This week sees the woeful return of Crufts, Britain's annual genetic-mutant pageant. The entrants in this sad spectacle would not be out of place in a Victorian freak show - except that they're dogs. The unfortunate canines paraded around the ring have been bred to impress judges at Crufts at the expense of their health.
Dogs don't care about winning trophies or titles, and yet they are the ones who pay the price for breeders' selfish and superficial pursuits. The Kennel Club's unnatural 'breed standards', which judges use to rate dogs at Crufts, encourage breeders to produce dogs with a certain 'look' - regardless of the damage done to the animal's health and temperament.
Hypothyroidism, epilepsy, cataracts, allergies, heart disease and hip dysplasia are just a few of the serious congenital defects that afflict roughly one in four pedigree dogs. A study published in The Veterinary Journal found that each of the 50 most popular breeds is at risk of some genetic defect which can cause suffering.
Until recently, breeders would shamelessly resort to canine incest in order to pass along traits.
Mother dogs were forced to have sex with their sons, fathers to impregnate their daughters and brothers to mate with sisters. Inbreeding is so rampant that all 10,000 pugs living in Britain descend from just 50 dogs. In addition to being inbred, pugs are so deformed from being bred for flat faces that activities like running, fetching a ball and even walking can leave them gasping for air.
Flat-faced English bulldogs, who also have difficulty breathing, have been so physically distorted by breeders that, ironically, they can't even mate or give birth without assistance from humans.
Virtually all Cavalier King Charles spaniels develop life-threatening heart murmurs - a fact I know only too well, having watched my own rescued Cavalier King Charles, Ben, suffer and die from this horrible condition. More than a third also suffer from an agonising condition called syringomyelia, caused by having been bred with skulls that are too small for their brains. Afflicted dogs often scream in agony, scratch themselves raw and become progressively weaker until they can barely walk, and they sometimes become paralysed.
The BBC has stopped broadcasting Crufts, and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has stated that dog shows "actively encourage both the intentional breeding of deformed and disabled dogs and the inbreeding of closely related animals".
Yet despite all this, the Kennel Club still hasn't taken meaningful action to remedy many of the serious health issues that plague pedigree dogs. It's time to make Crufts a thing of the past, just like the other shameful freak shows that we once saw as 'entertainment' in this country.
We can take the first step towards this by boycotting breeders and saving a life instead by adopting a healthy, happy dog or two from the local animal shelter.
Violet Donohoe: A Ban on Wild Animals in Circuses? Don't Be So Sure...
Tony Woodley: The RSPCA Frontline - A Unique, Dedicated and Proud Team
Adrian Ramsay: Why Dog Breeding Laws Must Be Changed
Caroline Kisko: Crufts and the Facts About Dog Health
And he may not be as fast as other dogs but boy does he try! I have seen him chasing a greyhound around a field for a good half hour. Did he catch the dog? Of course not, but he had a lot of fun trying.
Yes, bad breeders exist. But bad breeders are not only present in pedigree dogs. Mutts and "designer" dogs are just prone to bad breeders.
The CCF published documents online, obtained by Freedom of Information Act request, showing that PETA killed 95.9% of the adoptable pets in its care during 2011. PETA has continued killing adoptable animals at its Norfolk, VA headquarters, at an average of 37 pets every week.
According to records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, PETA killed 1,911 cats and dogs last year while placing just 24 in adoptive homes. Since 1998; 27,751 pets have died at the hands of PETA workers.
"It appears PETA is more concerned with funding its media and advertising antics than finding suitable homes for these dogs and cats."
Despite its $37.4 million budget, PETA employees make little effort to find homes for the thousands of animals they kill every year.
A 2010 inspection of 290 PETA animal custody records performed by the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services discovered that PETA killed 84 percent of the animals it took control of within only 24 hours. The inspection discovered that PETA’s animal shelter didn't meet PETA’s own published guidelines for running a humane shelter.
It’s about time PETA’s ‘shelter’ is reclassified as a slaughterhouse.
CCF has obtained PETA’s "Animal Record" filings for every year since 1998 from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Members of the public can see these documents at www.PETAKillsAnimals.com.
I am sure those dogs at Crufts are much happier being paraded about in the showring and showing off than meeting a needle at PeTA headquarters or in the back of a PeTA van then dumped in the garbage (after being acquired through lies of loving placements)
you seem unaware that humans with genetic illnesses can and do go out of their way to avoid passing on those traits. It is completely different to irresponsible breeders who are earning money from the misery of the deformed dogs they are peddling.
I'm also aware that they prefer to euthanize animals rather than re-home them which rather flies in the face of their raison d'être. To hear someone from this organisation suggest rescue dogs when they prefer to kill most of the animals handed into their care displays breathtaking arrogance.
However, and setting aside the PETA spokesperson's duality in first ignoring ("dogs don't care about winning trophies") and then anthropomorphizing ("forced to have sex with their sons") dogs in the same breath, there is a grain of truth here. The smaller the genetic pool, the more you will breed in both wanted AND unwanted characteristics, including genetic disorders.
However, avoiding breeders and simply adopting rescue dogs is not necessarily a viable alternative. It took us months of time and patience to get our beloved (and sadly recently departed) Bez (a border collie cross) settled, house trained, relaxed and trusting of us and others - time and patience that many families do not have. It is very fulfilling but not always an easy course to follow.
Perhaps working WITH breeders to ensure better standards, a wider variation of the gene pool of a particular breed and regular scrutiny by vets and the RSPCA etc would surely be better than adopting PETA's "boycott"?
Also some unhealthy breeds should perhaps be allowed to die out naturally, as there is no humane way to rescue their genetic stock.
Regarding the time needed to adopt, that is just as true of any dog bought from a breeder. Some adopted dogs come with issues of course, and these need to be carefully homed, but many are just as well-balanced as those raised from puppies. In fact, cross-breed dogs are often better-balanced and healthier than pure-breeds.
If the public genuinely knew the suffering that was caused in the name of achieving these show standards then the shows would be shut down tomorrow. This problem is caused by lack of public awareness and so features like Yvonne's are exactly what we need to stop this appalling animal abuse.
The simple answer is to boycott KC breeders and get rescued dogs.
The KC are looking into it, are they? How about they actually do something to prevent the hideous suffering of these animals? As you say, 'we have known (about) this for years'.
It's worth noting that the dogs that actually make it to Crufts are the ones that are healthy and 'perfect' enough. What of the countless others? What of the ones born with hideous genetic deformities, the ones who suffer their whole lives?
Acceptable collateral so some people can fawn over some dogs at a show? This is no kind of morality.