Petition to ban inbreeding in pedigree dogs?

Question

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqYxvlfxvnk

Answer 1

Yes I've signed, thanks for posting.

Answer 2

Every single genetic fault in dogs is due to crappy breeding practices used by BYB's and PUPPYMILLS to which we have ALL been trying to educate people about. Reputable breeders TEST their breeding stock to avoid any and all genetic diseases. The issue is not with breeders in general but with BAD breeders that we have already been fighting against.

Think for yourself for one d**n minute and quit spouting off an a subject you know nothing about.

I am amazed at how many people can watch a one-sided, biased television program that villainizes breeders as a whole and then these people think they are experts.

This is no different that BSL against certain breeds. Just as it isn't a whole breed that is bad, the actual act of inbreeding is not what is bad, it is HOW it is done. Wake up people, and realize that all this 'evidence' against breeders is only against one kind of breeder and there ARE good breeders out there.

Answer 3

Those people on the BBC show were all BYBs? Thats really odd as I thought BYBs did not show at top championship shows?

Answer 4

Nope, no intention of signing it.

For one thing, used intelligently & ethically, line breeding & inbreeding are legitimate tools which can be used to eliminate hereditary conditions.

Secondly. How exactly is this going to work in practice? Unethical breeders will just not admit that they have mated Fred to Maisie who happens to be his daughter - they'll just make up a pedigree (just as they probably do anyway.)

KC Registered dogs would ALL have to be DNA tested before registration - All 200,000 + every year. And who would have to  pay? The reputable breeders, while the BYBs would go on using their own registries which aren't worth the paper they are written on.

Why don't you focus on breeders wouldn't know a good or sound specimen of their breed if they fell over it and think a health test is having their vet say their dog is fit enough to have a litter?

I'm with Kip's Mum. I will carrying on buying from well informed breed specialists who health test for every known condition and know the history of every dog behind their breeding stock.

Edit: How will signing a petition prevent this situation with pet owners?

http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind...

Answer 5

Signed. I can't believe breeders still have the cheek to deny what is going on.

This is what the RSPCA have said:

" Hundreds of thousands of dogs are vulnerable to illness, pain and discomfort because they're primarily bred for how they look rather than with health, welfare and temperament in mind, the RSPCA said today.

The Society is extremely concerned about the unacceptably high levels of disability, deformity and hereditary disease affecting pedigree dogs, and hopes the BBC documentary Pedigree Dogs Exposed will spark a national debate.

RSPCA chief vet Mark Evans, who was interviewed for the programme, said: "The welfare and quality of life of many pedigree dogs is seriously compromised by established breeding practices for appearance, driven primarily by the rules and requirements of competitive dog showing and pedigree dog registration."

The Society believes the intensive breeding of closely related dogs for anything other than scientifically proven welfare reasons is morally unjustifiable. Furthermore, health, welfare and temperament must be prioritised over appearance.

"All those who benefit from pedigree dogs have a collective responsibility to put aside vested interests and work together to ensure the health and welfare of the pedigree dog is protected," said Mr Evans.

"Public attitude also needs to change so that the most desirable dogs are those which are fit, healthy and well suited to the life they lead. Pedigree dogs need our help, and they need it now."

The RSPCA is advising concerned pedigree dog owners to visit their vet for advice. Anyone thinking of buying a pedigree dog should do thorough research, speak to a local vet about potential problems they may have to deal with and not base their decision on appearance alone.

Mr Evans added: "This is a man-made problem that needs an urgent man-made solution, so let's work together and become the generation that's remembered for saving the pedigree dog." "

http://www.rspca.org.uk/servlet/Satellit...

Answer 6

Nope and I won't be.

You are speaking without proper education.  Not *ALL* "inbreeding" is bad.  Many EXPERIENCED breeders use "line breeding" or "out-breeding" to carry on already perfected traits in their lines.

Your petition needs to be against Backyard Breeders and Puppy Mills - THEY are the ones s******g up with "inbreeding".

Edit - It's time for YOU to educate yourself on the subject!

http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Studios/29...

