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BELGIUM
V.Z.W. BELGISCHE ROTTWEILER KLUB - CLUB BELGE ROTTWEILER
Kermtstraat 56 3510 Hasselt.
The board of the Belgian Rottweiler Club :
Regional sport-clubs. Our club used to have five very succesfull regional clubs, visited by many Rottweilerhandlers and proving to be able to train them well unto competition-level. Due to the strong fall back of the Rottweiler-breeding (and maybe the temptation of the easier work/higher scoring of the succesfull Belgian Malinois ...) the number of Rottweilers in the Belgian dogsport fell back dramaticly. At the moment we only have five regional clubs left : Kringgroep De Hagelandse Rottweiler
Kringgroep Diest
Kringgroep Fleurus
Kringgroep Oost Vlaanderen
Kringgroep Hesbaye
Numbers Due to the unlimited importation of Rottweilers during the last decennium, it is impossible to make an even approximate estimation.
Some sources speak about estimates of 40.000 Rottweilers.
We simply do not know but it is a reality that untill about the end of 2001, the Rottweiler was enormously popular in our country and huges numbers of pups were imported.
By now (medium 2003) the demand for Rottweilerpups is far less and we assume so is their importation.
The obligatory identification and registration of all dogs bred and imported in Belgium should make it possible to have better knowledge about the Belgian dogpopulation. Cfr. infra. Rottweilerpups with FCI-pedigree :
Rottweilerpups without an FCI-pedigree : The precise number of dogs without a pedigree is of course unknown but by law, all dogs born or imported as of 01.09.1998 must be identified by micro-chip or tatoo and registred at the central database Belgische Vereniging voor Identificatie en Registratie van Honden. All changes in ownership must be reported and registred.
On the website http://www.abiec-bvirh.be/nl/ one can do some research on registred dogs (f.i. if a stray dog is found). Should all dogs be identified and registred, we would have a clear view on dog-population.
However, reality learns that of course not all dogs are identified and even if they are, not all are registred and especially not the changes in ownership.
The numbers of registrated dogs we received from the institute BVRH speak for themselves, especially if not all imported or born dogs were registrated !!!
Bred by members of the Belgian Rottweilerclub : Due to a recent theft of documentation, our figures are not complete anymore. Our remaining documentation learns that, reserve made for later completion, the following number of pups were born in the kennels of our members (numbers based solely on the checked litters) :
Breeding-regulations : A summary of the breedingregulations of the Belgian club : It is forbidden to breed with dogs :
Breedsuitability-test.
Dogs that belong to a member of our club and that were born after 01.01.1998, are only allowed to be bred if they passed our breedstandardtest. We make a distinction between our breedstandardtest, to be seen as a breedsuitability-test which a dog has to pass before being allowed to breed and our selection-test. While the breedstandardtest judges the conformity of the dog to the breedstandard (exterior + especially the character), the selectiontest is meant to select the dogs of high quality. Our breedstandardtest includes no bitework while our selectiontest still does. As of 2006, we will introduce a Ztp, likwise to the test organised by the German club. For those that are interested in our breedstandardtest, a free translation of the regulations can be found and read on this website at the following link : breedstandardtest Belgian Rottweiler Club. Littercontrols. All litters born in the kennels of our members are subject to a littercontrol.
Thus we collect the following information :
A written report is made of which a copy remains with the breeder and the original is kept by our club (at the moment : by the president). This information is available for our members.
Pedigrees. Our pedigrees are not issued by our breedclub but by the national (FCI-affiliated) kennelclub :
"Koninklijke Maatschappij St. Hubertus", A. Giraudlaan 98, B-1030 Brussel. Tel. 0032 2 245.48.40 - Fax. 0032 2 245.87.90 website : www.kmsh.be
A distinction is made between the following pedigrees :
Activities of our club Besides the normal activities of every breedclub regarding the breed and the control on the respect of its members for the breedstandard, our club organises shows, IPO-trials, BH-tests, breedsuitability-test, tests of social behaviour (= official program), lectures, visits to manufactury of dogfoods, etc. etc.
The calendar of the main activities can be found on our website http://www.rottweilerclub.be or in our magazine that is published every 3 months.
Clubtitles.
National - FCI-recognised Championship (conformation). The title of Belgian champion kan be awarded to the dog that
Dogrelated legislation. At the moment, Belgium does not have a national anti-doglegislation. However, we have known such a legislation !
According to the already existing (and still existing) Belgian legislation, all dogs, regardless of their breed, born as of 01.09.1998, must be identified (micro-chip or tattoo) and registrated (Ministry of Agriculture).
The law of 21.10.1998 held a list of 13 breeds and went further :
For these dogs, there were special regulations :
All dogs that show the characteristics of fighting-dogs and those that belong to the breeds on the said list or are the result of the crossing of such breeds, must be identified and registrated, ultimately at the age of 8 weeks.
All such dogs that were not yet identified, had to be identified and registrated by 01.01.1999 at the very latest while the other dogs did not have to be registrated unless born after 01.09.1998. The identification had to be done by microchip, while for the other breeds a tatoo was also allowed.
All these dogs had to be announced at the municipal administration and the owners of dogs that have shown aggression could be forced (by the mayor) to identify and register the dogs under the name of “fighting dog”.
It was announced that as soon as these dogs would be identified and registrated (01.01.1999 at the latest), measures would follow to "bring sense of responsibility to their owners".
This law did not pass Belgian Parliament as a regular statute but was decreed by the Secretary of Agriculture as a Ministerial Decree.
Calling upon a said extremely urgent necessity, he did not ask for the prior advice of the “Raad van State, department legislation” but enacted the decree with immediate effect.
Such procedure is only allowed in cases where the immediate enactment of a law can be motivated by a extremely urgent necessity. The “Raad van State” decided on the 31.05.1999 that as such urgent necessity was not proven, the law was not enacted in a valid way and declared it annulled.
A new law was announced but thanks to a scientific study ordered by the Ministery of Agricultre (text is available) it was decided that there is no need for a breedspecific legislation. It was announced that a law would come into force that would see to the installation of centers in every city or village where dogrelated incidents can be reported. The mayor would then have powers to act towards individual situations and dogs. While we hope that the new governement will show this same healty common sence, we do hear a law is in the making that would forbid our breed to be used as a policedog. As this would again be a Breed Specific Law, we will try to prevent such legislation to come into force.
Important is to point out the fact that several local authorities have taken legislative initiatives.
Many enacted their own (BSL) legislation by forbidding certain breeds on their territory or making f.i. the muzzle and leash obligatory.
Most of these are inspired by the (now annulled) Ministerial decree of 21.10.1998.
In some cases, when we were warned in time, we managed to change the mind of local town-councillors or even managed to have local regulations annulled by higher authorities !
In other cases, when we were not warned, the ultimate period for such actions had already passed and the regulations are and will remain in force ...
It is therefore imperative for all local Rottweilerfriends to warn us (preferably in advance) of all legislative actions regarding dogs, not just Rottweilers but all dogs.
It is senseless to let a statute come into force regarding a certain breed (f.i. the pitbull) and to react only when the Rottweiler is added to the list. On that moment, the statute will already have become a no longer disputable legislation.
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