Posts Tagged ‘pedigree dogs’

The Ethics of Pedigree Dog Breeding, Part 2

Friday, July 23rd, 2010

Man in the Mirror

Contributed by Alina Lilova

Summer is great for the elderly pooch, especially with a light T-shirt on for sun protection

But winter feels just miserable... Can't we breed iggies who are more heat-efficient?

I believe that the best, fastest way to change the status quo is if everybody who has a favourite breed could try to identify, honestly, both the positive and the negative welfare aspects of this breed—and accept the possibility that its appearance may have to change in the future. Confronting ourselves in this manner may be hard, but one day our dogs will be thankful that we did it. Just like our choices as farmers or consumers affect the lives of billions of sentient farm animals, our choices as breeders or members of the dog-buying public matter greatly to the world’s dogs.

With this belief, I will start with myself. I adore sighthounds – especially the smallest among them, the Italian greyhounds. My computer and drawers are full of “iggy” and greyhound pictures: photographs, old paintings, calendars. For 13 years, I owned a wonderful male Italian greyhound called Ernesto, or “Nesto.” Fortunately, despite the rarity of these dogs and the inbreeding atrocities visible in Nesto’s pedigree just four generations back, he didn’t suffer from the ailments commonly listed in breed descriptions – such as Progressive Retinal Atrophy or von Willebrand Disease. He did have epilepsy, though (and a family history of epilepsy), but he was lucky to be relatively unaffected by it, as it occurred only a few times in his life – which is not the case with all epileptic dogs.

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The Ethics of Pedigree Dog Breeding, Part 1

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

“It is fascinating to speculate how dogs and humans might co-evolve further. We cannot say exactly what the domestic dogs of the future will look like because we do not know what future humans will need and therefore value. But pedigree dogs, as they are currently defined, are doomed.”

–Paul McGreevy, comment in The New Scientist (“We must breed happier, healthier dogs,” 8 October 2008)

Irish Wolfhound Sam, photo by Tirwhan, Wikipedia

Contributed by Alina Lilova

In my early teens, I used to worship the world of the dog fancy, which I was familiar with through hobby magazines and occasional direct contact. I could recognise dozens upon dozens of breeds, I would read their entire standards, I thought dog shows were fascinating, and I dreamt of studying “cynology,” or canine science.

How disenchanted I am today. Over the years, I slowly came to realise that canine science rests on shaky biological grounds because it is not dog-centric as its name implies. The individual dog doesn’t matter as much as the frozen ideal of the breed. Selective breeding isn’t used to create happy and well-adjusted family pets, but to improve “breed quality,” i.e. match ever more closely what the dog looked like in a mythical past or will look like in a utopian future, as laid out in the sacred books of the kennel club.  Other concerns exist, but they are secondary.

Obsessively pursuing the Breed Standard like a pack of hounds, breeders risk losing sight of the animal welfare problems that come with their quest. The first problem is inbreeding, or the crossing of related individuals. While many laypeople believe that pedigrees serve to make sure no close relatives are mated, in fact the opposite is often true. The second problem is exaggerated physical traits: dog shows, like those fashion shows with super-skinny models, don’t always have the participant’s welfare in mind. In this article, I’m going to discuss the two issues as well as give my amateur opinion on some of the historical roots of the problem. (more…)

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Squares and rectangles: the link between hip dysplasia and your dog’s breed standard

Friday, March 12th, 2010

by Alina Lilova

When dog fanciers breed a Hush Puppy (Basset hound) to look like what it’s ‘supposed to,’ they may be inadvertently putting him at high risk from developing the skeletal disorder known as hip dysplasia – one of the plagues of the purebred dog world. Severe hip dysplasia can cause osteoarthritis and be very painful, even crippling to the animal. Many breeders try to prevent the disease by evaluating the radiographs of potential parent dogs and excluding some affected animals – with moderate success. Unfortunately, their efforts are bound to remain half-hearted, as long as aesthetic preferences dictate that the most visually appealing dogs are those in danger of falling ill, according to a new study.

Scientists Taryn Roberts and Paul McGreevy examined breed scores for hip dysplasia published by several major organisations along with the body length-to-height ratios of 30 breeds. They wanted to see whether the physical proportions prized in the show ring were also good for the dogs’ health. To that end, for each breed, they used photographs of twelve victorious pooches who had been awarded a “Best of Breed,” measured their relative body lengths, and compared them to what was known about the prevalence of hip dysplasia in the breed.

Best-of-Breed Doberman, photo by Paul McGreevy

It turned out that longer dogs are on average eight times more likely to be affected than the more square-bodied breeds. Selecting for heavy rectangular dogs is especially dangerous, hence the severity of this problem in breeds such as the Neapolitan Mastiff and the St. Bernard.

The scientists felt that “drastic revisions” of the breed standards were needed – not only standards that specifically require the ‘ideal’ dog to be longer than he’s tall at the withers, but also those that are vague about proportions. The latter leave too much room for interpretation to breeders and judges whose personal preferences may not be in the dog’s best interest at all.

Source:

Roberts, T., McGreevy, P.D. Selection for breed-specific long-bodied phenotypes is associated with increased expression of canine hip dysplasia. The Veterinary Journal (2009), doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2009.11.005

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Crufts dogs no longer getting a ‘ruff’ deal?

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Pedigree dog show, Crufts, is fighting back over allegations that it promotes breeding standards that cause canine deformities and health problems, just a week before the start of this years event.

With plans to focus more closely on working animals and mongrels, the Kennel Club put emphasis for the first time on assistance animals for disabled people and military explosives-sniffing dogs, as opposed to groomed champions of years gone by.

Following claims that breeding standards caused congenital health problems for some dogs- for example, those with flat faces which can suffer respiratory problems, considered by animal welfare charities as cruel and unnecessary- the BBC dropped its television coverage of Crufts last year and the long-standing main sponsor, pet food manufacturer Pedigree, also withdrew its support. The RSPCA also withdrew their regular stand in protest, calling for breeding standards to be revised- a call that appears to be heard. Earlier this year, an inquiry commissioned by the Kennel Club recommended compulsory microchipping for puppies to help trace breeders who cause health problems by inbreeding, a move that should be echoed in households with pets across the UK to promote responsible pet ownership.

Have you ever been to Crufts? Perhaps you own a pedigree dog and don’t know what the fuss is about. Let us know what you think.Anna Claxton

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