What do the following animals have in common other than being Irish farm animals?

Ulster Large White Pig;
Claddagh Sheep;
Old Irish Cow;
Cushindall Pony;
Irish Greyhound Pig

Knowing how we operate, some of you who have been reading our pages for a while may have guessed that these animals are all extinct, and you would be right.

 

In fact, did you know that there are no native Irish pig breeds left in Ireland?

In some measure, this is because more profitable porcine breeds were introduced to keep up with the growing demand for produce, but it’s also because no one either noticed, or few heeded the alarm that these breeds were at risk of vanishing.

It’s always a pity with an animal goes extinct. The Irish Greyhound Pig, for instance, was a descendant of the European wild pig that had roamed Irish forests since prehistoric times. It’s also shortsighted to allow it to happen. With regards to farm animals, rare breeds often have genetic traits that are important to protect and conserve because it isn’t known today the potential their genes might hold that could be useful for breeding or other scientific breakthroughs in the future.

In terms of dogs, nine Irish breeds have at least been granted National Heritage status by the Minister of Ireland (four terriers, three gundogs, and two hounds), but less than six years ago, the most popular breeds in Northern Ireland were (in order) the Labrador Retriever, Cocker Spaniel, Miniature Schnauzer, French Bulldog, English Springer Spaniel and Yorkshire Terrier. Not a native Irish breed in the bunch.*  In fact, according to a 2017 article in the Irish Examiner, native Irish breeds only comprised of about 10% of the pedigree dog population in Ireland.

As of 2019, Ireland’s most vulnerable breed was the Irish Red and White Setter which had an alarming 39 dogs registered for the entire year. When IRWS breeder, Ve Callaghan, had a litter of ten in 2020, she mentioned in an interview that she believed the breed had become vulnerable because “they’re not a known breed.” It is maddening to us now that we cannot find the source of a bit information we came across within the last year or so, but if memory serves, a poll among Irish citizens found that most of them couldn’t name all of their native dog breeds (and we offer an enormous “thank you!” to anyone who can find this poll).

What will it take to save our at-risk breeds?

We think that Ve Callaghan had it right. While those of us who read these pages are in tune with different breeds, the majority of average folks aren’t. Many in the United States have been persuaded through an aggressive rescue movement that saving a dog is the most charitable thing one can do, but lost in the cacophony of voices urging the public to “rescue this” and “adopt that” is the message that entire dog breeds need saving too. Extinction is forever, and if we don’t do a better job of pushing this message, it’s likely – not possible, but likely, that ours will be the last generation to see a breed like the Otterhound in the flesh.

It is time we refer to the breeders of these vulnerable breeds as what they are: Conservationists and preservationists. 

*Figures from the Kennel Club

Image: “Sleeping Irish Red and White Setter by Ordinary Guy is licensed under CC BY 2.0