Call Your Shot - A $500 Bet!

by Barbara Andrews

Kennel Review will be missed and I will miss being part of that publication but ShowSight will be welcomed. I am deeply honored to move to a new premier magazine.

I sometimes indulge myself and write dear to the heart. You assure me it's OK to relive the uncluttered feelings of our childhood by giving ourselves up to a moment of tranquility, just "doing nuttin" with a dog at our side.  But just as many have thanked me for tackling difficult issues, so it seems fitting that this first column in this first issue should be current and to the point.  I am a breeder first and a journalist second. 
 

I didn't have to look far for a subject. Canine Hypothyroidism is (or soon will be) discussed by every serious breeder. I have no medical training and I don't give medical advice. Like all of you, I simply "know" some things, and willingly or not, have become a clearing house for our collective experiences. Together, we're going to speculate on the connection between the frightening increase in immune-related diseases - and vaccines.  All those shots!

What's really, truly KNOWN about thyroid function in companion animals is but a speck of dust compared to the city dump of what we DON'T know. It's the stuff nightmares are made of and I'm about to introduce you to the bogeyman.
 

Most researchers link hypothyroidism to a deficient immune system. OK. That's like saying you'll get bad gas mileage with a faulty carburetor. But I draw the line when asked to believe that a bad immune system is hereditary. For thirty years I've been told everything short of a broken leg is hereditary. Translated, that means BREEDERS are to blame. Here y'go; take this new pair of eyes so that you can see past the blame-shifting. As a career breeder, you have a right to demand more than drug company rhetoric from vets - and from journalists.
 

It hasn't been so very long ago that something was either inherited or it wasn't. That was before the "predisposed" word was invented. Take demodectic mange. First we were told it was hereditary and so a lot of good show prospects were petted out. Then a top university concluded that the mites were everywhere but only weak, ill, or overly stressed puppies "broke out" with red mange. Norma Price (Dog World) and I spread the word, thrilled to have what we had both been saying, proven. Life was still pretty simple back then.
 

As research into the canine immune system progressed, it became increasingly difficult for the average breeder to understand. Dr. Jean Dodds helped by publishing some interesting papers relating immune system problems and thyroid. Although she pretty much sticks to the "predisposed" terminology, I applaud her observation that known external influences can precipitate thyroid malfunction. Everyday things like commonly prescribed antibiotics and heartworm preventatives. And of course, radiation.
 

Did you know that the 1986 release of radioactive iodine from the Hanford reservation was a hundred times greater than the infamous Three Mile Island accident? The facts were suppressed (for obvious reasons) but that doesn't mean we shouldn't consider the impact on human and animal life. The point is, radiation, toxaphene, sulphur dioxide, and many COMMON chemicals, pesticides, and manufacturing by-products are proven to cause thyroid gland disease, including thyroid carcinomas.
 

Environmentalists, scientists, EPA officials, investigative reporters – most know the dangers and how widespread such toxins are. The public has been shown the tip of the iceberg but would rather not think about it. When I mention "The Love Canal" you might remember dioxin and the grim news which was quickly reported, then relegated to footnote status once the area was evacuated. We no longer hear about Chernobyl but the people there haven't forgotten. Since the Russian nuclear accident, strontium and platinum radionucleids in humans have increased 2.5 to 5 times. According to Biotec Technical Report No. 9201, over 25% of The Republic's children have nitrate presence in their bodies two to three times higher than permissible levels.
 

I mention these things to frighten you and warn you NOT to depend on our doctors pr vets to stay informed and take care of us. For the most part, they do a splendid job but who is looking out for our pets? Have the effects of such debilitating toxins totally escaped the notice of veterinary researchers? Even more disconcerting, if our vets aren't honestly and fully informed, can they really provide care consistent with today's increasing hazards?
 

There's been very little research on thyroid function in companion animals until just the past decade. Human medicine is light-years ahead of veterinary endocrinology so it made sense to question medical doctors and people who are or have been afflicted with thyroid problems. I found not one who considers hyper or hypothyroidism to be hereditary. Not one.
 

The logic is as clear as the question which begs an answer. I told you I'm not a veterinarian; just a baffled breeder who is tired of being battered by ignorance and conned by drug companies. As immune system problems spread through the purebred dog population, I'm way less comfortable with vets who depend on drug companies for their continuing education. We must acknowledge a conflict of interest in medical practitioners who are in one form or another, subsidized by drug companies.
 

Why, it's enough to make one angry about articles which lay the blame for the sorry state of our dogs' health on BREEDERS!!!!!
 

Why should we be the scapegoat for financial considerations and lagging research? Sure, some things are hereditary and Career Breeders (those who survive the first ten years with sanity intact and ten or twenty Chs. under their belt) know what they are. We work hard to eradicate those problems which we know darn well will come back to haunt us. To imply otherwise smacks of a generous passing of the buck... More importantly, we love our dogs, some of us build dreams around great ones not yet born. We work so hard at it, why would we disregard their genetic health?  Give us the right tools and we can create a work of art. Don't give us flawed logic and double-edged ethics and then blame us when the paint peels away.
 

Do you think researchers, marketing strategists, and pharmaceutical houses care about achieving a disease-free life for our best friends? As individuals, probably yes. As a corporate structure? As a financial entity? The answer is all too obvious.
 

The truth is that for each wonderful cure, there is a new disease emerging; for each new surgical procedure, there is a need; for each new vaccine, there is a new virus....
 

I warned you this was the stuff nightmares are made of. Before you turn out the light, answer this question. How many of you had thyroid or immune problems BEFORE parvo virus made its (supposed) grand entrance at the Collie Nationals? Stop and think. I forget the year but I remember the connection because I was a columnist for THE DOG (the pre-Canine Chronicle newspaper) and with the realization that a new disease was killing our dogs, I theorized about parvo, the safety and efficiency of the stop-gap feline vaccine, and later on, about the wave of resultant reproductive problems. And I remember that Dr. Erbeck, our veterinary columnist, was swamped with letters supporting his theory that parvo was born in a test tube, not at the Collie National.....
 

Think. If research, marketing, and drug companies were to concentrate less on getting their corporate share of the breeders' money and more towards development of health care products tailored to today's environmental challenges; if the many toxins with which we tax our dog's immune systems could be safely eliminated; if instead of blaming breeders, vets questioned some of the medical preventatives which, though profitable to the distributor and comforting to the breeder in the short term, represent an unacceptable risk in the long run; well, just think how much our dogs' health could be improved and how the incidence of "hereditary" problems would decline!
 

I'll put up five one hundred dollar bills. They will go to any person who can prove that thyroid and immune system problems were as common BEFORE parvo and corona virus (and shots) as they are now. Please don't say it's because we're better at diagnosing such problems. Vets ARE better. Labs are better. But breeders have always known whether their bitches are conceiving or not!!!!

Let me hear from you. Either take my money or put a few bucks in the pot and let's ask the laboratories to prove us wrong......
 

This subject will be continued in Part Two.

In the meantime - take my bet!

Copyright © 1993 Barbara J. Andrews.  All rights reserved.  Except for brief reference quotations with source provided, no portions thereof may be stored or reprinted in any
form, electronic or otherwise, without prior express written consent of Barbara J. Andrews.

reprint permission    August 1993 SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE