Last night BBC4 aired the second part of Pedigree Dogs Exposed (first part can be found here)
It is on iPlayer for now.
It followed up to see if the Kennel Club had reformed its breed standards as a response to the initial investigation into the health of pedigree dogs, which is in jeopardy due to inbreeding and slack monitoring of hereditary diseases, as well as the health issues that arise from the physical deformations asked of the breeds to accompany desired aesthetics.
In short, no, not really. Not a lot has been done.
A few breed standards have been mildly reviewed but the Kennel Club has split loyalties and wishes to keep breeders happy as well, for fears of scaring them off or something.
It just strikes me as absurd that breeders and the Kennel Club can be so nonchalant about the welfare of the animals they are responsible for! And I'm also shocked how much of a surprise it is to so many people.
Growing up, we had mongrels, and my parents had always casually stated how mongrels were better- for instance, living longer, and how pedigree dogs were inbred; like it was all common knowledge. And inbreeding is just known as being wrong.... it's incest! So why the hell is it so rife? You can see how pugs are suffering, you can see how dachshunds can't walk right, I just can't understand how anyone can feel happy that even the possibility that ONE dog might suffer by their hand as a result of knowledgeable actions that could have been avoided. It's insanity, I truely believe it is.
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