Dear Members,

Reproduced below, is the circular letter issued by the Board of Directors for Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SV) e.V., regarding Dogs' Training and Animal Welfare:

At the end of February, the SV Board received information about a report on Finnish television that dealt with the ‘training’ of working dogs. To our great regret, we took note that the facts presented there unequivocally violate animal welfare law and the statutes of SV and WUSV, and that the persons involved disregarded any form of human decency. Against this background, Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SV) e.V. contacted the producers of the film report and the official bodies of the Finnish WUSV member association in order to determine the identities of the people involved in the film. In the meantime, suspicions have been confirmed that SV members from Germany were also involved.

The association’s statutory mandate is to promote animal welfare issues and to carry out all of its tasks in compliance with animal welfare laws. None of the actions documented in the video sequences can be reconciled with modern dog training, but instead represent criminal offences under German law, which is why the association cannot exercise any tolerance for this reason alone. Not only do we feel it is our duty under the statutes to carefully examine the background and to initiate appropriate investigative proceedings against the individual persons and associations involved; the SV Board has also instructed the legal office to open proceedings against these persons within the framework of our legal and procedural rules. Meanwhile, WUSV is also active with the Finnish WUSV member association and has requested a clarification of the facts.

The actions depicted in the video recordings are abhorrent, are in blatant contradiction of our motto ‘Out of respect for the dog’ and, thankfully, are punishable in civilised societies. Especially in the event that members of our organisations are involved, we would like to express our utter disapproval. We emphasise once again that the approach presented contradicts all standards and ideals of Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (SV) e.V. and WUSV and calls into question our decades of work, especially from the point of view of animal-friendly and animal welfare-friendly dog training. Under no circumstances will we tolerate culpable misconduct against the basic principles of our association.

With this editorial, it is our aim to inform you about the incident and the first measures that have been taken. We will report on the further course of events in the April edition of the SV Magazine.

Yours truly,

SV Board