For owners
Members
In June 2018, at the request of the Turkish Kennel Club, Kopek Irklari ve Kinoloji Federasyonu (KIF) the General Committee of the FCI, in relation to FCI Breed Standard 331 Anatolian Shepherd Dog, approved a change in the breed name to Kangal, and a new Standard.
Having regard to the disruption caused in Australia in 1998, by the separation of Anatolians and Kangals, ANKC Ltd sought further information from KIF expressing the concern that the change would have a deleterious effect on some owners of Anatolians who would be angry at again having to change their breed name and not being able to breed any of their dogs who did not conform to the new standard, the following response was received from the President of KIF, Umit Ozkanal.
“they do not have to be angry. We have just corrected a very big mistake!. Turkey is a very big country and there are at least 5 different shepherd dogs. There is no breed called Anatolian here in Turkey. Those who have dogs away from the standard will not breed their dogs officially since there is no breed called like that. They still keep their beloved dogs but no breeding under Kangal please”
In August 2018 ANKC Ltd advised that any member who wished to change from Anatolian Shepherd Dog to Kangal Shepherd Dog should contact their relevant Member Body office with full details of the dog they wish to change by 12th October 2018, which was just prior to the ANKC Board Meeting, when there would be a review of the number of dogs still registered as Anatolian Shepherd Dogs.
This announcement resulted in a large amount of correspondence to ANKC Ltd and it became apparent that whatever decision the Directors made on the future of Anatolians in Australia it would not be unanimously accepted. The submissions from both sides of the argument were very impassioned and indicated the breeding expertise and large amount of money that has been invested in developing the Anatolian breed in Australia. Despite the ANKC Ltd even handed approach in giving all Anatolian breeders the opportunity to voice their opinion we received threats of legal action if a decision was made that disenfranchised certain breeders, the following statements illustrate the divide amongst breeders.
“We believe that it would be highly disrespectful to KIF to disregard their wishes regarding Anatolian Shepherds and it would be convoluted to adopt, for example, the AKC Anatolian Shepherd Dog Standard. The parties opposed to having their dogs not listed as Kangal are those whose dogs don’t comply with the new standard, in particular, in terms of colour”
“The new breed standard from FCI/Turkey is not in keeping with 2018 community standards for the breeding of healthy and sound working / farm dogs, as the new standard decimates the gene pool and falls into the 'poor kennel club breed decision' rhetoric of pedigree dogs exposed - culling healthy dogs from the gene pool based on modern arbitrary show 'ideals'.”
All correspondence was considered by the Directors and the National Breed Standards Coordination Group, and prior to discussion at the ANKC Ltd Board Meeting it was reviewed by Member Bodies. Comments were received from people claiming to be Anatolian breeders who were not financial members of any ANKC Member Body or were not recorded as having ever registered a litter with ANKC Ltd.
In determining how many members would be affected by their decision the Directors noted that in Australia there were only five (5) current Financial ANKC Ltd Anatolian Shepherd breeders.
At the Board Meeting held on 13th/14th October 2018
It was resolved that ANKC Ltd adopt the National Breed Standards Coordination Group recommendation to retain both breeds with Kangal Shepherd Dogs to use the current FCI standard and the Anatolian Shepherd Dogs to use the Kennel Club (UK) standard. Anatolian Shepherd Dogs which meet the requirements of the Kangal Shepherd Dog have until 31 December 2018 to transfer to the Kangal Shepherd Dog register.
Current breeders and owners are the Guardians of the breed and must be vigilant to ensure that only Anatolian Shepherd Dogs which meet the requirements of the Kangal Shepherd Dog Standard are accepted as Kangals, recent Facebook Postings give cause for concern that some people owning Anatolians who have not applied to be re classified as Kangals are promoting them as such whilst not meeting the requirements, concerns should be reported to the relevant Member Body.
ANKC has received a number of inquiries as to the eligibility of Anatolians and Kangals with pedigrees from organisations other than the FCI, to provide answers to these queries ANKC will need to consult with the FCI, KIF the AKC and the Kennel Club, this process will obviously take some months, if before definitive answers can be provided, any of the detailed scenarios arise they will be considered by ANKC on an individual basis after consultation with the relevant Kennel Club to authenticate the dogs Pedigree.
At the time of this Statement 14/10/2018 there are only 4 (four) Kangals registered with the ANKC.
Hugh Gent OAM
President & Chairman of the Board of Directors
November 2018
Dogs Australia is a not-for-profit organisation advocating for the preservation of purebred dogs through ethical breeding.
It champions the highest standard of animal welfare through education and fostering dog-loving communities.
Internationally recognised and established in 1958 as the Australian National Kennel Council (ANKC),
the organisation promotes responsible dog ownership; maintains the ORCHID* heritable canine diseases database;
funds research into canine diseases; and supports state and territory-based member bodies.
Dogs Australia promotes breed conformation shows and community sports for dogs that fulfil a breed’s natural instincts.