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/inbreeding.h...

http://www.lhasa-apso.org/health/howto.h...

Again - All you've posted is a bunch of Propaganda published BECAUSE OF BACKYARD BREEDERS AND PUPPY MILLS.  Responsible KNOWLEDGEABLE Breeders are not the ones guilty of the crime!

Answer 7

online petitions aren't worth squat.

if you want to make a difference, send your letters(hand written) to the breed clubs that vote to set the standards for the breeds in question.

Answer 8

I have signed the petition as I disagree with extreme inbreeding but to be honest I don't think we are ever going to convince those who don't see the problem with it.

The only thing we can do is refuse to buy an animal with such inbreeding and insist on DNA tests (or similar) to prove that the animal (and its parents) do not carry any sort of disease.

Answer 9

I am sure your heart is in the right place.

However how much do you really know about it, you talk as if you have a doctorate in the subject.  With scientific fact as you call it, it is only half of the story as there will be an opposing scientific view. If you watched the whole programme you will know as this was stated in it.

Anwen makes a very good point (as usual) regarding the line and out of line breeding. People are jumping on the back of the registered breeders who are to some extent accountable. What about the cowboys who are producing badly bred dogs the Backyard/Puppy mill breeders.

Get a petition going on that first then come to the registered breeders if you feel that strongly about it. But please get your facts right first.

If it hadn't been for a very one sided biased TV show you wouldn't have given a rats *** about it. Get off your high Horse and look deeper into the subject.

Answer 10

This is silly.  Inbreeding in and of itself does not create genetic deformities.  Done correctly it is a terrific tool.  People who refuse to health test and inbreed willy nilly create puppies that have a much higher chance to inherit the faults, and that's where the problems come from.  Don't believe the PETA nonsense.  

Answer 11

Signed

Answer 12

I would MUCH rather get an "inbred" dog from a breeder that actually knows the function of the breed, it's structure and temperament, and how they all play a role in the individual dog, then a non-inbred dog from a puppy mill or BYB!!  You are protesting the wrong thing - please, go educate yourself.  

Addition:  do you eat meat?  If you are against inbreeding, you better stop!!!

Answer 13

Unfortunately, internet petitions don't do anything.

You must get the registries to change their rules, this must be done by the members.

Answer 14

You do realize you can't have a purebreed anything (horse, dog, cat, sheep, cow, etc) without inbreeding and linebreeding?  Without it a purebreed wouldnt exsist.  Heck, people breed brother and sister bettas together to further instill positive tail traits and this creates BETTER fish.  All your doing by breeding in such a manner is trying to homogynouz the good traits while cancelling out the bad.  Its not a bad thing and its been done since domestication was first invented by cavemen who bred docile wolves together to get more docile wolves and than bred those together and did this again and again untill we have the dog we know and love.

When done irresponsibly it can have horrid effects, true, but theres nothing wrong with linebreeding as a whole.  Why not go after BYBs who breed dogs whilly nilly for a profit and create some of the monstrosities we have today?

Answer 15

will do, promise

Answer 16

Signed the petition which was started by a Vet Joe Inglis - good for him.

Inbreeding and line breeding is not acceptable, it reduces gene pools and damages health. Breeders using this technique to win shows should be ashamed of themselves.

Here's another vets opinion http://vetinharness.vox.com/library/post...

Answer 17

Modern population genetics has taught us that widening gene pools (instead of restricting and reducing) results in health and vitality within a species. The problem we have now is breeders will not admit that have got it wrong for so long, preferring to believe the outdated eugenics theory of pure inbred bloodlines, with their vested interests in fixing a show winning look and enhancing ‘type’ in their line.

We can health test for all we know about, but no-one has yet devised tests for all the hereditary diseases, and deficiencies in immunity, that arises as a result of inbreeding, all the time causing new inherited diseases. Health testing where we can we are being partially responsible, but there is no such thing as responsible linebreeding. All dogs carry recessive disease genes, breed two dogs from the same family and there’s a strong likelihood two of the same recessive disease genes will meet up and cause the disease or defect. The result of line breeding is the health of our pedigrees is getting worse, not better, and will continue on a downwards spiral if we continue.

