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Date Posted: 05:45:24 08/11/03 Mon
Author: Karen
Subject: Mean gene study

Hello,
This came from an APBT message board. PLEASE, take the time to read this very carefully. I personally think that the animal rights people are involved.

This is for all fellow APBT / AST owners - and is very important- please
take the time to read the entire thing! Crossposting permitted to any APBT /
AST/ Anti- BSL lists:

I have been corresponding with Lehr Brisbin, STCA's Delegate to the AKC, on
this matter. Mr. Brisbin has been instrumental in uncovering scientific
proof that refutes a lot of the issues on which BSL's are based, such as
proving that there are no physical differences in jaw mechanisms, etc. His
current issue is DNA - the same technology which has helped us uncover a lot
of health problems, and ultimate proof of ownership, etc, has also made it
possible that our enemies will have a fail-proof way to destroy our dogs. He
spoke about this at STCA's meeting at the recent national specialty.

There are factions looking for a so-called "mean gene" in our dogs, which
supposedly makes them "different' from other breeds. If they find something
that they can label as this, it will be a simple matter to ban them, and
positive ID made thru a simple blood test. They have not achieved this yet,
but they are trying.

I am enclosing a letter which I received a few weeks ago, which sent chills
up my spine when I read it. I faxed it to Lehr Brisbin, and he told me to
immediately let everyone know that they should NOT COOPERATE with this study
until he has a chance to speak to the people involved, and figure out
exactly what the goals and intentions of this study are. It is entirely
possible that their motives are to benefit us, however, once a study like
this is entered into "evidence" in a court case, the opposition has the
right to have access to the database as well. Therefore their guarantee of
confidentiality is meaningless, if this info would be used in a court case.

I don't know if anyone else has received this letter, but please do not
volunteer DNA samples for any purpose (other than what is required for using
artificial insemination, etc) until we are more clear on the intentions of
this study. Lehr Brisbin said the part that makes this very suspicious is
that they require a behavioral history on the dogs whose samples are
submitted.

They say they already have enough samples of ADBA/UKC type dogs, so I don't
know if that means that they were permitted access to UKC's DNA samples, or
what. PeAgGen has already permitted access to AKC AST DNA samples for a
court case, and one of their representatives stated under oath, that "we all
know pit bulls bite more than any other breed" - so it is very scary that
they have our dogs' DNA in their care. (This statement was later retracted,
but the damage was already done.)

The possiblities for a study like this are endless- next they might try to
find the same "microsatellites" for aggression between our breeds and other
breeds like Rotts that are on ban lists, or by AR activists to prove that
the gene pools of purebreds are too small, so breeding them should be
illegal, etc. The letter mentions a goal as being able to give behavioral
counseling- is this by identifying particular markers in the DNA to "prove"
that the dog is aggressive, etc? Very scary.

Make up your own minds, but I am waiting until Dr. Brisbin discusses this
further with the people involved in the study, and gives his
recommendations.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
Dept.of Clinical Studies - Philadelphia

Dear American Staffordshire Terrier Breeder:

International Genetic Study in Various Dog Breeds

We are doing an international genetic study on American Staffordshire
terrier and American pit bull dogs. We would like to inform you about this
study and ask if you would consider participating.

As part of a larger study to determine breed relationships genetically, this
study seeks to compare registered American Staffordshire terriers and two or
three different populations of American pit bull dogs. Both the American
Staffordshire terrier and the pit bull are at risk of being banned or
already are banned in several countries in Europe based on laws about
dangerous dog breeds.

While doing this study we will basically compare what we call
microsatellites. Microsatellites are non-coding regions of the genome or the
total DNA. Microsatellites are passed on to offspring (inherited) and they
are usually very polymorphic and therefore suitable for studies like this.
Microsatellites are often used to study diversity between different breeds
of the same species or different species of animals. Studies of
microsatellites are very useful tools to postulate how closely related
different individuals within or between breeds or species are to each other,
e.g. in parentage testing and evolutionary studies.

We already have some information on genetic relationships of other breeds
and several papers are published. There are no publications on Am. Staffs
and pit bull terriers, which probably contributes to the many unfortunate
myths about their behavior.

The laboratory work will be done in a laboratory in Norway where some of our
first work on the canine genome project was done. This laboratory has
extensive experience in working with microsatellites in various dog breeds.
We will need blood samples from each dog, and the sampling will be done in
the US so we can obtain samples from comparable populations for each group
of dogs. The samples will be frozen soon after they are collected and
brought to Norway to the canine genetic laboratory at the Norwegian School
of Veterinary Science. When the sampling is finished DNA will then isolated
and the microsatellite analysis done.

For this study we have set up four groups of dogs:
1. American Staffordshire Terriers - AKC registered
2. Pit Bull Type dog - confiscated (pedigree unknown)
3. Pit Bull Type dog - adopted (pedigree unknown)
4. American Pit Bull Terrier (ADBA/UKC registered )

We would need samples from between 20 and 30 dogs from each group. We
already have the number of dogs we need from group 4, the American Pit Bull
Terrier (ADBA/UKC registered). We still need more dogs from the other
groups. The dogs need to be from at least a few different families or lines,
though some individuals from the same line or family will probably not be a
problem. We would very much like you to help us and participate in the
study. What we need is the following:

* A small amount of blood from the dog, taken as a standard blood sample
from a vein.
*Preferably a behavior history, easily done by filling out a rather short
questionnaire, which we will provide.
*A photocopy of pedigree for all registered dogs, with the dog from which
the sample is taken clearly identified. Regardless, all data will be kept
strictly confidential, although the results will be available to all the
participants upon completion of the study. Owner's or breeder's names can be
deleted if you wish.

It will take a while before the study is completed, but if you would like
any information mean while, please let me know. One of our aims in this
study, in addition to those listed above, is to eventually be able to
provide breeders with genetic and behavioral counseling. Please let us know
if you are interested in this.

If you would like to participate or want more information about the study,
please feel free to contact us, either by email, regular mail, or fax.

Sincerely,
Karen Overall, MA, VMD, PhD
Diplomate ACVB
ABS Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist
Behavior Clinic

215-898-3347 - phone
215-573-7041 - fax
overallk@v...


Poul Poulsen
www.eurowaf.org
American Canine Foundation

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