Due to the current trend with dog laws in the USA, it is my sad conclusion that the Jindo is on its way to becoming extinct in the USA.
Consider this...
- the most active importers of quality Jindos reside in Southern California.
- Southern California has the only Jindo shows in the USA
- The only active Jindo clubs are located in Southern California and neither are UKC clubs.
In 2006, Los Angeles county passed mandatory spay/neuter ordinances. The complete statement is located here:http://animalcontrol.co.la.ca.us/
Only dogs that meet certain exemptions can legally escape being spayed or neutered.
These are:
1. Dogs which are unable to be spayed or neutered without a high likelihood of suffering serious bodily harm or death due to age or infirmity. Written confirmation from a licensed veterinarian is required to qualify for this exception.
2. Dogs used by law enforcement agencies for law enforcement purposes.
3. Service or assistance dogs that assist disabled persons.
4. Competition dogs. A Competition Dog is a dog which is used to show, to compete or to breed, which is of a breed recognized by and registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC), United Kennel Club (UKC), American Dog Breeders Association (ADBA) or other approved breed registries. The dog or owner must also meet ONE of the following requirements:
a. The dog has competed in at least one dog show or sporting competition sanctioned by a national registry or approved by the department within the last 365 days; orb. The dog has earned a conformation, obedience, agility, carting, herding, protection, rally, sporting, working or other title from a purebred dog registry referenced above or other registry or dog sport association approved by the department; or
c. The owner or custodian of the dog is a member of a department approved purebred dog breed clubs, which maintains and enforces a code of ethics for dog breeding that includes restrictions from breeding dogs with genetic defects and life threatening health problems that commonly threaten the breed.
Many purebred breeders (AKC and others) are forced to try to qualify for Exemption 4 - Competition Dog. Realistically, Jindos cannot qualify for any of the exemptions. Breeders can no longer legally keep intact Jindos in the non-incorporated areas of Los Angeles county, and similar bills are being drafted in cities and surrounding counties so moving across county lines is not an option.
- The Jindo is recognized by the United Kennel Club, but no Jindo has been single-registered with the UKC since the deactivation of the Jindo Club of America. There is no more "breed judge committee" that would evaluate and approve the registration of new Jindos. Most if not all of the Jindos owned by breeders in Southern California are not registered with the UKC. The UKC uses a standard that is at the opposite spectrum of what Jindo islanders use.
- Six months after the passing of the law, only one new registry has been recognized by the Los Angeles Animal Care & Control as an "other approved breed registries." They still have not even recognized FCI registered dogs (FCI being *the* registry that the majority of the world uses), so it is unlikely they will accept out-of-country Korean Jindo registries.
- There are only two Jindo shows in the USA and neither are sanctioned by a national registry. It is doubtful that a hostile department would approve these shows even though the judges to these shows are recognized judges from Korea.
- Though there are conformation titles that Jindos can obtain, it is doubtful that these titles would be recognized as valid by a hostile department. Current Jindo titles consist of a 1st place at any age group at one outing.
Once the Jindo breeding is eliminated in California (there are people trying to make mandatory spay/neuter laws statewide now), it is doubtful that the Jindo would recover. It is, quite frankly, very costly to import quality dogs from Korea and establish a good proven line. Prime proven studs, if they are ever sold, would go for $40,000 dollars. Sometimes senior studs, available through connections, are sold for only $5,000. Though puppies are released and imported from Korea, it takes time to grow them out and it takes the next generation to evaluate their breeding quality. It is also quite costly to recreate the Jindo shows where experts from Korea are flown in to judge and to educate breeders. The average Jindo show costs $4,000 to run. This cost can easily rise by several thousands with multiple judges and extended stays by the judges to give seminars.
- Jindos are not part of a "department approved purebred dog breed club" and none of the Jindo clubs in Los Angeles have a code of ethics that is enforced. A "department approved purebred dog breed club" must be an incorporated nonprofit corporation and have been incorporated for at least three years. So even if Korean Jindo people were to act immediately and incorporate a new club/code of ethics, there would be no point as they would not qualify due to the 3 year requirement.
Outside of California, I only know of very poor breeders who do not partake in any type of dog shows or formal evaluation of breeding stock. Instead, they do the following:
- breeds Jindo - Siberian mixes
- has no idea how to proceed beyond the first generation
- has dogs from fighting lines
- dumps unsold PUPPIES in shelters
- breeds dogs with very poor breed type
- has no understanding of conformation
- presents mixes as purebreds
The situation looks rather bleak to me. The Jindo breeders, that import Korean champions and known quality dogs and make an effort to breed better dogs, will be forced to sterilize their dogs, give away their dogs, or move to another state. Even if breeders were to move to another state, the current national trend of dog legislation will follow them. Twenty-eight out of fifty states are considering laws that are considered anti-pet owner and several states are considering state-wide mandatory spay/neuter laws following the model of the Los Angeles county laws.It is doubtful that any Jindo breeding will survive "under the radar" with the vigilante attitude that some Animal Rights extremists carry. Some of them see no issues with using a contact phone number, breaking privacy laws by searching confidential databases, and leaking such info to animal control.
last updated 2/16/07