I am so angry I can hardly get the words out.
I am watching a programme on BBC2 about the Kennel Club and their inability to understand what they are doing to dogs in this country. Their breed standards are barbaric. There is no other word for it.
An example, a Ridgeback breeder believes that all Ridgeback puppies born without a ridge should be put to sleep. Because the ridge is apparently the defining feature of the dog. This is despite the ridge actually being a form of spina bifida.
King Charles Cavalier Spaniels - the breed standard calls for a small head. The breeding has fixated on this to the point that the dogs brains can no longer fit into the skull and leaves 1 out of 20 of them are in agony.
Pugs - they can't breath properly because they've been bred to have a squashed face. Their corkscrew tail - insisted on by the Kennel Club Breed Standard - is caused by a spinal deformity.
German Shepherds in the show ring that can barely walk on the hind legs because of the Breed Standard of a sloping back.
The Kennel Club can see no problem with father to daughter or brother to sister breeding.
What has made me so angry is that many of the breeders are so f**king arrogant that they cannot see anything wrong with any of these things. They don't care. All they want is for their dogs to meet the KC breed standard because that's the holy grail. They cannot, or will not see, that they are destroying these dog breeds for the sake of cosmetic appearance for the show ring.
All because the Kennel Club will not admit that their standards are wrong.
I am not saying breeding is wrong, of course it isn't. It's the standards they breed to that are destroying many of the dogs that we love. The difference in the dogs of 50 years ago are so very different that they are barely recognisable as the same dogs.
I'm sorry if this is a rambling post but I am so angry.
Edit. I forgot to mention the arrogant bitch who quite nonchalantly, when talking about the Ridgebacks born without ridges, said "young vets these days, they won't put these dogs to sleep. I have to go to an older vet". Words failed me at that point.
Talk about hoist by their own petard.
AWWWW MONDAY - WEEKEND NOVEMBER 16
-
In contrast to the human race, the males of ducks are more beautiful than
the females! This is scientifically decided ! The last picture must be a ...
Oh gosh that sounds awful, those poor dogs. I am glad I didn't watch that programme as I would have been in tears.
ReplyDeleteI'm in total aggreement. The bastards.
ReplyDeleteWhat an education you just gave me! I'm not a big fan of the "breed standard" because I want dogs as companions and love them for their individual fun-loving selves. Where else can you get unconditional love even if you just accidentally closed them in the closet? Even then they are happy to see you. I just can't imagine putting a dog down for such petty reasons. We have a little Shih Tzu who could very well be considered autistic --- but I love her too much to get rid of her. I just work with her more. She has a beautiful heart.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you for being angry. I didn't see this programme but have read articles in the past and have never understood how anyone can breed dogs in this way. Nothing will change as long as people accept the KC standards.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame you for being mad! That is just WRONG!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe best dog I ever had besides the momma dog I have now was a mix breed.
The mom was a full blooded chow and the dad was a full blooded lab. The people were going to destroy the dog because of this, but we took him in. He got ran over, which is the reason we don't have him anymore.
Now sammie, is suppose to be a peek a poo spitz, but a german shepherd got the mom. They were going to destroy her, but we took her in. She is the most loving, obedient, and protective dog we have had besides Buddy.
Some people are just STUPID!!!
Here is some cyber chocolate to calm your nerves. I know it's not as good as the real thing, but I hope it helps some.
I don't understand why they don't just withhold papers on the pups that don't meet 'standard' and even have a spay/neuter agreement signed.
ReplyDeleteI used to belong to a couple of Lhasa groups and I just couldn't take it and left the groups, the breeder/show people where pretty hoity toity.
I'm just sayin, I understand. :)
seems they've bred "the best friend" into "the beast fiend"
ReplyDeleteGod will hold them accountable.
I saw part of that programme and totally agree with you. The pictures of a German Shepherd with its sloping back and squatting back legs looked horrendous.
ReplyDeleteI am so with you on this one. We bought our standard schnauzer in Germany where it is illegal to crop ears or dock tails. It is considered animal abuse. When we moved back to the states I couldn't believe how many people were telling us to bring Abby to the vets and get her ears and tail done so she would look right.
ReplyDeleteShe does look right. This is what she was born to look like.
Oh, and that breeder's arrogance?? So infuriating!
Very interesting, and we are in agreement. We have a friend at the dog park - a gorgeous great dane - with natural ears and she is LOVELY ... they wouldn't crop them for all the money in the world. Coonhounds are an interesting breed because they are relatively new and not yet darlings of the showring - they are bred for hunting performance. This causes problems as well; if they don't perform, they are "thrown away." A few hillbillies can be as brutal as the showring judges.
ReplyDeleteThe American Kennel Club is just as bad. What they've caused to be done to the glorious German Shepherd Dog is a sin in my book. I call it "the jackal butt." What's so appealing about a sloping ass? They don't care a damn about the huge jump in hip dysplasia rates.
ReplyDeleteI was re-reading one of Glady's Taber's books the other day. She loved Cocker Spaniels, a breed I've never liked since I was bit badly by a nasty one as a small child. Regardless of whether I like the breed or not, every time I look at Glady's pictures of her champion/beloved pet Cockers in the 1950s, I am struck by how large they are in comparison to today's Cockers. Now the breed standard is for a much smaller dog, a pointy head, a flatter face as if someone wants them to emulate Shih Tzus... They have all sorts of dental problems because they've shrunk their heads but they still have the same number of teeth. It's just godawful.
I didn't watch the programme - the trailer made me feel ill - but I have come across lots of cases of friends who have bought pedigree dogs only to find they develop congenital illnesses at a young age - retrievers wtih hip problems etc - and have to be put to sleep.
ReplyDeleteI cannot believe that breeders, who must love dogs, can carry on with this. It doesn't say a lot for them as people.
I couldn't watch that programme AOJ. I didn't have the guts. I saw the advert ad I knew it would be bad. It's disgraceful isn't it? The law needs to step in and start charging the kennel Club with Cruelty.
ReplyDeleteI'd be fuming too if I saw that! And to think these people think it's "okay"? What the heck is up with that? I wonder what these people would think if they had a child born with brown eyes instead of blue? Would that meet the 'standard'?
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's tail docking, I hate the whole idea of chopping off a dog's happy sign! It's just criminal isn't it!!
the answer is to have lurchers! seriously the whole breed thing is a nightmare - bulldogs and caesarians...
ReplyDeleteI have a poodle breeding friend who has so many dogs because she won't destroy any that prove to breed congenital problems, nor sell the pups. She no longer breeds from any with defects that can be passed on, keeping them with love until they die of old age. The KC want to standardise Lurchers... Tara's previous people try to avoid KC registered Wolfie breeders for the reason of interbreeding & stupid breed standards.
ReplyDeleteMidnight ~ Annon's baby fluffy-coated Lurcher was the result of an unplanned brother-sister mating & he has no testicles. When I was forced to lose the 3 adult dogs I insisted that the boys stayed together, but their sister was kept as far away from them as possible! I have no other brother-sister relationships in my dogs & will one day need to find a Beddy outside RoI to mate my girly ~IF she ever stops biting prospective suitors. A Bedlington Terrier as a nun?
I'm glad I don't have a TV & couldn't watch it. Are field dogs bred to a different standard than show dogs?