In the past 10 years, New Zealand has imported more than 10,000 units of dog semen into the country.
Most of it came from sighthounds, but popular pet and working breeds such as Labradors, German Shepherds, Bulldogs and Golden Retrievers are all part of the mix as well.
It’s a niche market, but for some people it’s bread and butter.
Veterinarian Becky Murphy specializes in reproduction services and has some insight into why people would choose to import the material.
“The fundamental reason we use frozen dog semen quite a bit in New Zealand is because we are such an isolated population.
“So, if you look in America or in Europe, where you can freely move samples between different countries. We just can’t do that here. We don’t have the dog population available to do some kind of improvement and improvement.” and preserve our very unique varieties.”
There are plenty of organizations in New Zealand that line up for imported semen.
Among them are blind and partially sighted NZ guide dogs, who say importing semen gives them the best chance of having a working guide dog at the end of the process.
Health and breeding program manager Lydia Charteris says they look for a lot in a donor dog.
“They have to go through very strict health screening, orthopedic from a cardiac standpoint, from a genetic standpoint, skin, so they have a very comprehensive health picture.
“Temperamentally, they must have passed at a really high level. So we have tests that we do throughout the dog’s life, and they have to maintain a very high score.”
It’s a similar story for the New Zealand Police, who have their own list of things to look for.
The National Coordinator of the NZ Police Dogs, Inspector Todd Southall, says if they don’t import from abroad it would limit the organisation’s breeding programme.
“The traits we are looking for are really strong nerves, when I talk about nerves they can switch on-off. It doesn’t mean they are aggressive, it just means they have a lot of confidence, good nerves, good hunting drive.
“All the training we do in the police dog section, all of our dogs, it’s about their natural instincts and that hunting drive is a really strong behavior that we’re looking for.”
Inspector Southall said there are other requirements around the dogs’ health.
The amount of semen imported into New Zealand peaked in 2019, with 1372 units imported, but was lower in subsequent years.
Rhea Hurley, New Zealand dog health and welfare officer, says cargo issues could be part of the cause there.
“If you pay a lot of money and have frozen semen imported and the transport company loses it or it gets delayed and it gets lost or can’t be used, that’s a big expense, so I think that’s one of the main drivers been. .”
Murphy said import costs skyrocketed after the start of the pandemic due to rising freight rates.
She said New Zealand’s stringent biosecurity requirements also add additional pressure.
Health checks are required on the day of collection, as are follow-up blood tests and rabies certification afterwards.
“I just wonder if the situation the world was in, it was really difficult to get those follow-up appointments with the vets from overseas,” she said.
“Because if they did the collection but can’t do the blood tests three weeks later, that sperm is no longer eligible.”
It takes a while, even if it’s easier to do than bring a whole dog.
“If people are importing from Australia we say give it three months, if they are importing from anywhere else in the world we say give it a year because it takes so long and it’s so expensive.”
Murphy said importing semen to New Zealand from Australia, where about 40 percent of our semen has come from over the past decade, could cost anywhere from $6,000 to $10,000, depending on cover costs.
