I have a precious friend in "The Goombah d’oro" (Golden Buddy, for those of you whose New York Italian isn’t up to snuff). I love him and he loves me. Goombah is a (hypoallergenic dog) Australian Labradoodle with a deep and rich family heritage. That heritage goes back to a root established by Beverley Manners, (Australian Labradoodle Breeder) the founder of Rutland Manor Breeding and Research Centre and the co-founder and developer of the ASD (Australian Service Dog) Australian Labradoodle for those allergic to dogs.

Today, Beverley is under attack from both left and right -- on the left, there are the Animal Rights Activists, a disparate group of self-aggrandizing “do-gooders” who are so lost in mass causes (the forest) that they have no empathy for individual cases (the trees); on the right lies the puffed-up pure-bred breeder who lashes out at the Labradoodle partly out of envy (the Labradoodle is very popular) and partly out of snobbery (our “House of Lords” dog club has no room for new-age interlopers). This is indeed a strange alliance. The unwashed aligned with the super-clean; the terrorist sleeping with the establishment; the renegade running resistance for the right. We’ll return to examine this odd alliance shortly, but first a few words about Beverley Rutland-Manners.

Beverley, without any hint of exaggeration, is the matron of the Labradoodle a non shedding, hypoallergenic dog.  With pioneer’s blood coursing through her veins -- her Grandmother, Josie, was a solitary Irish emigrant who sailed to Australia in 1914 -- she grew up in the rural sheep-ranching tradition of southern Australia. As is common knowledge, dogs were a mainstay on sheep stations. In Beverley’s words, “dogs always knew I loved them and they loved me right back!” With a scholastic background in education, Beverley forwent a career “bounded by four walls” in favor of furthering her love-love association with her four-legged friends.

She graduated from the Michael Tucker Dog Psychology course (Michael Tucker, a noted author -- Solving Your Dog problems: A Practical Handbook for Owners and Trainers; Dog Training: Step by Step: A New Guide for Owners and Instructors and Dog Training for Children and Parents -- operates a world renowned training centre in Victoria, Australia). Beverley then went on to become the resident dog trainer for the Elva Raper boarding and training kennels in Melbourne. After a 10-year stint, she went into business on her own, establishing Peppercorn Park, a dog boarding and grooming facility in the suburbs of Melbourne.

Plunging ever deeper into the pool of all things canine, Beverley became a respected breeder and exhibitor of Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Scottish Collies, Shih Tzus, and Maltese. She held a dog-judging license in the Australian State of Victoria. However, disheartened by the genetic illnesses common to many of the “pure breeds” and disillusioned by the political favoritism of the Show Ring, she decided to follow a new course that would exempt her involvement in showing, judging and main-line breeding forever hence.

Having discovered a new cross breed at Royal Melbourne Guide Dogs -- the Labradoodle, crossing a Labrador with a Poodle -- Beverley set out to put her thirty-plus years experience to work, and, joining in the effort with her daughter, Angela, began research and development of a new breed.   Twenty-two years hence, the Australian Labradoodle is the result of that vision.

A beautiful animal, sound and healthy from a genetic standpoint, and intelligent by all canine measures, the breed became most noted as a non-shedding, hypoallergenic service dog.   With the intuition and curiosity that accompanies a smart creature, and the subsequent ease of training, the Australian Labradoodle soon gained world-wide recognition and came to be a favorite companion dog for children and adults, alike.

Beverley’s work continues to this day.   But, now, she is increasingly under attack.   Untruths, distortions, and libelous rantings are seemingly coming from all quarters.   And, as in any rumor mill populated by yentas, mud-slingers, and social ne’er-do-wells, the fever pitch criticism is ramping up.   A fair-minded judge would blow the whistle for “piling on” and call a time out while the accusations were laid bare and one-by-one discredited.

As with any ill-tide, the ever present flow that inundates is a fait accompli and, to avoid drowning, one must swim.   But, to understand the cause of the flood, one must go to the source, the headwaters.   Now we are back to peeking in on the Animal Rights Activists, on the one hand, and the Pure-bred dog breeders on the other.   For fun, let’s dissemble them one at a time.

The “Animal Rights” Activists, to be clear, are not Animal Welfare Organizations.   There is a distinct difference.   Animal welfare organizations are concerned with the ethical treatment of animals by their charges and owners.   They argue against the cruel treatment and abuse of animals, whether they be pets, farm animals, or laboratory subjects.   They include such familiar groups as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Blue Cross, and the League Against Cruel Sports.   Animal rights organizations, on the other hand, believe that all animals should be wild and free from human interaction altogether.   As one can well imagine, their ranks are filled with vegetarians and vegans.   They include organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), the latter classified as a domestic terrorist group by the FBI.

Animals are sentient beings and their welfare needs to be respected and nurtured.   Unfortunately, there are purveyors of mistreatment in the human to animal relationship, just as there are abusers in human to human interactions.   But there is an order in the Animal Kingdom and it is filled with carnivores, herbivores and omnivores.   Would animal activists do away with all of the carnivores?   I think not -- they would soon have to put up with the stench of rotting flesh from starved rabbits, deer and other herbivores that would have quickly out-populated their food supply.   And for those adamantly against the killing of all living creatures, I would like to invite them to spend a couple of weeks in June in Canada’s north without insect repellent.   Anyone who could survive that experience without having killed a mosquito would deserve a king’s ransom for a reward.

Now, what exactly does the animal activist movement have to do with Beverley’s current plight?   Well, excuse the oxymoronic metaphor, but they smell blood.   Minions of the cause have been enlisted to attack Beverley, to fan unsubstantiated rumors referencing, erroneously, her mistreatment of her breeding-pair dogs, and to cause as much commotion and roiled extravaganza as they humanly can.   And, for the moment, it is working.   But -- and this is the part that I enjoy when it comes to seeing the undoing of unthinking purveyors of lies and myths -- the backlash is coming.   The human companions of “The Goombah d’oros”  in this world will not stand idly by and see the Grandmother of ‘doodle-dome so baselessly attacked.  

Where do the pure-bred dog breeders come in?   If they could rotate their held-high noses earthward just long enough to get a sniff of what was going on they might consider that they are next in line for the animal activists’ smear campaign.   Too, they might consider that their dog breeds held in such reverence were once created by people equally dedicated to the cause of innovation as was Beverley -- there are no natural domestic dog breeds. 

Labradoodle breeders of the world need to unite.   They need to get involved in this fight.   They need to speak out in favor of Beverley’s vision and offer their support.   Dog-lovers, specifically, and pet owners generally need to join their voices in chorus and make their views known.   If Goombah could talk, I know where he would stand.