I don't think it does anyone any good to get into who did what, in regards to Enticer or any other animal. I will say that I got this information from a most reliable source and I am certain it is true. We have to remember that DNA profiling was not in existence yet when Enticer was born, and we had to rely on blood typing to verify parentage, and this was not a real reliable science. Several years ago I had a conversation with the head of the blood typing lab at Ohio State, who did most of the bloodtyping in the US at the time. He said that he knew of 8 full blood Maine Anjou bulls that blood typed as purebred Shorthorns, and I am sure there were many more, as there were many more imported into N. America after this. He also said that some of the Irish strain of Shorthorns had blood types that had little resemblence to other Shorthorn blood types. He also said that more Maines had closer blood types to the Shorthorn breed than many of the Irish cattle did.All of this doesn't matter to me as it is past history. We cannot change any of this any ways.
I do think DNA science is making helping to ensure that our cattle have more exact heritage. Here in Canada, our pedigree work is done by Canadian Livestock Records Corp. They say that 10% of the cattle registered have faulty pedigrees ... due to honest mistakes, errors, other bulls breeding a female, as well as down right fraudulent practices. I would suggest that most cattle producers do their best to make sure their records and their pedigrees are exact and correct. There will always be a few who will do most anything to try to get ahead. If a person will lie about a birth date, or cheat at a show, it is not a stretch to wonder what else they have fudged. Fortunately, I believe those who do this are in a minority. There were lots of cheats and crooks in the old days as ther are today. Some of the stories I have heard from the past about some breeders would curl your hair.
One story I remember is a friend of mine was asked by an older Polled Hereford breeder, if he would help him catch up on his registration paper work. This older breeder had over 200 cows and he had a pile of cattle not registered, as he had just not got the paperwork done. My friend agreed to help. As he started to fill out the first application for registration card, he asked the breeder what the sire of this animal was. The owner replied" What bull is popular right now". As my friend was to find out, he had very few records as to what bull had sired what calves, and he finally told the owner that he could not help him. I am sure this was not an isolated case, and happened more than any of us know.
Last year I had a case where I found out that I had made an error on a pedigree, and fortunately we were able to figure out what had happened. Five years ago I sold a bull to a purebred breeder. In 2006, all sires used in purebred herds had to have a DNA profile. This breeder sent the hair sample and was told that the bull did not match the dam listed on the paper. He called me, and I was at a complete loss to explain this. The dam I had listed on the registration paper, had a DNA profile as she had been flushed. If I had listed most any other cow, that did not have a DNA on file, this error probably would never have been noticed.
I was certain that cow I had listed as the dam had raised this bull, but on checking back through my records I saw something that may have happened. I remembered the morning I had found this calf. He was born in the cattle shed and when I found him, he was nursing the cow that raised him. It was a cold night so I moved them into the barn and put them in a pen. The next morning, I found a dead calf in the corner of the shed, and an old 18 year old cow was standing nearby. I assumed she had calved this calf and lost it. I never thought anymore about it. Both cows and both calves were red in color. Fortunately, we had also flushed the old cow, so there was a DNA profile on her as well. The only explaination I had was that both cows had calved at the same time, and the live calf had started nursing the wrong mother. I called the DNA lab and asked them to check the DNA profile from the old cow against the bull in question and it came back as being a match. Fortunately for me, the owner of the bull was completely understanding, and also was pleased with finding out the real dam as he felt she was a better cow than the one I had originally listed. I paid the costs for changing all the registration papers of the offspring from this sire, which was the least I could do for my mistake. It was an honest mistake, but it was still a mistake.
I think we all want to believe that what we see on the registration paper is correct. From time to time, we see an animal that we wonder about. Today with DNA testing, we have a more exact science to verify our cattle, but still some people will try anything. A few years ago, I was travelling with Don Cagwin and we visited a herd that was, at that time, quite successful. The owner of this herd tried his best to sell us some cattle. I remember as we got into the car to leave, Cagwin said " there is not enough Shorthorn blood in that herd to make one cow, let alone an entire herd". I tended to agree. They were the most non typical Shorthorns in shape and color that I had ever seen. Fortunately for the breed, this herd is now gone and I don't think any genetics from it were used in the breed, at any extent.
What we are talking about is not just a "Shorthorn thing". This happens in all breeds and we are only talking about Shorthorns here simply because that is what most of us in this thread are raising. Dishonesty, unfortunately, is a factor in any breed. I remember an well known Angus breeder from the past, who probably used more semen from the Miilking Shorthorn bull, McKees Matchless Dairyman, than any Shorthorn breeder ever did. He told me once that he really liked using Matchless Dairyman because when used on his Angus cows he sired completely black calves. There are hundreds and probably thousands of examples, but I think I have made my point.
As I said earlier, we can have some faith in our genetics as I firmly believe that most breeders are honest. What I have never figured out is why so many purebred breeders have so little knowledge of the bloodlines of the breed they are involved in, especially today. Today most breeds have their registry on the internet. Using the Shorthorn breed again as an example, anyone can research the pedigree of any Shorthorn in the world. I go to the Canadian, American, British, Australian and New Zealand registry's on a regular basis. In most cases you can go back several generatio ns on any animal. It is not rocket science. At the same time, we have to assume that most of our documentation is correct... and I think it is. Like I said before, we know there are some animals in any breed that are rogues, but we cannot change the past. Like anything else in life, we have to deal with it.
