Are breeders required to do genetic testing?
 

My little Lily just passed away from a genetic disorder called a liver shunt. I want to know if brededers are required to do genetic testing. I e-mailed the breeder I bought Lily from and I am yet to get a response from them. I guess I am angry. It won't bring my dog back but I want to know what the law is. If anyone knows what is required from breeders please let me know.

No, they are not "required" to. There are no governing bodies that enforce breeders to adhere to specific practices. But the ethical ones do anyway...because they care about their dogs and what they are producing, not because they are required to.

No there is no law that requires genetic testing; some breeder clubs request that their members do it. From my knowledge, there are no known markers for liver shunt, and healthy dogs without the disease can pass it on to the offspring, since it's a recessive trait. Of course, a dog with the disease should never be bred, in my opinion, because they are continuing to pass on the recessive trait. There is lots of research going on in this area, and hopefully in the not too distant future we will know more. I'm glad you e-mailed the breeder. She should be informed and the dogs that produced the puppy should be pulled out of her program. Good breeders offer a guarantee against this type of genetic illness. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I hope you will do a review of this breeder if she doesn't help you resolve the situation. Others need to be warned of her. If she's a byb, she'll probably do nothing, and will continue to breed the dogs.:(

:yeahthat:

I am so sorry that you lost your puppy. Please let us know what the outcome of your email to your breeder is when/if you hear back. :(

there are puppy lemon laws and ladymom knows the site sorry i do not know but if you search on yt only at very bottom and type puppy lemon laws you can read law for your state. Dogs are considered property so there is no malpractice, etc for dogs but you can collect in small claims court if judge finds in your favor.

There is no genetic marker for liver shunt as of yet but dr tobias at university of tennessee is doing a study on this currently so you may want to contact her in regards to this to get more information.

Some breeders do bat test their male and females though and may not breed one if they find this runs in their line but even people who do the testing the dogs can show no liver issue and still throw a liver shunt puppy sadly :( Also I think dr tobias has had two liver shunt puppies bred to one another an not thrown a shunt so the liver shunt issue is pretty complex and they are trying to figure it out and I believe the dink foundation donates money to this research as well as others. I think robin lodel on here with Ginger asked alot about this of dr tobias so you can contact her she is really nice and may have more info as well.

Dr Center and Dr Tobias are the experts on this topica - Dr center is an internal medicine specialist and Dr tobias is a surgeon

Also you can get a wealth of info on this on the two liver shunt groups on yahoogroups.com - one is dog liver disease and other is liver_shunt_mvd group

I am so sorry about your puppy but if caught early and dr tobias does surgery there is usually a very good outcome and it does not have to be a death sentence.

Let me add to this. Breeders should obtain testing for their breeding dogs. However, tests should performed at certain ages. Bile Acids 16 weeks and again at 6 months. There are 2 types of shunt genetic and aquired. Hips and knees in order to get a good OFA reading should be done at age 2. Cerfs for eyes. Heart, ears and full blood panel. While all these tests will tell you that your dog and/or pup is clear of genetic defects. It does not tell you if a breeding pair are carriers. So, all it takes is the wrong two dogs being bred and a horrible genetic defect can rear it's ugly head.

One must keep in mind that even the most reputable breeders can produce a pup with a life threatening genetic defect. What makes them reputable is how they handle a situation and if they stand behind their breeding......

I would check and see if NY has pet Lemon Laws. Breeders must adhere to such laws.

Just to clarify -genetic is one shunt usually and acquired is usually if a shunt is not repaired and the dog blows another shunt or if shunt repair is done they can acquire additional shunts but that is usually pretty rare but is always of concern.

The acquired is the bodies way of compensating for the initial shunt

There are shunts that aquired by other means.

However, I think this lady wants to know what here legal recourse is and that is dependent on lemon laws and/or she obtained a contract with this pup. And of course the dogs age.

what are other means as i am always interested to learn on this as well and it might be important for her to know as maybe the breeder will blame it on her so the more info she has the better equipped she will be

At time of purchase, what did your contract say with regard to liver shunt, or any other congenital disease?

here is some info that explains it well as runs in maltese and yorkie breed alot :(

WHAT ARE PORTOSYSTEMIC SHUNTS?

I am sorry to hear about your precious baby. Breeders are not required to do any testing at all. Most breeders will sell a pup with a health guarantee (though many do this for just the first year) and there are many conditions under which a pup is refunded/replaced during that first year. A letter from your vet certifying the liver shunt diagnosis and confirming the death from same would at least give you something to work with if you had a health guarantee.

My Lucy is a poster child for why breeders should do genetic testing. She has MVD and luxating patellas in both knees that will eventually require surgery.

I bought her from a very nice breeder that breeds small litters in her home. No puppymill; she has to have a vet recommendation before you ever visit the pups. Adorable all of them and much loved by her.

But, evidently, she does NOT do genetic testing; and I think this is an important step.

I totally agree that breeders should do genetic testing. But, I reiterrate, that there is no genetic marker that informs a breeder that the breeding pair are not carriers. They can both test clear, but the wrong two bred may produce a pup with a life threatening genetic defect. So, while testing is important, it is also important that a breeder knows their lines. And what is more important; is how a breeder handles a life threatening situation. Will they stand behind their pups.