After the news that the RSPCA had pulled out of crufts the Dogs Trust has joined in with their own boycott.
The Kennel Club has decided to shoot the messenger and is complaining to Ofcom about a BBC documentary on genetic illnesses in pedigree dogs.
The message put across by the programme was that all their disabilities, their illnesses, were caused by something which the Kennel Club had done, to the point where we were likened to Nazis. - Caroline Kisko
The Times report suggests that "Antagonism towards the Kennel Club heightened when a senior official was filmed voicing approval for breeding female dogs with male offspring." which I can't verify, as the documentary was on too long ago for an iPlayer showing. But if true paints a picture that suggests Caroline Kisko's Nazi analogy, while tasteless (no matter how many dogs are suffering due to this eugenics they aren't humans) could be reasonably accurate. When even the sponsor of your show is making public statements of concern, you should worry.
The British Veterinary Association has heard that these disease problems due to inbreeding are serious enough that some breeds are in danger of dying out and would it be such a tragedy to see them go, breading traits for fashion and showing should stop, no domestic dog needs to be anything other than 'dog' the only selectable traits that need to be minded are those that keep a working dog warm and well tempered with the sheep. An end to specialist breeds could hopefully mean less murderous sociopathic dogs.
1 comment:
I did see the documentary - and to be honest the dog breeders and the Kennel club shot themselves repeatedly in the foot by condoning breeders who knowingly allowed genetically diseased dogs to breed in order to sell the champion progeny. It also showed the deformities to a bulldogs skull over the last 100 years (the original bulldog face was more pit-bull ish), and how some crufts champs had had to have surgery so that they could breath... nice!
They illustrated with bloodhounds how 'furnishing' - ie rolls of fur around the hocks is now in the breed standards - and this encouraged interbreeding to exaggerate these features.
I'm all for dogs that have distinctive breed-definition, BUT that should be an honest and traditional definition which results in healthy and happy DOGS not some animated fluffy toy which needs to sit on an ice pack because it can't breath in warm conditions otherwise.
Post a Comment