Espeon
Mmhm...
Whilst I was on holiday in Devon, the BBC broadcasted a programme which I found, possible along with many others, was a very touching topic. The show-dogs, after years of breeding for "perfection", pedigree dogs are now so prone to various genetic diseases and faults that they're having to be put down frequently at an early age. Who can we blame? Only the Great British Kennel Club and those who follow its breed specifications to get the "perfect" dog.
What are the hazards?
Take, for example, a popular showbreed; the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. One of the main genetic faults that now haunts this breed of dog is a condition called "Syringomyelia" which is caused by abnormalities in the skull. The skull is too small to support the size of the brain. As they described on the programme, it is like trying to put a size 10 foot, the brain, into a size 6 shoe, the skull. Depending on the severity of the condition, it can cause slight irritation, sometimes not even physically paining the dog. However, it can also cause such great pain for the dog, that if you were to get a stick and beat the dog so that it felt the same ammount of pain, you would be imprisioned for a long time. Sometimes, the condition is so severe that it can ever cause the dog partial paralysis.
Another well known breed is the Bulldog. The modern Bulldog's face is so flat now, that it has difficulties breathing. Its modern bodily shape means that it can't breed without aid, and it can't give birth without aid. Aeroplanes refuse to fly Bulldogs as their breathing is so poor. It poses too great a risk to the Bulldog's health.
This is a Bulldog from the 1860's. It evidently had a snout. 140 years of breeding has caused its skull to undergo considerable and dangerous changes by itself.
Bulldogs and Cavaliers are now hazards to themselves due to their own genes. Essentially, they are their own worst enemy.
So, why is this caused? The British Kennel Club has breed specifications for dog shows. One breed, the Ridgeback's, says something along these lines:
"Puppies without a ridge shall be culled." It has been proven that the ridges are actually a genetic fault, and they SHOULDN'T have ridges atall. In fact, the dogs without ridges are healthier as they aren't afected by a condition which sometimes affects the ridged dogs.
These breed specifications allow people to inbreed their dogs to get desirable qualities. Brother-Sister, Mother-Son and Grandfather-Granddaughter are all allowed within the Kennel Club. Inbreeding is where these genetic faults have all come from. The Pug is now so inbred that within the UK, there are only around 50 sets of individual sets of genes.
The Kennel Club needs to start screening dogs for diseases and stop having this idea of the "perfect dog", in my opinion. It's wrong to allow inbreeding as a start. Person to person inbreeding isn't allowed, so why should dog to dog inbreeding be? The Kennel Club needs to stop breeders from breeding dogs that are affected, and will cause their children to be infected with their genetic traits, and should keep a list of all of these dogs with genetic faults, and whether the gene is recessive or dominant.
What do you think?
What are the hazards?
Take, for example, a popular showbreed; the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. One of the main genetic faults that now haunts this breed of dog is a condition called "Syringomyelia" which is caused by abnormalities in the skull. The skull is too small to support the size of the brain. As they described on the programme, it is like trying to put a size 10 foot, the brain, into a size 6 shoe, the skull. Depending on the severity of the condition, it can cause slight irritation, sometimes not even physically paining the dog. However, it can also cause such great pain for the dog, that if you were to get a stick and beat the dog so that it felt the same ammount of pain, you would be imprisioned for a long time. Sometimes, the condition is so severe that it can ever cause the dog partial paralysis.
Another well known breed is the Bulldog. The modern Bulldog's face is so flat now, that it has difficulties breathing. Its modern bodily shape means that it can't breed without aid, and it can't give birth without aid. Aeroplanes refuse to fly Bulldogs as their breathing is so poor. It poses too great a risk to the Bulldog's health.
This is a Bulldog from the 1860's. It evidently had a snout. 140 years of breeding has caused its skull to undergo considerable and dangerous changes by itself.
Bulldogs and Cavaliers are now hazards to themselves due to their own genes. Essentially, they are their own worst enemy.
So, why is this caused? The British Kennel Club has breed specifications for dog shows. One breed, the Ridgeback's, says something along these lines:
"Puppies without a ridge shall be culled." It has been proven that the ridges are actually a genetic fault, and they SHOULDN'T have ridges atall. In fact, the dogs without ridges are healthier as they aren't afected by a condition which sometimes affects the ridged dogs.
These breed specifications allow people to inbreed their dogs to get desirable qualities. Brother-Sister, Mother-Son and Grandfather-Granddaughter are all allowed within the Kennel Club. Inbreeding is where these genetic faults have all come from. The Pug is now so inbred that within the UK, there are only around 50 sets of individual sets of genes.
The Kennel Club needs to start screening dogs for diseases and stop having this idea of the "perfect dog", in my opinion. It's wrong to allow inbreeding as a start. Person to person inbreeding isn't allowed, so why should dog to dog inbreeding be? The Kennel Club needs to stop breeders from breeding dogs that are affected, and will cause their children to be infected with their genetic traits, and should keep a list of all of these dogs with genetic faults, and whether the gene is recessive or dominant.
What do you think?
