Pedigree Dogs Exposed
Pedigree dogs are suffering from genetic diseases following years of inbreeding, an investigation has found. A BBC documentary says they are suffering acute problems because looks are emphasised over health when breeding dogs for shows. The programme shows spaniels with brains too big for their skulls and boxers suffering from epilepsy. The Kennel Club says it works tirelessly to improve the health of pedigree dogs.
Pedigree animals make up 75% of the seven million dogs in the UK and cost their owners over £10m in vets’ fees each week. The programme, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, says dogs suffering from genetic illness are not prevented from competing in dog shows and have gone on to win “best in breed”, despite their poor health. It says physical traits required by the Kennel Club’s breed standards, such as short faces, wrinkling, screw-tails and dwarfism, have inherent health problems.
Other problems occur because of exaggerations bred into dogs by breeders trying to win rosettes, it adds. The programme shows a prize-winning cavalier King Charles spaniel suffering from syringomyelia, a condition which occurs when a dog’s skull is too small for its brain. It also features boxers suffering from epilepsy, pugs with breathing problems and bulldogs who are unable to mate or give birth unassisted.
It says deliberate mating of dogs which are close relatives is common practice and the Kennel Club registers dogs bred from mother-to-son and brother-to-sister matings. Scientists at Imperial College, London, recently found that pugs in the UK are so inbred that although there are 10,000 of them, it is the equivalent of just 50 distinct individuals. Steve Jones, professor of genetics at University College London, said: “People are carrying out breeding which would be first of all entirely illegal in humans and secondly is absolutely insane from the point of view of the health of the animals. “In some breeds they are paying a terrible price in genetic disease.”
Watch the full documentary now
November 21st, 2009 at 00:11
Very interesting documentary and still heartbreaking! Poor animals! This Qualzucht (torture like inbreeding) must really be stopped! This is cruelty!
November 21st, 2009 at 17:54
Maybe the Kennel Club should change the way it registers breeeds thereby discouraging this type of inbreeding.
November 22nd, 2009 at 12:27
The problem will solve itself when extreme economic hard times come along where where it’s too expensive to breed these sick dogs and “mass extinctions” of breeds happen.
I think it is immoral to breed dogs that you know will have genetic problems later in life. I’m afraid to get any pure bred dog now; but I am partial to the Bostons which is America’s equivelent to the most problematic breed.
November 27th, 2009 at 11:07
It is sad what people would do for their selfish pleasure. Dogs should be enjoyed no matter how they look like. I have always disliked pugs, bulldogs and dogs with flat faces because they looked somehow weird to me – not like a dog. I have also wondered why some breeds have extremely short legs which just did not suit its body proportions. Wow, I guess, instictively I knew there was something wrong with the way they look! They were deformed all along! I guess if people love their dogs more than makeing money or getting honour off of them through these shows, they would morally do the right thing for man’s best friend!
November 28th, 2009 at 10:39
I have a pretty hard stomach for some pretty disgusting aspects of human behavior but this video just about made me sick to my stomach. I watched it the entire way through, despite that, and I find it intriguing how they relate this topic to the holocaust.
I think the reason that this makes me more sick than the holocaust is that people as compared to dogs, are able to make their own decisions based on their willingness to see the truth or lack thereof in the world around them, they are able to overcome and see differences between right and wrong and to make a stand for them. Such as other countries had done in protest to the holocaust, for example. We cannot hold a dog on the same level of intelligence and understanding as a human. These animals cannot control what we make of them, what we do to them. They do not understand. There is such beauty in the way the world works and in how genetics work, how variety is indeed the spice of life. This documentary is heartbreaking.
December 3rd, 2009 at 17:01
I just love it when someone uses false statistics to “prove” a point they’re otherwise unable to make and the general public falls for it. To begin with, 75% of the animals in UK (and USA) are NOT purebred–they’re mutts. If 75% of them were purebred, pet owners would be screaming from the rooftops if this was so prevalent.
