Norwegian ban on SW and CzW

[Huan]

Hi,

If anyone from you didn't send the petition or had problems with doing it
yet here you can find an online petition:
http://www.wolfdog.org/petition/

After entering your name, country and email address the petition will be
send to all email addresses that Per Olav proposed.

Best regards,
Przemek

[Per Olav]

Hi to you all.

For those of you who already have signed the protest to the Norwegian
Committee of Justice and the Parliament - thank you very much !!!

For you who have not - please sign and send. The media have already had
their full portion, so it is not neccessary to address the media. Target
the politicians - that is -use the "to-line addresses" only.

Blessed Easter Holliday to you all - and don't forget to sendt your protest
to the Norwegian Government.

---
Per Olav

[Per Olav]

Dear Per, I am a new owner of a CsW dog (his name is Indya nd is 4 months
old. I would very much like to sign the petition to the Norwegian
government - but could you first explain to me what are the reasons that
they want to ban them? Thanks a lot and many greetings from Slovenia. Darja

Hi Darja.

These are the official reasons given by the Norwegian Ministry of Justice.
The Ministry writes:
"the Department bases this on that both are breeds with large
requirements to their owners. Precise information on amount of wolf
content, has not come forth. For Saarloos Wolfdog the last inbreeding of
wolf was approx. 40 years ago. CSV has a shorter history, and the first
successful inbreeding with wolf in the breeding program was in 1958. These
dogs are few in Norway today. The Department is not aware that they have
caused any damage or harm." and "The Department has come to the conclusion
that Saarloos Wolfdog should follow the general rule for the time being,
while the CSV should be considered a dangerous dog according to the new
law. It can not be excluded that it could become relevant to forbid the
Saarloos Wolfdog also, especially if it appears in communities that can not
be assumed to have a responsible attitude to such dogs."

In other words: The Ministry has no information of the breed, but is
argueing that the closer the wolf - the more dangerous the breed. To stay
safe they are banning.
Thats why the Ministry accept the GSDs and the Belgian Sheperd dogs, the
Saarloos is temporarily accepted but the CSV as the youngest breed should
be banned.

Below is an English translation of the Ministrys arguements regarding wolf
and dog crosses - enjoy

15.5.4 Should crosses between dog and wolf be considered dangerous dogs?

Several instances asked to give recommendations concerning a new dog law,
are in favor of a ban on breeding dog=96wolf crosses and also a prohibition
against keeping or importing such mixed breeds.

. Dangerous behavior towards human beings from wolves in their natural
environment is practically nonexistent. As is apparent from section 15.4,
a large number of groups agree that crosses between dog and wolf are
dangerous for people. Internationally, there is an increasing interest in
certain communities in wolf-dog crosses with a high wolf content.

The Department chooses this as a basis and therefore suggests as a starting
point that such animals be defined as dangerous dogs.

There is less agreement on how high such a wolf content should be, for the
animal to be classified as dangerous and therefore banned. The Norwegian
Kennel Club maintain that all dog breeds have roots in animals considered
wolves, and that also many of the dog breeds of today have some association
or other to wolves in the breed=92s early days.

The Department will maintain that the question to be discussed, is how much
inbreeding of wild wolf in dog in recent time should be encompassed by a
ban. In the evaluation of a ban, there should, amongst others, be sought a
definition that is as practical as possible.

Several dog breeds may have wolf in the breeding process prior to the dog
being acknowledged a breed by FCI of which the Norwegian Kennel Club is a
member. In recent time this is the case for the Saarlos Wolfdog and the
CSV. It can not be excluded that the same is the case for eg. The German
Shepherd Dog, Alaskan Malamute, Siberian Husky and the Belgian Sheepdog
breeds. But especially the German Shepherd Dog is an extensively tested
and wellknown dog breed which, even though with a possible early wolf
element, has a normal function in society and is also utilized as a working
dog to a great extent.

The Department has been in doubt to how extensive a ban on dog types that
are a cross between wolf and dog, should be. The Department has as a
starting-point, that it has no grounds to suggest banning of dog types that
are well established in this country. It could be appropriate to restrict
this to dog breeds with original wolf mixing, which are registered in
Norway by the Norwegian Kennel Club before January 1st 2003.

(Alternative translation: It could be appropriate to accept all dog breeds
acknowledged by the Norwegian Kennel Club before January 1st 2003,
regardless of original wolf content)

But if there has been an inbreeding of pure wolf in individuals of the
breed after the breed has been acknowledged by the FCI which the
registrations in the Norwegian Kennel Club are based on, the ban should
encompass offspring from such individuals. With such a restriction, the
Department assumes that the ban can protect against new dog types that are
a mix between wolf and dog, that the prohibition can practically be
enforced, and that established and widespread dog types are not affected by
the ban.

