Tide turning against unhealthy animal breed standards?

[Nerys Ghemor]

http://www.vetstreet.com/dr-marty-b...edented+Event+Happens+At+Prestigious+Dog+Show

If we're fortunate, this could hopefully be the beginning of a trend where animals bred to unhealthy standards for the sake of some extreme appearance will no longer be permitted to compete in animal shows...which will hopefully discourage the breeding of extremes.

That doesn't mean breeds like bulldogs, Pekes, or Persians shouldn't exist at all. But there's a HUGE difference between this poor animal and a healthy doll-faced Persian, for instance. The former is the result of what I consider to be rather selfish breeding; the latter is a healthy cat.

I hope breed standards will soon be rewritten to consider the health of the animal first--only after that appearance.

 

[Shanndee]

Thank you for posting this Nerys Ghemor!

This gives me some faint hope that things may change for the better. I recently watched a TV documentary where indignant breeders declared that their 40 plus years of experience in "enhancing and improving" breeds totally outweighed the opinions of "silly scientists" who know nothing (!!).

Here's hoping this is the first step towards healthy companion animals instead of fashionable accessories,

 

[scotpens]

This can only be good news for show dogs and cats. Deliberately breeding animals with faces so deformed that they have difficulty breathing is just out-and-out cruelty.

These kinds of defects have been showing up in purebreds for decades. For example, congenital hip dysplasia is fairly common in large dog breeds like Dobermans and German shepherds because of small, inbred gene pools.

If you just want a healthy, happy pet, you’re better off getting a mutt.

 

[Deckerd]

The BBC unceremoniously dumped Crufts after showing it every year for the past 200 years because of the state of some of the breeds and the Kennel Club's intransigence in banning some or the worst breed characteristics. Interestingly the dogs that broke the camel's back, as it were, aren't in your list. The Cavalier King Charles, which has been bred to have such a ridiculously small cranium that some of them die from the resultant pressure on their brains, which has to be the most disgusting thing ever; and the German shepherd, which has become deformed by the insane drive to have their back end as low to the ground as possible.

 

[TheSeeker]

I hope this is start of a trend. I hate seeing dogs bred to such extremes. The short legs some dogs have are just ridiculous.

 

[SmoothieX]

^My mom has a Corgi. It was bred to have short legs to avoid being kicked by an animal while herding.

Per wikipedia:
"The Corgi is proportional to larger breeds but has shorter legs, yet has a sturdy appearance and an athletic body that helps it herd livestock such as poultry, sheep and cattle. They are short so if livestock tries to kick the dog, the hoof goes right over the dog's head."

I'm all for breeding to bring out a beneficial trait for working or hunting. I have a Lab for example - webbed feet, otter tail, and double coat for retrieving fowl in cold waters.

I agree that breeding for a look that happens to be unhealthy is stupid though. My old boss use to own pugs, which are one of those brachycephalic (smush faced) breeds. They have so many health issues it's ridiculous. I also have an issue with toy dogs, what's the point?

 

[Deckerd]

Your Lab is no more natural than my little Jack Russells. The issue is not size, since any dog in proportion is likely to be healty, but health threatening deformity. Webbed feet, for instance, are a deformity but they are not health threatening.

 

[scotpens]

I'm all for breeding to bring out a beneficial trait for working or hunting. I have a Lab for example - webbed feet, otter tail, and double coat for retrieving fowl in cold waters.

But how many people who own these specialized breeds actually use them for the purpose for which they were originally bred? There are plenty of border collies that have never seen a sheep, much less herded them.

. . . I also have an issue with toy dogs, what's the point?

They’re not pets; they’re fashion accessories.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

I'm all for breeding to bring out a beneficial trait for working or hunting. I have a Lab for example - webbed feet, otter tail, and double coat for retrieving fowl in cold waters.

But how many people who own these specialized breeds actually use them for the purpose for which they were originally bred? There are plenty of border collies that have never seen a sheep, much less herded them.

As far as Labs go, many of them are "just" pets. However, they are still frequently used by duck hunters. Labs are also seen as drug dogs, guide dogs, and rescue dogs.

But the distinction stands, that their breed-specific traits are not health risks, though with inbreeding, anything can become a health risk, and I think breed standards should change to allow outcrossing for health purposes. Genetic "purity" has a deadly price.

 

[B.J.]

Good for them for finally acknowledging that this is a problem. But I still won't take any dog show seriously until they accept mutts and other mixed breeds as perfectly normal dogs, and no better or worse than their pure breeds.

 

[Lumi]

I have always had a problem with certain breeds of both dogs and cats with faces so pushed in that they can't breathe. Those got the worst of it, I think.

But there are also the breeds more likely to have back injuries, or other injuries... the dachshunds, etc. I love them, but that isn't fair to the dog at all.

Bulldogs too... they can't even give birth naturally because their bodies are so deformed.

So sad and pointless.

 

[Nerys Ghemor]

Good for them for finally acknowledging that this is a problem. But I still won't take any dog show seriously until they accept mutts and other mixed breeds as perfectly normal dogs, and no better or worse than their pure breeds.

Many cat shows have a "companion" or "household pet" category that accepts any cat regardless of breed, as long as the cat is in good health and can tolerate the environment of the show. I didn't know dog shows had no such category.