The History of Alpaca Breed Standards in the U.S.
By Mike Safley
Very few alpaca breeders are neutral on the issue of breed standards; most fall into one of four schools of thought: 1) Absolutely in favor, 2) Wanting to learn more, 3) Apathetic or "I don't care what they do, I am going to breed to my own standard", and 4) Absolutely and aggressively against breed standards of any kind. The breeders who favor standards believe the practice of animal breeding is the pursuit of perfection and view standards as useful guides in the quest for the ideal alpaca. The opponents of breed standards predict doom if standards are adopted, often suggesting that pressure from powerful figures involved in the industry is behind the effort to enact standards.
Alpaca breed standards in North America have had a positive impact on alpaca breed improvement since they were first implemented in 1989. Many U.S. alpaca breeders are unaware of the dynamic role that standards have played in the development of the national herd. Once alpaca owners make their way through the arguments made against the official recognition of breed standards, they will find that standards are a good idea for a variety of reasons: standards encourage excellence in both conformation and fleece; they guide selection away from genetic defects; they help create more commercially productive alpacas; and they encourage more consistent judging at alpaca shows.
Opponents fear that a specific breed standard would create a marketing platform favoring one alpaca over another: Accoyo over Peruvian, Chilean over Bolivian, or the big breeder over the small. Opponents also suggest that standards will wreak genetic havoc on the alpaca breed and endlessly cite the mistakes made in dog breeding to support their argument. The dog analogy goes like this: dog breeds have historically been founded on dangerously narrow gene pools, perpetuated by inbreeding and utilizing breed standards as a selection guide. This process results in broad-based genetic defects in the breed's population. This argument deserves a response. Read entire article.
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