The abovementioned restriction, means that the dog breeds CSV and Saarloos
Wolfdog are not affected by the ban. However, the Department finds it
necessary to evaluate in particular a ban against these breeds. The
Department bases this on that both are breeds with large requirements to
their owners. Precise information on amount of wolf content, has not come
forth. For Saarloos Wolfdog the last inbreeding of wolf was approx. 40
years ago. CSV has a shorter history, and the first successful inbreeding
with wolf in the breeding program was in 1958. These dogs are few in
Norway today. The Department is not aware that they have caused any damage
or harm.

The Swedish Kennel Club decided in 1997 that Saarloss Wolfdog and CSV
should not be allowed to be registered or participate in any Kennel Club
based activity. In a press notice the 29th of April 1997 the Board of the
Swedish Kennel Club said amongst others:
<<One of the breeds in question comes from former Czechoslavakia, is called
ceskoslovensky vlcak and is considered very shy and watchful. It was given
an interrim approval by the FCI in 1992. The other breed is from the
Netherlands, is called saarloos woolfhond, and has a very reserved and
independent manner. This breed has a final FCI approval. Both breeds are
very similar to the wolf, also exteriorwise. The Swedish kennel Club has
previously taken a definite stand against non-registered wolf hybrids.
Amongst others in "remissvar"(written and posted answers?) and in a policy
decision not to allow wolf breeds to participate in any activities within
the organisation. The same applies to the socalled pitbull terrier. One of
the reasons for the strong dissociation from these breedmixes, is a
considerably increased risk of harm to people and other animals.>>

The Department has come to the conclusion that Saarloos Wolfdog should
follow the general rule for the time being, while the CSV should be
considered a dangerous dog according to the new law. It can not be
excluded that it could become relevant to forbid the Saarloos Wolfdog also,
especially if it appears in communities that can not be assumed to have a
responsible attitude to such dogs.

[mijke]

Hi Per,

Today I have send the petiton also to my contactpersons of other breed
clubs and asked them to be solidary(because now it is the CSW, tomorrow
an other breed). And I hope more people want to do the same to their
contacts in the dogworld. I have also made a flyer with a appeal to
sign. This I'll distribute on the Dutch show (Leeuwarden)on Monday. I
hope every little action will help!

Greetings,
Mijke

[Per Olav]

Hi Mijke

Thank you so very much.
You're darling

Greetings

Per Olav

[Margo]

As you already noticed it's not more possible to send the petitions. So here
is small statistics (it's only a small part of all votes because many people
send the emails directly without using the form on our page

All votes: 275

Poland (140)
Czech Republic (57)
USA (16)
Italy (13)
Netherlands (12)
Slovakia (10)
UK (7)
Belgium (4)
Austria (2)
France (2)
Canada (2)
Norway (2)
Spain (2)
Switzerland (2)
Germany (2)
Greece (1)
Israel (1)

It's a pitty we had only one week so it was not possible to make bigger
campain ... ))))

Now we are waiting for the news from Per Olav...

Greetings,
Margo

[mijke]

Is there already some news about the decisions in the Norwegian
parliament???

By the way, indeed the list is only a small part of all the votes. For
example in Holland, lot of people send directly emails (without using
the form). And there were send also 2 lists (in total 114
signatures!)with names and addresses of people who signed the petition
)

Greetings,
Mijke

[Tonje]

Wow - it so great that som many have contributed! Marvelous! I haven't spoken
to Per Olav recently, but can give you a little update about things as far as
I know.

Firstly there has been a lot in the Norwegian media about how the dog owners
are in an uproar against the new law. The law encompasses many more issues
than banning the CzW (but allowing the Saarlos). In addition to banning
various breeds on more or less shaky basis, it contains little things like IPO
will be forbidden and no breeding will be allowed with dogs that are trained
in IPO, Schutz etc (which will mean the end of importing breeding animals from
abroad - which will have a large impact on breeds like GSDs, Rottweilers,
Malinois, Riesens etc.). Also there is a vast section concerning when anyone
is allowed to kill a dog (more or less when you feel like it, doesn't really
matter how you do it either). Totally it is one of the strictest (if not the
strictest) law in Europe. The total proposal was run through with the "Justice
Comittee" (the comittee consists of politicians from various parties) and the
papers reported that the law will probably not be passed as it stands today,
but will have to be revised. This will first become clear on the 5th or 15th
(uncertain about the day) when there will be a vote on the law. If it passes
it stands, but hopefully it will be sent back for further revision.

