Bred to Death: The pursuit of purebred perfection threatens some of our best friends

from In These Times:



Bred to Death
The pursuit of purebred perfection threatens some of our best friends

By Sara Peck


American pedigreed dogs, products of a large, established industry, aren’t cheap. As pets, they can cost more than $1,000—and that’s before vet fees. Safe Harbor Lab Rescue estimates that there are more than 20 million purebred dogs in the United States. “With purebred dogs, you can predict what traits you’ll get and decide what you want in a pet,” says Patti Strand, a longtime Dalmatian breeder who sits on the board of the American Kennel Club (AKC). Unfortunately, a buyer can usually predict what will kill their pet as well.

Thanks to unregulated inbreeding, many dog breeds suffer chronic diseases and conditions. For example, golden retrievers die of cancer about 60 percent of the time, according to the Golden Retriever Club of America. Show-style German Shepherds are notorious for their slumping, easily disjointed hips, and pugs’ wheezing is the result of a severe facial deformity.

Such ills should not be surprising: In some breeds, dogs have a 75 percent inbreeding coefficient (the indication of how related they are), according to Susan Thorpe-Vargas, a breeder of Samoyeds who holds a Ph.D. in genetics. (A brother and sister have a coefficient of 25 percent.) John Armstrong, a veterinarian with the Canine Diversity Project, reports that certain lines of standard poodles have an inbreeding coefficient of 70 percent.

According to data from the University of Pennsylvania school of veterinary medicine, three-fourths of puppies with a 67 percent or higher coefficient will die within 10 days. The dogs who survive are often saddled with genetic disease, poor immune systems and shortened life expectancies. “It’s killing them. They’ll eventually hit a genetic cul-de-sac and be too inbred to reproduce,” says Thorpe-Vargas, author of Genetics and Breeding Strategies: Essays for the Dog Breeder. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/6012/bred_to_death

problems that kept him from getting around. A perfect dog in every way but this. Our vet said he could handle percocet so I shared mine with him. So sad

AKC should find a few healthy specimens in each breed and then preserve their DNA.
Then we can just clone the dogs and not worry about inbreeding.
If we can clone sheep we can clone dogs. Heck, we could probably clone people.

I have a 7 generation AKC documented purebred and it seems as healthy as can be.
Bosten Terrier. Snuggliest dog ever and really shows alot of facial expression and feeling.

I had to put him in timeout when the Celtics beat the Cavs - but other than that he's great!

:shrug:

The variety of size, shape and color is almost endless and natural selection has eliminated many of the genetic problems.

that question.

She "loves animals."

But every one of her pets is from a breeder. Over 1K/pop for dogs. 4-500/pop for cats.

My brother is a teacher at a community college SiL is disabled and doesn't work. I don't know how they afford it. It's silly.

I have four cats, all are rescues and they are lovely creatures, inside and out.

I respect good breeders who do not over-breed and who work to rid the breed of problems that have been bred into the particular breed. There is a lot of history with some breeds that have been near extinction and have been brought back in small controlled numbers. Our home has both purebreds and mixed breeds. All are rescues.

Pure bred dogs are ALWAYS inbred to a certain extent. Less inbred is better, but it is still not as good as the genetic variability of mixed breeds.

"Well that is fine for those kinds of people, but for those of refinement, it simply won't do to have the same kind of dog that a commoner might own.

But at over 1,000,000 per pet it isn't likely coming to a pet store near you anytime soon.

They do nothing to ensure the health of the dogs. They do not refuse to register puppies from puppy mills. They do not require clean bills of health for 2 or 3 generations before a dog can compete. They have standards (esp German Shepherds) which are incompatible with good health, etc.,etc.

After having 4 rescued adult dogs, I wanted to raise a puppy: I wasn't sure I'd have the energy in the future. It was important to me to know how big the dog would be. My last rescue was 110 pound, and I didn't want that big a dog again. So, I got a puppy from Georgia, from a non-AKC breeder. The breed is known for farm work and for hunting and is bought mostly by people who want a healthy dog with good temperament and which can do the job require. She's 3 years old now, an absolute delight, is a beauty, and has been totally healthy. Even though she's fairly large - 70 pounds - the breed typically lives to 16 or so. I'll never have an AKC dog again.