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Showing Original Post only (View all)We’re Breeding Dogs to Death [View all]
from In These Times:
Were Breeding Dogs to Death
The legacy of eugenics is mutilating our best friends.
BY TERRY J. ALLEN
Bred for looks, not health, many purebred dogs are drawn from a genetic wading pool that might have been designed by a cabal of Ralph Lauren, Dr. Frankenstein, Walt Disney and David Koch.
Even socially aware consumers who sneer at $5,000 designer purses, and animal defenders who deplore the cruelties of commercial livestock production, buy into trendy canines. Purebreds are commodities like any other luxury good, and breeding them is big business. Registered golden retrievers go for up to $3,000, English bulldogs for $9,000, and a Cavalier King Charles spaniel can cost $14,000, almost as much as a Honda Fit.
But neither price, pedigree nor being loved like a member of the family can shield a dog from the pain, breathing difficulties, cancer, panoply of debilitating genetic disorders, mental illness, crippling physiognomy and shortened life span that disproportionately plague purebreds.
The main U.S. arbiter of canine purity is the American Kennel Club. The first goal of its mission is upholding the integrity of its Registry. Pedigree, the AKC asserts, creates a level of breed predictability of temperament and physical characteristics. But the AKC is also a lead profiteer in an industry that Michael Brandow, author of A Matter of Breeding, decried as a kind of long-term, institutionalized cruelty that makes vivisection look humane. ...................(more)
http://inthesetimes.com/article/17910/bred-to-death
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With racehorses the problem is horses bred to sell as babies for big bucks not horses bred to race.
bklyncowgirl
May 2015
#19
Yeah, how used up or non-winning greyhounds are put down is a tragic, dirty secret. nt
brush
Jun 2015
#126
I would blame idiots who think they can buy a chihuahua and "be like" Paris, et al.
Scootaloo
Jun 2015
#109
Yes -- makes me so mad! I feel horrible for the poor tiny-nosed "smoosh faced" kitties.
Arugula Latte
May 2015
#41
Jackson Galaxy, the "My Cat From Hell" behaviorist, went on an absolutely
bullwinkle428
Jun 2015
#102
Even the dogs you take in as strays or adopt from the shelter came from somewhere.
pnwmom
May 2015
#70
No, but you eat meat, don't you? It's an animal product that is bought and sold.
pnwmom
May 2015
#73
No. If it was illegal to sell dogs, then no one would be having 'pure bred' breeds anymore.
Lancero
Jun 2015
#113
In some breeds, including Goldens, neutering raises the risk of serious cancers.
pnwmom
Jun 2015
#108
There is an alternative, without the health effects, that is far more common in Europe.
pnwmom
Jun 2015
#127
I had a border collie mix when the AKC was considering adding them to a breed list
hollysmom
May 2015
#31
My brother and sister-in-law adopted a CKCS a couple of years ago. The poor thing
bullwinkle428
Jun 2015
#104
Yeah, it started with the domestication of non-human life all those years ago
The2ndWheel
May 2015
#24
And this is what the bushes and the creepy eugenics people want to do to humans
Dont call me Shirley
May 2015
#49
I've done a little more reading on this, and learned some interesting things.
The Velveteen Ocelot
May 2015
#74