Signed

Answer 18

No I haven't and I will not. I don't believe that reputable breeders who genetic test are the problem.

I am big on genetic testings. I don't believe a dog should have a litter of puppies or sire puppies until it has been genetic tests for all possible genetic diseases in the breed.

If the dog has a genetic condition it should not be bred at all, it should be spayed or neutered.

Many breeders feel the same way. They will not breed a dog with a genetic condition.

Breeders want to make sure that they are producing healthy puppies that have no genetic conditions or deformities.

Though there are some out there that do breed dogs they know have genetic issues. There are some bad apples out there that do things that are wrong and they don't care.

Many faults in the breeds are due to back yard breeders and puppy mills.

Answer 19

Signed

Incestuous inbreeding creates a hoard of problems. Highly inbred animals become delicate, easily sick, sterile and show other defects.

It's a downright selfish practice done to gain a certain "look" and so the breeder can achieve a name for themselves in the show world. It absolutely does not make for a healthier animal, quite the opposite.

Answer 20

Number one: Online petitions are pretty much useless.

Number two: The breeds of dogs and cats we have today have been created over the last hundreds, perhaps thousands of years. If you want to complain to someone about using extreme inbreeding to create new breeds, go back in time and take it up with the the people that were actually doing it.

Inbreeding and linebreeding are 2 different things. While inbreeding is indeed breeding 2 very closely related dogs, i.e. brother and sister, mother and son, etc, this is used by the minority of breeders. Linebreeding is essentially what is says - breeding within a line. Dogs that are distantly related, say they share a great-grandfather or grandmother, can be bred together. These linebreedings are peppered with 'outcrosses', which is breeding to a dog outside of the line.

Linebreeding is often vital to maintain the health of the breed. For instance, I know with our Brittanys a big problem at the moment is epilepsy. Our line, which was created from a blend of other people's lines, does not have epilepsy in it - none of the dogs we've bred to or have been bred in the past to produce the dogs we have today have been shown to have epilepsy.

Now, would you prefer we bred to other dogs that we KNOW have epilepsy in their lines, giving the puppies and the possibly hundreds of dogs down the line a chance to have epilepsy? Or would you prefer we bred two distantly related dogs that we know don't have epilepsy in their line, and none of the puppies they produce will?

That's just one example. Besides, reputable breeders do their absolute best to reduce and eliminate inherited diseases and deformities. Any puppies that we feel won't improve the breed by being bred are sold to pet homes. Any dog that is proven to have a genetic defect, i.e. hip dysplaysia, is NOT bred. Going back to my example, those whose Brittanys have epilepsy in their lines have to be extra careful. Only those at the lowest risk and who haven't shown to have it are bred, and only to - remember this word, outcrosses? Yes, they're being outcrossed to dogs from lines who do not have epilepsy.

Get your head out of the sand. That stupid BBC program that that article refers to highlighted the worst of the worst just to make reputable breeders and those who show seem like horrible people. Learn to think for yourself and not be a sheep, and have a good day.

Added: Oh, no!! All the thumbs-down I've received has broken me down! I confess - we're horrible, horrible people! All of our dogs are locked in their crates all day, and taken out only for breeding and showing! They're mindless zombies whose spirits have been broken from the years of abuse and torment! They have horrific health and temperment issues from the years and years of breeding mother to son to sister to child to uncle to mother-in-law to cousin!! When people who have our puppies (if the puppies were lucky enough to meet the standard, otherwise they were killed) call to ask for advice on their aggressive or terminally ill pup, we just LAUGH and LAUGH and LAUGH!!

Oh, you've broken me down! I feel so much better after getting the TRUTH out!! You were right the whole time, and so was that program! Your blind following of a complete untruth has drawn it out of me! Wow...well, you've changed my life. I'm going to give up dogs and become a stamp-collecter.

/sarcasm