Exactly what the situation is on CzW especially, I don't know. I sincerely
hope they have registered how idiotic the proposal of banning the Czw is, but
I fear there are no limits to downright stupidity.
Regards Tonje

[Margo]

Thanks to all of you that wrote or sent a protest mail to norwegian
authorities against the banning of CV in Norway. It has been given
attention to. I read one of our national newspapers today were a politician
said he had received at least 700 !!! e-mails from Checkia and Slovakia
protesting against the new law. The law has not come into force yet - and
this attention helps.
Again: thanks!!!

oeyvind

[Per Olav]

Hi everyone.
You have all been doing a terrific job

The Norwegian Labor Party says in its press release that the Party is not
in favour of breed specific ban. In particular the American Staffordshire
Terrier and the Staffordshire Bullterrier are mentioned. The CSV is,
however, not in particular mentioned in the Partys press release. By the
end of this week we hopefully know something more.

[I should like Oeyvind to mail me - I was not aware of you as a subscriber
to this list ]

[Tina]

Hi everyone.
You have all been doing a terrific job

I am so glad to hear that

[wolfeywolf]

I've signed the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/nahfkamp/
I hope many more will sign it as it has been published on many dogsites
world wide.
Laura

[Tina]

I've signed the petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/nahfkamp/

I have sent many e-mails last month, but have just signed the petition and
have posted it on all of my lists
With nearly a thousand "Shiloh people" reading my request to add their
signatures, I hope that it will help a little.

[Tonje]

Hello everyone!
To give you a little update on the Norwegian legislation - things have taken
an unexpected turn and we are a bit at loss.

The proposition for the new dog legislation caused quite an uproar as the date
for the legislation got closer. There were numerous protests, but mostly
targeted at paragraphs concerning situations where a person would be justified
in killing a dog in any manner they saw fit (apparently just about any
situation could justify dog murder - even down to little puppies if they bit
with "malicious intent" - how one should discern a "malicious" puppy from a
"normal" puppy was not discussed in the proposed law, but I digress - sorry.
However the total proposition and the development of it has been absolutely
shocking, makes one very upset). The other source for the protests was the
banning of the Am.staff and the Staffordshire Bullterrier, but the CSV was
never mentioned in the media.

The uproar finally got through to the politicians in the sense they started
talking about it to the media. Their attitude was seemingly very positive. No,
breed banning wasn't the right thing to do, and that they had understood that
you couldn't say that a breed was gentically more dangerous than a nother
breed etc. Sounded rather sensible, but then again politicians are apparently
not to be trusted. The legislation went through Tuesday - and the upshot was:
no direct banning of breeds - but - and this is one big but - the Justice
Department were given the task of banning breeds at need without having to
consult the politicians.. Wow, didn't see that one coming - SNEAKY!

In other words, the Norwegian Justice Department is free to introduce bans on
any dog breed as they see fit. This same Department developed a horrendous
proposition including the suggested banning of the CSV. Now they can do just
that without any instance having to ratify their descisions.

We are a bit at loss at what to do here. Perhaps the Justice department won't
do anything, perhaps they will. I suppose they will stay quiet at least til
over summer, as they need to let things quieten down a bit. For the time being
at least, the CSV is not banned. How long it stays that way, we don't know.

Regards Tonje

[Tina]

For the time being at least, the CSV is not banned. How long it stays that way, we don't know.

That is a shame ;(

Maybe you can invite the members of the Justice department to a picnic where
they can meet some of these great dogs?

[hebrideanwolfdogs.com]

Sad news, sounds a bit like the QUANGO situation in UK!!

Why would they ban the CSV?

At least I now know that it is not just my country that tolerates these
unjust acts and manipulation of the populace by the policy makers, politicians and
executive, even when they are clearlt unjust and inequitable!!

Regards from "Great Blairtain"

Steven.

[Margo]

We just received this email:

"Thanks to all of you that participated in the campaign by writing letters
to norwegian politicians against the new dog-law proposal that would ban the
Check Vlcak and the Saarloos Wolfhond.
It has had influenze - the new law is now carried out and both the CV and
the SWH is leagal in Norway!!

Ø.N."

[wolfeywolf]

Margo that is wonderful news!
I hope that this goes a long way to proving that us dog people won't be
walked over and ignore the situations that our beloved family members are
put though!
Again well done!
Laura

[didier]

I am very happy for these good news and I hope that no one in the word
could think to ban CSV and Saarloos.
giancarlo rinauro

[Tina]

It has had influenze - the new law is now carried out and both the CV and
the SWH is leagal in Norway!!

That's wonderful news