[Jacob-list] Registrations & Philosophies

[Kate Barrett]

I think there are similar genetic problems with every breed.  This malady
sound suspiciously like the HYPP( I have forgotten what that stands for)
genetic disorder that affects Quarter horses. It is commonly known as Sudden
Death Syndrome.  This genetic disorder can affect any descendants of the
stallion "Impressive".  However not all of the descendents have the gene, so
genetic testing is neccesary to determine if the descendant is a carrier.
The gene is dominant, so if the horse has the gene, the horse has the
disease and is a carrier, if not there will be no gene to pass on.  This is
a well known fact in the Quarter horse world, and if you buy a Quarter horse
from the Impressive line ( as I have) you need to make sure both his dam and
sire are HYPP negative.  Amazingly enough people still keep and breed horses
that are not HYPP negative, for reasons unknown to me.  It took a lot of
tests and studies to determine the genetic origins of this disease, and I
believe the AQHA lived up to it's responsibilty as a registry by making this
information legally required on registration papers. I don't think that any
registry should expect to do less than to require open disclosure of any
genetic deficiency that is known to descend from a certain line. Of course
if you buy and sell unrgistered or unpedigreed sheep, you would be taking a
greater risk of inadvertantly bringing this deficiency into your flock.
By the way...my kids and I were watching " The Ten Comandments " with
Charlton Heston and Yul Brynner last night,  and I couldn't believe all the
Jacob sheep they had in the movie.  Where did they find them?  I think that
movie was filmed in the early 60's. They also had lots of Jacob sheep skins
as props.  Isn't it funny what you notice after you acquire an affinity for
something?
Kate Barrett
Ruby Peak Jacobs
-----Original Message-----
From: Jacobflock at aol.com <Jacobflock at aol.com>
To: spahrfarm at dragonbbs.com <spahrfarm at dragonbbs.com>;
jacob-list at jacobsheep.com <jacob-list at jacobsheep.com>
Date: Sunday, April 16, 2000 7:56 PM
Subject: [Jacob-list] Registrations & Philosophies


>Fred Horak here and I should be taking the March JSC Journal to the printer
>but the discussion on registration hits Joan and me pretty hard.
>
>Mary Spahr's comment that we each have different approaches to breeding our
>sheep....if your personal goals are to conserve...then.
>
>Herein lies my personal conundrum with registration, in the context of
>conserving a rare breed, numerically impaired at its foundation, and the
>future of several rare breeds including the Jacob.
>
>First, a registration PAPER appears on its surface to be a "gold seal of
>purity" (a) this sheep meets the breed standard but does not address the
>question of its genetic content. (b) it says that subsequent generations
will
>meet the breed standard.  Case fact: two registered sheep that threw horned
>rams and polled ewes, second generation sheep that failed to meet the breed
>standard from non-related registered Jacobs.
>
>Second, registration PAPER does not address breeder motive: financial
>(registered sheep sell at a premium), personal (does type preference breed
>out certain breed traits), and even conservator motives (what is being
>conserved?).
>
>Third, a registration PAPER is the first thing a purchaser is handed, not
the
>pedigree, not a list of all progeny.  As a conservator I am often
frustrated
>by the naivete of purchasers who place so much confidence in the
registration
>PAPER.
>
>Finally, too few breed orgainzations have been able to address the question
>of identifying and purging registered animals for questionable progeny and
>genetic problems.  So few breeders talk about progeny problems, inbreeding
>depression or getting information out to educate breeders and reduce
problems.
>
>Case in point on a very personal level: in conjunction with a vet school,
we
>are repeating an experiment and have bred five ewes (all registered Jacobs)
>expecting to produce Jacobs that will die in 12-24 months.  If successful
we
>will have identified a disease, a carrier line and, perhaps, a test to
reduce
>its occurence.  If the carrier line is identified, what do we do?  Do we
>"unregister" sheep? Do we tell others?  This is not the first occurance of
>this problem...why hasn't it been addressed before?  The final verdict for
>this experiment is not in yet.  But what does the conservator do about the
>PAPER...the ram and ewes who produce a lethal defect...their parent sire
and
>dam lines?
>
>It is scientifically clear and evident that no breed registry (including
>Jacobs) can guarantee "purity" (with a 95% confidence level) unless the
same
>breeding is repeated seven times and all progeny from this same 7 time
>repeated breeding meets the breed standard.  Further, all the offspring
from
>the 7 breedings must breed true for seven breedings.  One failure means a
>recessive gene is in the pool; a to quote a recent note from a breeder " a
>bummer gets boinked behind the barn".
>
>I am not against registration despite its inherent flaws because behind the
>PAPER is a record of the family tree.  The conservator breeder registers
>animals to create the ree and branches.  When the conservator registers
>animals there is an assumed fiduciary responsibility to the breed and other
>breeders; there is an accurate record of all breedings and all progeny.
>
>There is an ethics question involved with registration and philosophy that
>Joan and I are facing and would like the insights of other conservators.
>What is the value of the PAPER, is there a fiduciary responsibility or have
>we assumed something that does not exist, what if the experiment proves
true
>and should the information be shared, if so, how?  What of the family trees
>involved?
>Fred Horak
>
>
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