[Hunter]

Increasing Demand for Pedigreed Dogs Leads to Inbreeding Magnifying Breed Defects

Man's Sad Friends

* Increasing demand for pedigreed dogs leads to inbreeding by dishonest breeders from a limited genepool
* Inbreeding magnifies inherent breed defects, eg. Pugs with enlarged hearts, Labradors with hip dysplasia, deaf Dalmatians
* Inbreeding also results in dogs with behavioural problems-neurotic, bad-tempered, nervous
* Such dogs are increasingly being abandoned by owners, and beginning to crowd animal rescue shelters

"How much is that doggie in the window?" you might ask, when you see a pedigreed pup training its velvety gaze on you at your neighbourhood pet-shop. But should you ask, instead, where he came from, you're unlikely to get as clear an answer. For it's quite likely he came from a BYB, where dozens of pups are cooped together in a squalid shed; undernourished, unvaccinated, and in the care of unscrupulous breeders who double up as self-taught vets. And it's a tribe that's increasing.

Most vet and animal rights groups agree, is because there's a glut of inbred pups being churned out from a small stock, and this limited genepool is magnifying and worsening the innate breed defects they are already born into.

Pugs, with their large, flat-nosed 'brachycephalic' heads are vulnerable to enlarged hearts, severe respiratory problems and heat stroke. Dachshunds' long backs, combined with the inadequate support provided by their stout little legs, make them prone to painful spinal problems. Dalmatians have a tendency towards deafness and kidney stones. The protuberant eyeballs of the Pekingese often pop out completely, and can leave them blind if they're not swiftly reinserted. Bulldogs are encumbered with body structures that make human interventions necessary for them to mate and to give birth. The droopily expressive eyes of Basset hounds are prone to eyesight problems. Many German Shepherds suffer from excessive bleeding due to the Von Willebrand Syndrome, a genetic defect in blood clotting. Inbreeding also leads to 'Cryptorchidism' or undescended testicles, which are prone to cancer, and breeders are being allowed to go on unchecked—since fake registration papers can be easily cobbled together for a nominal fee, for pups with unknown parentage.

For proof, look no further than those bowed legs on many Labradors. Ninety percent of them have weak back-legs. Legs curve inwards which is a tell-tale sign of inbreeding. There is also a disturbing, simultaneous rise in hip dysplasia. Another telltale sign of inbreeding, it's an incurable inherited condition afflicting larger dogs like German shepherds, Rottweilers and Labradors with weak, malformed hips that can ill support the weight of their hind legs. Since this condition can't be detected until the dogs are several months old, many a doting pet-owner is left to watch on with horror as their once-sprightly pup suddenly begins to scrabble and helplessly drag its hind legs along.

Since dogs have relatively short life-spans, such genetic defects can easily be excluded from the gene pool, merely by choosing not to breed dogs that carry this gene. Unfortunately, breeders continue incestuous "inline breeding", which they say will ensure "purebred" pedigreed dogs. And breeders—their eyes on bottomlines rather than bloodlines—continue to breed them. Often, diseases skip a generation, so breeders breed pups that are viable, but defective, since they carry this gene. This is why you see so many German Shepherds with hip dysplasia, and deaf Great Danes. Breeders sell puppies like vegetables, and nobody stops them for malpractice! Twenty years ago, most of the people got house-bred puppies from friends, and they did not have as many defects as you see now.

So, thanks to inbreeding, pedigreed dogs are stuck with a higher frequency of birth defects and congenital flaws, and their owners, with perpetual trips to the vet. People pay around RM3,000 & above for pedigreed pups, but they do not realise how much more they'll be paying for treatment every month. People who adopt stray dogs are not good business for vets—vets only see these dogs say once a year, when they come in for their vaccination.

Unfortunately, not many breeders or pet-shops inform prospective owners about any of these problems. And buyers, most of whom are more eager to be proud owners of "Rottie" and "Labras" than they are to look after a dog, are not happy to find themselves saddled with a defective product.

Which is why pedigreed dogs are increasingly found abandoned. Many, with slightly more solicitous owners, find themselves in shelters. So forget all the gushy hyperbole about luxurious dog shampoos, spa treatments, canine couture lines and the like. For an increasing number of pedigreed dogs, life is pretty beastly.