a “partner in crime”

Tags

Animals, Dog Breeding, Dog Breeds, Dogs, Genetics, Health, Society

It’s been a year since I lost Lucy.

I have been mourning. I still am. I have lost a piece of my heart.

And yet old dreams are stubborn. I have a vision and it refuses to give up.

A dream to awaken the ones I love from the sinister nightmare that greed and ignorance have condemned them to. A triumph of life over preventable death,  unnecessary suffering and destruction.

But this dream is impossible to make true on my own.

I live alone and I am but a struggling artist. I’m old too. Not in the spring chicken category.

I need a partner in crime.

A heretic like myself. A fearless, bold young(er / ish) person: a radical to share the dream with, a visionary; to embark on a Rennaisance breeding program – a hobby program, an out-crossing, preservation, restoration, revival program for the Great Danish Dog.

A program based on sound genetic principles and scientific methods. Not on the rule of thumb and hope for the best, not an act of insanity (doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results) not an act of selfishness, but a labor of love, generated by compassion and kindness.

Someone who loves to read a lot and has carefully studied the contents of this blog and understands. Someone who is a thinker and not self-serving; someone independent, rational and daring. Someone not shackled by the established dictates of the status quo; someone who is not after show ring glory but motivated by a deep affection and appreciation for this amazing, magnanimous soul known as the Great Dane; someone who is not willing to just bear witness to its slow death on the path of extinction.

Someone determined, focused and able to lead instead of following the Pied Piper of doom. Someone with the means and the dedication, the steely resolution to see the plan through; someone, ideally, much younger than I am, so that he or she will be around for longer and continue doggedly and without falter, until the Apollo of dogs, the embodiment of classic beauty and moderation, this “Almost Human” sentient being with all the virtues of humanity and none of its vices, is delivered from ignorance, stupidity and exploitation.

I am looking for a companion on a trailblazing journey, someone with the guts and the indifference for public opinion that is essential in creative endeavors; and with the absolute integrity of character to focus on the best interests of the dogs themselves. Their health, their longevity, their biological fitness, their happiness.

It’s not something original: it’s been done before many times successfully. It’s the way we’ve been breeding dogs for millennia: fitness for their original function, in every sense; not just looks – genetic, heritable fitness. Measurable fitness, repeatable, reliable, objectively observable, scientifically provable where it counts: physical and mental soundness, length of happy, able-bodied, species-appropriate long life and producing same; judged by breeding values and not merely at the whim of some beauty contest authority; not depending on the politically-motivated approval of some infallible mummified Pope in a camarilla of mutually back-patting, self-glorifying, totalitarian dinosaurs and their arse-licking voters.

I have not found such a comrade yet in my long years of association with this most precious soul among dogs. I have not yet found one quite capable of what this recovery and salvation mission entails.

But I haven’t given up hope yet.

If you think you got what it takes, please apply within.

I can promise you it will be challenging and difficult: but its so noble and worthy a cause – almost as worthy and noble as these dogs themselves. We have to somehow bring out the best in ourselves, in order to match them, or at least hope to serve the goal well.

I am not a messianic syndrome sufferer and I am not looking for one: this project will not be informed by sentimentality. I see it as part of a bigger picture – the need to preserve genetic diversity in general and breed dogs better in particular.

I am not looking for someone to lead or to follow – but rather, a meeting of minds that think alike and are passionate about Great Danes: about their survival, not as a relic, not as an accessory and exhibition piece for vainglorious human ego-massaging, not as life form sustained artificially to serve our fickle fancies, but as a sustainable, thriving, natural dog population.

If you think you fit the description, do please let me know.

And if you think you know someone who fits the bill and might be interested, please do share this post with them.

Thank you in advance.