The following is from the VID (Freunds- Friends) club
In order to protect the uniqueness of the Icelandic Sheepdog, the ISIC proposes to capture all information in a databank to assure cooperation between all countries involved in breeding of Icelandic Sheepdogs. The VID has posed the question, if we cooperate would we have access to the data base but this has not been answered. Therefore the exchange of data has not taken place, although we are not against such an exchange. We already have created the prerequisites because we have our own databank. Pedigree documents of our club are not recognized by the FCI or the VDH. The ISIC believes that the offspring resulting from further breeding will be lost. FCI breeders are informed in the ISIC letter that dogs sold to members of the VID club would decrease the genetic diversity of the Icelandic Sheepdog.
FCI clubs have a registry in which dogs with unsecured pedigrees can be registered if they meet a breeding standard and health requirements in order to further the bloodlines. Therefore almost every Icelandic Sheepdog can be accepted by the VDH, including the dogs from our club. Under certain conditions, breeding within the VDH is also possible. However, the proscribed procedure and excessive financial cost are in stark contrast to our expressed desire to transfer them into the VDH. We do not want to stand in the way of or prevent anything that would promote the welfare of the breed and in particular genetic diversity. The pedigree of our dogs is just as verifiable as dogs with FCI papers because our dogs and their dogs can be traced back to the same progenitors. For the genetic diversity of the Icelandic Sheepdog it is irrelevant what logo is stamped on their papers.
We do not declare existing pedigrees to be invalid and require that our pedigrees be used instead. One can breed in our club with any Icelandic Sheepdog that corresponds to the breed standard and meets health requirements. Eye exams of our dogs are carried out by certified Vets according to the standards of the VDH and FCI. HD evaluations are also carried out by professionals recognized by the VDH. Every Icelandic Sheepdog owner is welcome in our club regardless of the source (club) of the dog’s pedigree. We even welcome dual membership in VID and DCNH – but the DCNH does not tolerate that. Now of course the reader may ask why our club does not join the VDH. We have thought about this intensively in the past and this topic has been on the agenda of our annual convention and discussed:
1. We want to maintain our independence. As individual members of the VID we could join the VDH or the DCNH, but to join as a club there would be a significant financial burden and we would have to meet breeding technical requirements.
2. All costs dealing with breeding would be drastically increased.
3. All of our breeding dogs would have to go through a new test to determine their fitness for breeding including necessary health tests that were previously not recognized.
4. All of our breeding dogs as well as dogs to be shown, will need new documentation. They will get a registered pedigree in which only the name of the dog will be entered without the kennel name. All ancestors will be unrecognized because they are not registered in the VDH. Our dogs in other words, would be without pedigree and this is unacceptable.
5. Even if new documentation were issued, our dogs would remain the same just as their pedigree – the only difference would be the logo on the pedigree document.
We in the VID (Friends club) breed efficiently and at low cost, just as good a dog as breeders in the VDH and FCI. We hope that it becomes possible in the future to have cooperation and the exchange of data and breeding partners with the VDH for the purpose of protecting and sustaining the Icelandic Sheepdog to its greatest genetic potential.
(translation courtesy of JM)