In the USA, 75-80% of the dogs in shelters are MUTTS, yet you constantly see “adopt a shelter dog because purebred breeders cause pet overpopulation”. What part of that makes any sense?
One day, you’ll wake up and discover what their true agenda was. In the words of Wayne Pacelle, Pres. of HSUS, “We have no problem with the extermination of domestic animals.” ‘One generation and out’–when they’re all spayed and neutered and the dog breeders who know what they’re doing are legislated out of business, good luck trying to find a dog for your child or grandchild. By then, it’ll be too damn late.
December 3rd, 2009 at 17:06
Oh, and that geneticist, Steve Jones? A real thinker, that fellow! About as logical as the Mad Hatter:
“It’s true. Females are taking over the world. And in the next few 100,000 years, men will be redundant. At least that’s what London geneticist Professor Steve Jones thinks.”
http://www.abc.net.au/correspondents/s682518.htm
December 5th, 2009 at 01:51
How many mixed breed dogs did you check for health problems? How many pure bred dogs were tested before you found the ones that have some major problems? Why did you not show healthy pure bred dogs, which by the way are the vast majority!! This show was so very slanted it should be considered total fiction!
December 9th, 2009 at 05:07
So because Only Some pure bred dogs DO have Major Health Problems-due to the way pure breds are bred-it shouldn’t be recognized as an issue??? What is the price for beauty?
December 11th, 2009 at 15:06
I’ve been fascinated and studying canine genetics for a decade now. While my interest has mainly been color genetics and my focus lies with German Shepherds I still have some knowledge of genetic disease. It is quite true that genetic disease is prevalant in all purebred dogs and no, it is not true that “mutts” are exempt from disease. However, since many diseases are the result of recessive genes and some are primarily exclusive to some breeds, there can be a lower instance of disease in mixed breed dogs.
That is not to say I am against breeding purebred dogs! I agree with the makers of this documentary in that more breeders need to do genetic testing to ensure they are not passing on deadly diseases and inheritable conditions to the next generation.
In my breed (German Shepherds) what the show breeders have done is nothing short of criminal. I live in the USA and wouldn’t purchase an American Show Lines GSD if somebody paid me to take it. My female GSD that I hope to breed someday is out of German working lines and has correct structure. However she would NEVER win in the AKC show ring for that reason!!
December 11th, 2009 at 15:43
Darlene: If you know, what breed of dog is the least likely to have genetic disorders and is still good with kids? I know that there are no “sure bets” but what are some good contenders. I like Bostons, but I’ve heard they are the most likely to get sick of all the American breeds. What about Retrievers? Labs?
December 16th, 2009 at 17:13
Those who posted negative comments might be a little sensitive and not seeing that the producers of this documentary is just trying to show a problem that is happening that very little of the population even consider.
I have purebred dogs and specifically my Maltese has a highly sensitive stomach. In the natural world of survival of the fittest, she would certainly not survive, but yet we breed these dogs to fit our purely selfish needs. There are bound to be those who take that ‘privilege’ to extremes and think that dogs should be made a certain way. Not all breeders are like this but those who are and who have control of others perceptions must be made aware of the harm that are being caused. There are breeders who only do this for the money and status which is a shame. But then there are those who do it for their love of a specific breed and may not even consider how in-bred a dog could be.
One thing I know for sure after watching this, now there is more reason for owners like me to switch to adoption of mutts at pounds in the future, in fact even a handicapped animal if we can, unless a specific need is required… i.e. working dogs for the disabled or what not. I love all dogs for what they are, faithful companions that rarely have any intention of hurting us, while we manipulate them for purely selfish reasons.
I see dog breeds similar to the way I see people. Though we have many races we are all human. Though they are many breeds, they are all dogs.
This show just proves to show that the Kennel Club, like other standards creating organizations, can be very flawed. There’s always room for improvement. Showing dogs in their version of beauty pageants can be just as harmful as showing skinny girls on catwalks. None of those models are ever models of HEALTH. There are bound to be unintended negative effects.
