|
A Chihuahua weighs less than two kilos. A Great Dane can weigh more than 80 kilos. Yet both belong to the same species: the domestic dog. All dogs can be crossbred with each other and have fertile offspring. The huge differences in size, shape and coat were not created by nature. They were created by humans.
From wolf to pedigree dog
The dog descends from the wolf (see the history of the dog). For thousands of years, people selected dogs for their usefulness: for hunting, herding, guarding or pulling. Yet most of today's breeds are surprisingly young. Only in the nineteenth century, with the rise of dog shows and kennel clubs, were breeds precisely defined in so-called breed standards. Since then, a dog only counts as a pedigree dog if its parents are registered in the same closed stud book.
How many dog breeds are there?
The Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI), the largest international umbrella organisation, recognises more than 360 breeds. If you add the breeds that are recognised only by national kennel clubs, or not at all, you arrive at well over 400. There is no exact number. New breeds and fashionable dogs keep being added.
Humans decide what a dog looks like
A breed standard describes in detail what a dog should look like: the shape of the head, the position of the ears, the length of the tail, the colour of the coat. Breeders select the parent animals accordingly. In this way humans decide which dog may reproduce and which may not. Man is playing God, as it were: "a slightly shorter muzzle, shorter legs and cute floppy ears". Over generations, such wishes are bred into the body of the animal.
Because only a small group of animals is used for breeding, many breeds are heavily inbred. As a result, hereditary diseases spread easily. In addition, some features cause illness in themselves. In Pugs and in French and English Bulldogs the muzzle is so short that many animals have trouble breathing. Large breeds often suffer from hip dysplasia. In the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, heart disease is common. So is a painful malformation of the skull (syringomyelia). The consequences of irresponsible breeding for dogs are considerable.
Harmful breeding is banned, but continues
More and more countries prohibit breeding that makes animals ill. Germany has banned such breeding for years. Since 2022, dogs with these features may no longer be shown at exhibitions there. The Netherlands has had breeding criteria for short-muzzled dogs since 2019. In Norway, the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that breeding Cavalier King Charles Spaniels violates the Animal Welfare Act. In England, licensed breeders may not breed from a dog if health or welfare problems for the mother or the puppies can reasonably be expected. Even so, the affected breeds are still bred and sold on a large scale. The rules are often vague. Checks are rare.
A whole industry
A real industry has grown up around dog breeding: breeders, kennel clubs, dog shows, dealers and, above all on the internet, an extensive illegal trade in puppies. The demand for certain fashionable dogs determines what is bred. The dog is adapted to the wishes and requirements of humans. Not the other way around (see the industry behind pets).
Dogs also suffer for the pet food industry. For nearly ten months in 2002 and early 2003, a PETA investigator worked undercover at a laboratory that carried out tests for Iams, a maker of dog and cat food. Behind the wholesome image of the brand, the investigator found dogs that had gone mad from being confined in bare steel cages and concrete cells. Dogs had chunks of muscle cut from their thighs and were left lying on a filthy floor. Dogs had their vocal cords cut. Sick dogs and cats languished in their cages without veterinary care. This investigation is more than twenty years old. It still shows how the industry can treat animals behind closed doors.
This raises a fundamental question: by what right do humans decide over the body of another animal? Whoever restricts the freedom of an animal must justify it. It is not the animal that has to prove it deserves consideration. You can read about the drawbacks for the dog in the next part of this series.
See also: Physical integrity, well-being and animal rights; Does ownership of animals contradict the right of freedom?; What is the definition of animal abuse?
|
