Post by Die Fledermaus on Mar 14, 2009 22:04:01 GMT -4
This story was broadcast on ABC News a few days ago, and re-shown today.
As you may recall, when at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show at Madison Square Garden, February 9th and 10th, I brought this up with many dog owners, and the AKC president. He, and most of the owners, gave me the schmooze about relying on the individual dog breed clubs to maintain healthy standards. I told them that the British Kennel Club, after a BBC documentary on breed abuses, was starting new standards for pedigree dogs requiring less extreme physical traits, and encouraging more healthful features,
Only a few owners told me that all the above I was told at the WKC show was the Party Line, and that some traits in some dogs were indeed not healthful and breeders did push for extremes as "judges look for that and they need to be better educated".
Some dogs are obviouskly prone to various diseases and physical issues, including breathing problems and overheating.
What is too much breeding? Bulldogs 150 years ago, for example, looked little like those of today. How much loose skin on a Shar-pei is too much? Etc.
In the ABC story, the AKC refused to talk to the reporter and just issued the Party Line I heard myself from the AKC President on Feb. 9th.
abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=7055788&page=1
The below is a small part of many stories and photos on the site above. Please check it out.
I should add, the BBC pulled the plug on the largest dog show in Britain as a result of these concerns - perhaps why the Kennel Club there has issued new standards.
>> Best of Breed? Pedigree Dogs Face Disease
Critics Say Purebred Dogs Have Health Problems Because of Inbreeding, Show Standards
The Westminster Dog Show is the showpiece for a multi-billion dollar industry, a festival of primped pooches, prestigious prizes and perfect pedigrees. This year's big winner, a Sussex Spaniel called Stump, became an instant celebrity.
The owners love it. But whether such competitive shows are good for the dogs is debatable.
Consider the Bulldog ring at Madison Square Garden last month, where the show's smushed-face dogs were getting a cooling spray.
"In the heat and the lights of the show, they can overheat and actually go down in five minutes," one handler said. "They have, instead of a long snout where it's an open airway, it's smashed like a Coke can and the breathing has to go through many, many curves and many turns." That's the desired look for a Bulldog to win ribbons at dog shows. In other words, it's a world in which dogs are bred with exaggerated features to please the judges, features that can cause extreme discomfort and serious distress, some veterinarians say.
Backstage at the Garden, a German Shepherd breeder explained how show-winning traits can be passed from generation to generation. Something called "line breeding" is common practice. That's breeding, for example, a grandfather with his granddaughter. Mating of direct relatives, or inbreeding, also happens. . . <<
I should add I was looking for reporters to talk to about this issue but could only find one guy writing a book on something related. That place was very crowded
As you may recall, when at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show at Madison Square Garden, February 9th and 10th, I brought this up with many dog owners, and the AKC president. He, and most of the owners, gave me the schmooze about relying on the individual dog breed clubs to maintain healthy standards. I told them that the British Kennel Club, after a BBC documentary on breed abuses, was starting new standards for pedigree dogs requiring less extreme physical traits, and encouraging more healthful features,
Only a few owners told me that all the above I was told at the WKC show was the Party Line, and that some traits in some dogs were indeed not healthful and breeders did push for extremes as "judges look for that and they need to be better educated".
Some dogs are obviouskly prone to various diseases and physical issues, including breathing problems and overheating.
What is too much breeding? Bulldogs 150 years ago, for example, looked little like those of today. How much loose skin on a Shar-pei is too much? Etc.
In the ABC story, the AKC refused to talk to the reporter and just issued the Party Line I heard myself from the AKC President on Feb. 9th.
abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=7055788&page=1
The below is a small part of many stories and photos on the site above. Please check it out.
I should add, the BBC pulled the plug on the largest dog show in Britain as a result of these concerns - perhaps why the Kennel Club there has issued new standards.
>> Best of Breed? Pedigree Dogs Face Disease
Critics Say Purebred Dogs Have Health Problems Because of Inbreeding, Show Standards
The Westminster Dog Show is the showpiece for a multi-billion dollar industry, a festival of primped pooches, prestigious prizes and perfect pedigrees. This year's big winner, a Sussex Spaniel called Stump, became an instant celebrity.
The owners love it. But whether such competitive shows are good for the dogs is debatable.
Consider the Bulldog ring at Madison Square Garden last month, where the show's smushed-face dogs were getting a cooling spray.
"In the heat and the lights of the show, they can overheat and actually go down in five minutes," one handler said. "They have, instead of a long snout where it's an open airway, it's smashed like a Coke can and the breathing has to go through many, many curves and many turns." That's the desired look for a Bulldog to win ribbons at dog shows. In other words, it's a world in which dogs are bred with exaggerated features to please the judges, features that can cause extreme discomfort and serious distress, some veterinarians say.
Backstage at the Garden, a German Shepherd breeder explained how show-winning traits can be passed from generation to generation. Something called "line breeding" is common practice. That's breeding, for example, a grandfather with his granddaughter. Mating of direct relatives, or inbreeding, also happens. . . <<
I should add I was looking for reporters to talk to about this issue but could only find one guy writing a book on something related. That place was very crowded