I do praise those breeders who make sure to go out of their way to treat their dogs with love and respect. I hope by viewing this documentary those good breeders out there keep tabs on what NOT to do as what else they could be doing to improve the health of the dogs they love.
January 11th, 2010 at 09:11
After watching this documentary, it has made me see that the human desire to be perfect has been distorted into something that really is sad. I was totally oblivious to this issue. It didn’t cross my mind and to be honest i think it doesn’t enters peoples minds. I owned a pedigree english bull terrier. Now that i think about it, he did have quite a few health problems and now i think about it, it makes me sad because i loved him so much.
This documentary is great because it exposes the issues and hopefully dog breeders will see it through proven science that things are going wrong quickly for pedigree breeds in the dog showing world. When they talked about culling ridgeback pups for having no ridge, i almost wanted to vomit!!
Thank you to the people involved for making this doco because now i’m more informed than i was before. I’ve been thinking about buying a new dog and i’m definitely getting a MONGREL.
January 12th, 2010 at 15:34
This is a film everyone should see. Having had or known several of the breeds shown, it helps me understand why they didn’t “rise” to the breed “standard.” My basset hound couldn’t walk for more than 3 blocks. The pug couldn’t catch her breath after a short walk and was unable to withstand heat or cold. My sister’s English lab has had 3 major surgeries for hip and elbow problems.
It saddens me that breeders (and I’m not even talking puppy mill types) are intentionally breeding closely related animals and animals that are known to have genetic diseases. If these are people creating puppies they love, then they certainly would want the healthiest litters possible. So why not test for genetic problems BEFORE their dogs are allowed to mate? The Kennel Club could register only litters whose parents have been tested and shown to be free of genetic diseases…. and if they’re not, the puppies would not be registered and therefore ineligible for shows.
We have a 10 year old, mixed shepherd. He closely resembles his ancestor, the wolf. He’s never had a sick day in his life and can almost outrun the rabbits and squirrels. And yes, as I look back, every “mutt” we’ve had (many) has been pretty darn healthy.
Thanks to the BBC for a really eye-opening documentary.
January 18th, 2010 at 23:48
I showed purebred dogs for more than 23 years. I gave it up 14 years ago, and do not miss it. I was “successful”, producing some lovely show wins, and required spay/neuter contracts on every animal I sold. However, this documentary only touches the tip of the iceberg on the Purebred Dog World. (Bluntly, it’s about spending money. The more you spend the bigger the win). As a magazine editor I interviewed numerous purebred dog breeders over the years and asked one specific question of them all: “If you have to choose between health and “show” quality, which are you going to breed for?” and Never did a single (Top of the group) breeder ever say that health was their first criteria. They don’t mind at all surgically correcting a poor tail carriage, for example, and I’ve actually heard so-called intelligent people claim that the puppies wouldn’t exhibit that gay tail, since “the sire has his surgically fixed”. It’s disgusting. The people who are posting against this documentary know nothing about genetics and more importantly, they do NOT want to learn anything.
After I left the dog show world, an old friend told me that it was her opinion that dog showing was the last step before committing suicide: when a person has failed at absolutely everything else: Show dogs. Sadly, that’s a TRUTH. I’ve witnessed countless marriages break up over The Dogs, and children abandoned by their crazed dog show addicted parent(s). I know of one toy judge who’s CHILD died because the mom was busy preparing for a circuit.
No more. Dogs are pets, but if they aren’t healthy first, they are only Profit. Shame on those of you who can’t see that.
February 3rd, 2010 at 01:58
What astounds me is that breeders can claim to care about their dogs, yet deny the suffering incured from thoughtless breeding.
February 8th, 2010 at 17:21
Exactly why designer breeding is NOT a bad idea. IF I can get a healthy AKC mutt, over a ill pure AKC, the mutt wins.