Fuck you, U.K. Kennel Club

http://sinestris.livejournal.com/22305.html <--- Xiao WRATH

Go. Read. Watch the program I'm talking about.

I need to go and be very angry now.

 

While we're at it, let's get all bleeding-heart about chicken factories.

 

If I could actually find any old pictures of these dogs, I'd love to compare... As it is, I'll take your word for it. Although, to be honest, it's not the cruelty that's the main annoyance for me. It's a side effect of people believing these animals to be more than what they are; namely, animals. It's a dog, how about treating it like a damn dog, and not a human or a trophy?

 

Which is why I hate how you have to 'buy' animals, it's a fucking living, breathing creature, not something to be waved by the tail in front of your friends - "look what I has!"...

That's still pretty bloody disgusting, though. I don't get how crippling the dogs (and their children) makes them more "attractive", either.

Ergh.

 

I feel especially sorry for the King Charles Cavalier Spaniels - they've been inbred so badly that something like 70% have skulls too small for their brains. The footage they showed of one of those poor dogs made me outright cry.

I mainly wrathed because they're crippling these poor animals and claiming that it's the way dogs are meant to look. It's NOT RIGHT! Dogs are not meant to be some trophy, they're meant to be friends and companions and working animals.

Over the years, we've had four dogs in my household. A German Shepard whose parents were working dogs, a maltese/chihuahua crossbreed, a purebred Ridgeback without the ridge (which is actually healthier than the ridge, the ridge itself is a mutation yet in the U.K. Ridgeback breeders PUT DOWN perfectly healthy puppies because they don't have the ridge), a Smithfield/Border Collie crossbreed, and a purebred Springer. The crossbreeds, the working dog and the Ridgeback are and were healthy. The purebreds and poor little Portia, our Maltese/Chihuahua cross, all had serious health issues inherited from their parents. (Portia's mum was a pedigree who could be traced back about six generations.)

Rosie - I'll try find some pictures.

 

I currently have a toy Pomeranian mix. Mixed with what, I have no fucking idea. But it's cute as hell. It's also the size of a small cat. Because at heart I'm a cat person, but I got tired of loving animals that ignored me.

 

What a Basset Hound is supposed to look like (gosh that's cute!):


What a pedigree Basset looks like:


Note the exaggerated drooping face, unusually long ears, painfully short legs and insane amounts of skin folds. (This isn't even close to the worst picture I found, I just couldn't take some of the others.)

What a normal Pit Bull Terrier looks like:


What a pedigree Pit Bull looks like:


I don't even know where to start. Except that flattening dogs faces like that leads to serious respiratory problems, and that some dogs will even faint when they get excited because of the way their throats have been mutated.

What a normal King Charles Cavalier Spaniel looks like (awwwww!):


What a pedigree King Charles Cavalier looks like:


It doesn't look too weird, but note the flattened nose, droopy eyelids and wonky spine. This dog has Syringomyelia, the diseas where the skull is too small for the brain. It's not pretty.

This is the show that upset me so.

Be warned, some of the stuff right at the beginning will upset anyone who cares about dogs.

 

Jesus, I didn't think it was so bad. That pedigree pit bull is bloody disgusting, no wonder they have health issues.

The wonky spine might not be breeding-related, though. My Maltese/Shih Tzu was kicked around by his previous owner which has left him with frog legs, a fear of water and a wonky spine..

First pic is missing, by the way

 

Awww, poor little thing. Maltese cross-breeds are adorable, aren't they?

Aw fuck, looks like I need to find a new Basset picture.

 

My dalmatian was a pure-bred runt, and she lived to be about 11 or 12 (I think it was closer to 12), which is a good, long time for the breed. She actually had very few physical problems. In her youth, we always had trouble keeping her around because she was able to jump the six foot fence in a single bound. As she got older, she had to go Vegetarian because of kidney crystals, and in her extreme elderliness she had to put more effort into breathing, but the fact that she wasn't a mix didn't actually impact her in any way.

Still, dog breeders are assholes. A minority of dalmatians are born with yellow spots (mine had brown, which is actually quite common), and are summarily euthanized.

 

I've promised myself to only adopt animals from the RPSCA from now on. Apart from being the place where I got my absolutely beloved cat Simba from, they actually screen animals for genetic diseases and chronic health conditions, so you know what you're getting into.

Oh, and when animals have litters there, they don't summarily execute them for having the wrong colour fur or not having features that are actually detrimental to the breed.

 

That they are Xiao, this one's getting on a bit now so spends his days snoring with his head under a blanket. Well, that and dragging boots out into the rain.

God, what have they been doing to the Basset Hound though? The head on the 'pedigree' is feral.

 

It's not my fault that Mass Effect is so awesome.

 

Hey, someone that agrees.

Was on my 4th playthrough, me self.

 

Send me pictures? Pleeeeeeeeeeeease??

 

Pictures of boots in the rain? That could be difficult, considering it hasn't rained here in a couple of days...

 

One of my neighbors has a pit bull like that. I didn't know it was due to it being a hillbilly. Hell, I didn't even know it was a pit bull. Whenever I see it it's always sounding like it's drowning with rather freakish gurgling and wheezing noises. That sort of pisses me off now.

 

Charonte: :rofl:

Orintil: I didn't realise what it was until I was in my teens and seriously considering a vetinary career. It just... it really shits me that people think this is what the poor animals OUGHT to be like. It's fucking wrong and nothing anyone can say will convince me otherwise.

 

It took me some time to comment in this topic because I wanted to see the documentary first.

Xiao, you mixed a few things up.

That value wasn't that high. In the documentary it was said that the rate could be 33% or more.

That one was not about the King Charles Cavalier Spaniel but about the Pug.

I agree that the prices of pedigree dogs are just insane, but just keeping any puppies alive, taking care of them and providing them with food and medicine costs quite a lot, so it would be a matter of decency for a man wanting a dog to repay the previous owner for the primary upkeep of the puppies. If there would be no money involved, quite a lot of people wouldn't bother to keep unwanted puppies alive, after all, throwing a filled bag into a river is far less expensive and problematic.

Now, let me get on topic.

It isn't anything new that purebreed are less resistant that your average crossbreed mutt. I can tell it both via gathered knowledge and a little by personal experience. I had a english cocker spaniel. She was sickly from the very beginning and she didn't make it to her seventh birthday, because after spending a lot of money on treatment it appeared that the case is hopeless and keeping her alive would only make the pain worse, so we decide to ease her suffering. I don't want to go into the boring for most medical details, for the case is still fresh for me and telling them wouldn't add much to the discusion, but the thing is, this is only one on a sea of examples when purebreed dogs spoilt by their owners with the best food and good health care are sickly and weak, while your typical stray mutt eating garbage will live healthy for a dozen or so years, without suffering from a nearly non-existing immume system or bad genetics. Imagine, how would the wolfish ancestors of today's dogs survive in the wild if they would be so weak.

The very creating of breeds for their work purposes was a good idea, but it got all wrong when (often doubtful) aesthetics became the main factor. Inbreeding forces evolution to act retarded and that fact alone should be enough to stop the madness. If the dog breeders were just stupid and didn't do their genetics homework, the situation wouldn't be so tragic, since enlightenment would solve the whole problem. The matter is much worse however. They are fully aware of the situation, but they do not care. Why? What a silly question. Money. Those people are fucking rich because of the fact that they continue the inbreeding, sell purebreed mutants for insane prices and arrange and win those silly mutant contests. Stopping the inbreeding would be for them like shooting their golden egg laying bird.