Lose The Discrimination

By Eve Link

 As a person who is just getting started with being involved with Whites other than as a meaningful family member, it has come to my attention how others are viewing Whites, including so-called canine professionals. This article is written from first-hand experience and is being shared so that others can learn how to possibly handle or address others as they come across the same types of discrimination. It is not meant to discriminate against any persons or organizations. 

Unknowingly, I made an inquiry with a very famous trainer who also supplied the dogs that he trained. I generally asked about GSDs, his training methodologies and then his recommendation on how I could obtain a White Shepherd. He proceeded to tell me that I really didn’t want one because of their health problems, personality problems and that they could not be trusted. He also said that their white coat was a disqualifying color and the AKC did not accept them. He told me that I’d be much better off with one of his colored German Shepherds for $6,000 as they were more predictable and were ‘true’ German Shepherds. He continued to praise the colored shepherds and tried to discourage me from obtaining a White. I then went on to explain how I had one and never experienced anything that he previously mentioned. I then asked him if I purchased a puppy would he train it. He told me, “no” and then proceeded to get me off the phone as quickly as he could. To this day, I will not watch his TV show and I get disgusted when hearing his name. Not only did I feel like my White Shepherd was discriminated against, but that I was, too. My solution to his discrimination was to take my business elsewhere.

 After joining AWSA, I began researching a couple of local rescues and found Whites listed for adoption at a local German Shepherd rescue organization. I was impressed with their commitment to finding all German Shepherds their forever home. However, when contacting another rescue and asking them if they had any Whites via Email communication, they responded that they no longer carried them and would not provide an explanation other than they were not desirable. I could not determine what they meant by ‘undesirable’ and sent them another correspondence. To my dismay, my Email address had been blocked and a message was returned to me. Sometime later when I was surfing the AWSA website for whites needing homes, I came across another embedded link that listed this rescue. It was listed as not having any discriminating opinions about the color of GSDs. My solution is to notify the associated links so that this organization can be removed from the non-discriminating pledge page.

 At approximately the same time, I was making inquiries with local service dog organizations to see if I could raise a White puppy for placement with various disabled people. I called several organizations that dealt with the blind, handicapped and hearing impaired. They either did not return my phone call or tried to politely as possible explain that Whites were not a ‘desirable’ color. However, I did find a couple of organizations such as my local Service Dogs for Victims of Abuse (SDVA) and Create-A-Smile that would speak with me. Hopefully there will be another story later on this topic. However, it was nice to know that some service organizations would speak with a White Shepherd owner.

 Other discriminating aspects include rescues that have a poor opinion of breeders. As being a rescue volunteer, I find myself walking a fine line with supporting responsible breeders that say, “If you don’t rescue, don’t breed” versus rescues saying, “The only good breeder is a non-existent breeder.” People that are greatly opinionated against breeding of any type will also discriminate against people who associate or communicate with them. This tends to create tension and diverts the focus away from the main goal of saving lives. Breeding is not regulated in my state, and therefore anyone can breed dogs. It is very sad to see our Whites, whether they are to standard or not, in shelters and even more devastating when the rescue is full and can not help them. Our magnificent breed is being destroyed one dog at a time. My approach is to take one dog at a time and do the best that I can to help save its life. If only people who own Whites could make the effort and time to try to save just one, it would help. It is very important to spay or neuter your White if you do not have plans on showing it for conformity in specialty clubs, or are going to be breeding professionally. However, if breeding were to stop, we wouldn’t have these majestic animals to love and bring into our lives. It is a double-edged sword.

 A situation of the opposite recently occurred at the Pet Expo in Pomona, California. A teenage girl was volunteering at a rescue booth with German Shepherds when a German Shepherd breeder approached her. The breeder contended that by saving dogs that were not to standards, including Whites, that the rescues were adding to the problems of non-conformity by saving them. She even went as far as to say that the dog that the girl was holding should be put to sleep and not be allowed to live. Her ignorance and insensitivity shined as bright as the North Star, not only because she wanted the dog dead and made a young girl cry, but she obviously didn’t know that all rescued dogs must be altered before they are placed in a home as per our state law. As breeders see non-conforming dogs, one must remember to take a step back and look at the situation before exercising the first amendment. A girl sitting at a rescue booth does not have much to do with breeding for conformity. 

Another discrimination that our Whites receive is in the shelters. Many of them are misclassified as another breed or as a mix. Since many workers, shelter volunteers and even vets do not have exposure to White Shepherds, they cannot identify them when local or state laws require that specialty breed groups be contacted. I’ve seen many times where Whites are classified as a Husky, Jindo, Akita or Samoyed mix. However, volunteers that pursue saving lives have questioned these classifications and state their opinion on volunteer websites such as animalmatch.net or petfinders.com. They also contact rescues out of sincere concern when they think that there is a rescue that can help. Without these wonderful volunteers, I know that I would not have been able to save seven Whites this year.

I once found a White puppy in a shelter over a long weekend, which would not be open until Tuesday. Many errors occurred which ultimately caused this puppy being put to sleep. I feel that most people working at these shelters have a goal to help animals, however there are some in key positions who hide behind the ruse of ignorance in order to not do their job. When the vet was questioned with the manager present, she said that no treatment was given. The vet also indicated that the puppy was a mix as if that lessoned the responsibility of giving it attention. I stated all of the errors that occurred, especially the misclassification of the breed and that the rescue could have helped. Many letters have been written about this shelter, manager and vet. I urge all volunteers that rescue to get to know the local and state laws regarding shelters' responsibilities as they can vary from state to state, from county to county and even from district to district. Know who your representatives are so that you can send your letters to them. Also, ask a lot of questions and do not assume that all shelters operate in the same manner. Most do not. Always keep notes and get names of people that you speak with so that an accurate account for your letter writing may be possible. Work with the office manager and leave your rescue’s information so that a call can be made to save a life. Offer to give a 10-minute lesson on how to identify a White and bring one for show and tell. Please print or point any vet to the AWSA web site for the Health and Genetics Survey so that they have the most current information about our breed: http://awsaclub.com/breedinfo.htm

 In summary, we need to get the word out about these wonderful White Shepherd dogs of ours and to educate the people around us. There will be hurdles and obstacles to overcome, but in the end it is the breed that we are trying to save. As owners, we can all contribute to the wonderful success stories and share them with people around us. If everyone can pull together, we can help people to Lose The Discrimination over White Shepherds.