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In reply to the discussion: We’re Breeding Dogs to Death [View all]The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,683 posts)Most dog breeds have existed for a long time, sometimes many hundreds of years. People bred dogs as working animals, and tried to breed for qualities that would serve the function for which they were being bred. So, for example, border collies ended up with agility, stamina and intelligence, and dachshunds had short legs so they could chase badgers into their burrows. But they were healthy; they had to be. More recently, though, people started breeding for looks, and took existing traits and exaggerated them. That's how German shepherds, long bred for strength and intelligence, wound up with strangely sloped backs (and I don't understand why they think this is an attractive trait) and resulting hip dysplasia, and dachshunds' legs became freakishly short, causing back problems. Afghan hounds are an ancient breed, having been developed in the cold climate of Afghanistan as a hunting dog. But now they are just show dogs; their heads have become so narrow there's hardly any room for brains, so they are now as dumb as stumps, and they have many other health problems as well.
It's a little different with cats. People didn't get into cat breeding and showing until the late 19th century, when cats from other parts of the world were brought to England. There were some very old existing breeds like the Siamese and the Angora, but apart from their coats they were normal cats. But like the dog breeders, humans took existing traits and exaggerated them, so now Siamese cats look like weasels and Persians have almost no noses. But the other thing that is happening with cats is that people are creating breeds out of spontaneous natural mutations - that's where the Scottish fold, the Sphynx and the Munchkin came from. But the distinguishing traits of these breeds (folded ears, hairlessness, very short legs) are abnormalities, and the genes that cause them also carry other, more dangerous traits. The short-legged Munchkin, for example, may actually suffer from a form of achondroplasic dwarfism, and some cat fancier associations refuse to recognize the breed. These cats probably could not survive outside a home because they are unable to jump like a normal cat.
Anyway, what's wrong with all of this is that people are deliberately breeding into these animals traits that are not healthy. Not all breeders are doing this, but obviously many are, and IMO it's despicable.