THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING

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Many are for, and many are against, and it seems like a never-ending story.  The story of the Black Boerboel.  Evidence or no evidence, it doesn’t really matter, all you need is a good dose of logic and common sense.

I will attempt to put all my points in chronological order and keep them short (to avoid confusion or misinterpretation)

Here is some of my proof (for all those proof hungry fellas):

On Saturday 25 November 2017, I replied on a post regarding the Black Mastiff vs the Black Boerboel.  In my post I pointed out that Lourens Minnaar (former KUSA all breed judge) and myself were at Lucas van Vuuren’s place when Lukas told us he is going to breed the most beautiful black Boerboels out of a black dog (looked like a lab cross) that was lying around.  This was before SABBS accepted the black colour for the first time.  I am willing to undergo a lie detector test to proof as much.

I find it interesting that Lukas phoned me to explain himself and to try and convince me he was not wrong.  Unfortunately we cannot see eye to eye and in the end concluded we have two very different ways of seeing this situation.  Lukas can not dispute that fact that he did say those words, and when he phoned Lourens Minnaar, Lourens confirmed it.   With our telephone conversation Lukas said he did breed those dogs but did not bring them into the register, he got the two dogs already appraised by the HBSA and used them.  On the surface it seems fair, after all he did get the dogs from an organisation who appraised them.  His argument is that he followed all the right channels, he got registered dogs and entered them into the SABBS development register.  In Afrikaans we have a saying: “die deler is so goed soos die steler”.  If you know someone stole diesel and they try to sell it to you for a lot less than you would normally pay and you buy it, you are just as guilty as them.  Here is another analogy: My car is stolen, between the guy who stole it and the guy who got caught, 4 people owned and sold it down the line. The police will track back to the first guy who initially stole it and everyone in between will be prosecuted to some extent.  Lukas knew black was in no breed standard therefore the HBSA acted unethical and unlawful, the SABT didn’t accept paperwork from other organisations, he knew the development register was closed and the board said NO on numerous occasions (at that stage I was a board member, so I know first-hand).  So, he just worked himself into the board, got a few followers and voted to open the development register for the sole purpose of introducing the black dogs.  The steps might have been right, but the intent was wrong.

The Boerboel was already with Studbook, they were already accepted by KUSA and all with no black in the breed standard.  It was even registered as a Landrace without black in the breed standard.

I understand that SABBS are economical with the truth and that they change rules ect to suit them at any given time.  They knew exactly what they were doing, there are no excuses.  They are as crooked as a dog’s hind leg.

 So here is my logic: (I will start uploading docs within the next couple of days and post the link for all to see)

1. The first organisation was the SABT, founded in 1982/3. 

2. The word Boerboel was decided on by the founding members of the SABT.

3. Obviously the first (and only) organisation at that time had to decided how they wanted the ideal dog to look like and they set a breed standard accordingly.

4. Black was not part of the ORIGINAL breed standard.

5. HBSA was founded by Lucas van der Merwe (Mizpah) and Jannie Roodt (Egoli) who broke away from the SABT

6. Later EBBASA was founded by Piet Sprinkhuizen (Avontuur) who had a vision of even greater uniformity in the breed (eventually only red dogs with good pigment and dark masks)

7. SABT said that they will not accept paperwork from any other organisation because they cannot confirm the authenticity of the pedigrees.

8. None of the organisations had black as an accepted colour in their breed standards.

9. The HBSA appraised 2 black dogs.  This makes the appraiser and the organisation subject to unethical behaviour and fraud. (They stole the car)

10. These dogs were later sold or given to Lukas van Vuuren

11. The board of the SABT had various discussions on introducing black dogs and it was declined every time, (this was while I was a board member at SABT).

12. As the boards changed, eventually they opened the development register (that was closed for many years) to introduce the black dogs of uncertain heritage and with paperwork from another organisation which they said they wouldn’t do). 

13. If the development register was opened for that reason, then only one of 2 things happened:

a. Either ALL the black dogs running around today with SABBS papers are genetically from those 2 black dogs that was appraised by the HBSA or

b. Other breeders brought in black dogs from other breeds to produce more black dogs.

In my opinion A is highly unlikely (given the math) and B proves that other breeds have been introduced into the Boerboel.

14. The argument that ‘the Boerboel is a cross breed anyway’ is uneducated to say the least.  EVERY SINGLE DOG BREED ON EARTH is a crossbreed, duh.  The day an organisation or association is founded to protect and improve the breed and when the development register is closed after many years it is a true full-fledged breed,  because the breed then has enough genetic material to preserve the breed and work with.  Are you seriously going to tell an English Bulldog breeder that his breed is a cross breed? I don’t think so.

15. The argument that they wanted to protect the black dogs is also not a good argument because they crossed them with Boerboels.  They are not protected they are now crossed as well.

16. Genetic proof, don’t make me laugh.  They only proof the sire and dam is who they say they are.  Here is another question: why are there no records or a whole lot of old breeders in the first 20 years of the SABT that came forward to show that they had an occasional black puppy in a litter?  Black is dominant, so we should have had lots and lots of black Boerboels throughout the years.

17. If you take a Ford engine and put it in a Ferrari you cannot call it a Ferrari.  If you put Nguni cattle with Afrikaner cattle to produce Afrikaners with Nguni colours you cannot call it an Afrikaner anymore. 

18. Some people, like Lukas, might give reasons for why the black was brought in.  For example, Lukas said to me over the phone: a) they make better watch dogs b) Africans can’t see them at night

and are more afraid of black dogs than any other colour, c) there is not enough genetics in the Boerboel and they needed more genetics to help for instance to decrease prolapses.  My answer to the above:  a) colour has no effect on watch and guard dog abilities b) maybe 100 years ago but not today c) there was enough genetics to carry on for 20 years why now suddenly and will 2 black dogs really improve the genetic material of the whole breed? 2 dogs of uncertain heritage?

19. Even with all the reasons in the world, you cannot take one breed, put dogs of uncertain heritage and obviously from another breed with them and still call them the same breed.  No other dog breed in the world will accept this.  You might do it with cattle but not in the dog world.  It’s because of rubbish like this that the Boerboel is still in it’s baby shoes. 

I could accept the fact that black dogs are preferred as guard or watchdogs, but why bring it into the Boerboel? You could just keep black dogs for that purpose without papers. Or start a new breed like the Black Mastiffs or Ysterberg Mastiffs.

I have been very vocal about virtues in the past and again, it all comes down to honesty (even if it hurts you), loyalty (towards the breed) and integrity (doing what’s right even when no one is watching).

So, what to do with the black dogs?

Simple, register them with the South African Black Mastiff Association.  They will welcome you with open arms and you will form part of a very important group of people that are laying the foundation for this new breed of dog. If you own a black SABBS dog I am truly sorry that you have been deceived.  Nothing can take away your love and bond with you dog and the fact that it isn’t a Boerboel doesn’t take any of that away.  But please do the right thing, have integrity and don’t breed them as Boerboels. No-one will think less of you, in fact, you will be respected for it.

My conclusion

The Black Boerboel is the biggest money-making scheme in the dog breeding world.  The Boerboel is now in a worse state than it was ever before, being led by the blind.

Malcom B Wills

“We are the custodians of our chosen breeds for a short period in our dog breeding lives, it behoves us to hand over the material in a better state than what we received it, or we would have achieved nothing and the breeds we profess to love, will be the sufferers. “

 

Stoffel Bloem

Custodian of the Ysterberg Mastiffs

Nov 2017