parties to appoint an independent Chair for their next meeting which was held on 8th February 2014. Bob Gregory, well respected in the world of dogs and current Chair of Manchester dog society agreed to take on this role. The agenda for the meeting had been limited to CEA and the JBLC Constitution as all the Breed Club Representatives were keen to move forward on these items and recognised the need to concentrate on these areas. Bob Gregory handled a difficult meeting extremely well and was very supportive of the decisions previously made by the JBLC in their CEA report and of the decisions made at the meeting, regarding the way forward.

During the meeting, Mr Gregory asked the Chair, Dr Buckley, on behalf of the JBLC reps, what she thought was the best way forward, and she accepted that the testing of close relatives was the way to go. She was then asked if she was prepared to work with the JBLC on the subject of CEA

and share with them the results of any Optigen tests she had had done on relatives of the affected dog. Dr Buckley replied that she could not give such assurances at that time and she formally resigned from the position of Chair of the JBLC with immediate effect.

Since then, information has recently come to light with regards to the Cohort Study that was undertaken by the AHT. We understand that Bryan McLaughlin informed the Chair – who collated the data from the dogs included in the study – that the affected dog was indeed the same dog as the Optigen affected dog and that the 5 close relatives were indeed carriers. The JBLC were not told of this disclosure and as such, have spent an awful lot of time trying to organise further tests that were not needed. At no stage have the JBLC ever been told the names of these carriers, in fact the name of the affected dog was never given until October 2013, and that was from an external source.

CEA – Where We Are Now

In summary this is an update of where we are:

The owners of dogs that shared recent common ancestry to the affected dog have been contacted to inform them of the situation. Recommendations have been made regarding testing with the offer of financial help. Parentage testing for the CEA affected dog has also been offered. We can only hope and rely on people to act responsibly to test where relevant and to act for the wider interests of the breed as a whole. At this time JBLC have not been given permission from the owner of the affected dog to publish its name to the wider Beardie community.

The Breed Clubs have been in contact with the Kennel Club who have agreed that they will record results for CEA in Bearded Collies. They have issued a Press Release which is available on the KC and individual Club websites.

Testing for CEA - You should have recently seen information regarding 20/20 Clinics which will save Members money on the Optigen CEA DNA test. Please support these ventures as there is a minimum of dogs required to hold these testing sessions and without your help, there is a chance that they may not be able to go ahead. It is hoped to hold a clinic at the NEBCOL Championship Show in May although other dates and venues may become available.

The JBLC will collate the results of all available CEA DNA tests in order to further determine the prevalence in the breed and to advise members re future testing recommendations.

Not as a result of CEA but as part of regular Health Testing, SCBCC/BCC are holding an eye test session on 18th May as part of the SCBCC Spring Frolic. NEBCOL will be holding another eye test session to be held also as part of their Championship Show in May. Full details are available from the Club websites or by contacting one of the relevant Club representatives.

The second phase of the JBLC Constitution was discussed by the members and a draft copy will be circulated by the Secretary to all Clubs for approval.

The next meeting of the JBLC is on the 10th May 2014 where further plans will be discussed to help continue to inform members and owners of Bearded Collies on how best to be aware and test for CEA. Hopefully these will include a Seminar later in the year. The position of Chair will also be considered and the meantime Bob Gregory has once again kindly agreed to act as independent Chair for the next meeting.