This video is from the British Veterinary Association and features veterinarian Emma Milne (author of The Truth about Cats and Dogs).
Watch it, and listen carefully, as she details examples of selection for pathology.
Watch it, and listen carefully, as she details examples of selection for pathology.
"The fact is that breeders, by the very demand of the breed standard, have to select for disease and ill health.
Every single wrinkle, every bowed leg, every long back, and every short face are all unhealthy abberations of human selection which would never exist in nature.
The traits that represent the breed standard should be seen for what they are -- and this is my big thing. We should not be saying "that's what a pug looks like", "that's what a dachshund looks like."
These traits are detrimental deviations from the starting point of a propotioned normal animal full of hybrid vigor. Breeds such as a bulldogs with incredibly high levels of dystocia, would disappear within a couple of generations were it not for veterinary intervention. Let alone the number of animals suffering from skin and ear disease, joint disease, neoplasia, heart disease, and respiratory insufficiency and distress due to obstruction, which all require veterinary intervention to alleviate suffering and improve welfare, purely because of their breed type. ....
I believe it is time we face facts and realize that some of these breeds have to be outcrossed, and some of them must disappear alltogether because their welfare is so bad."
.
No comments:
Post a Comment