OUGD503 - Dog Breeding

Dog Breeding

As part of my response to the dogs trust brief I decided to look into the ethics and processes behind puppy breeding. The research which I have completed has highlighted that buying a new puppy is not always the best move when buying a dog. It supports the argument written in the brief that it is so easy to buy online nowadays but you can't be certain what you are getting and the background of how the breeding was done.

The History:

Domestic dogs are descendants of wolves and were initially bred for a purpose. For example, working dogs were bred for farms and gun dogs for hunting.
It is thought that the first domestic dogs came from Europe between 19,000 and 32,000 years ago.
Dogs being bred for a function is still done in todays society however, they are also bred for the purpose of companionship in the present day.

Purebred Dogs:

Purebred dogs used to be considered a status symbol.
Ethical purebred breeding involves the breeder being responsible for testing the parent dog before breeding for bloodlines and history. A lot of breeders also provide a contract for each and every puppy to guarantee their health. This includes health check, shots, and food for the pups as they grow to an adoptable age.
This however is not how all breeders operate and this is why dog breeding can be seen as unethical.
Breeders such as this are known as 'backyard breeders'.

Breeding Dangers:

25% of purebred dogs have a serious genetic problem mainly due to the look of the dog nowadays being more important than the function of the dog.
Other problems include, breeding dogs too young and breeding dogs that show undesirable traits.
Another issue is that pedigree papers are not always a guarantee of health. A 2001 TIME exposed the alarming rise of genetic disorders in dogs.
The internet is allowing for more and more support of breeding practices that are ending in the illness for millions of innocent dogs.

Guardian Article on Pedigree Breeding - Michele Hanson:

'I am sick to death of pointing out, over and over again, the folly and horrors of selective dog breeding and puppy farming, because no one ever takes any notice, however bonkers the breeding practices are.'
'In Ireland, you can apparently do more or less what you like with dogs. Every year, we import thousands of dogs from Ireland, and from Wales, which are awash with horrible puppy farms, some even legal, licensed by councils, churning out sick dogs. Then we buy the puppies, often online, only to find out that they’re poorly. It’s distressing for dogs and owners, who end up spending hours and fortunes at the vet. Meanwhile there’s a cottage industry flourishing here in England in bull-breed/staffie crosses, bred at home by mainly young men who don’t know, or care what they’re doing, so we’re flooded with dogs, which end up in the council pounds.'
'The pounds send a list, every week, of all the dogs they have to the rescue centres. If the centres can’t take these thousands of unwanted dogs within a week, it’s curtains, because the pounds are full to bursting, but more and more dogs are pouring in daily, from useless or panicked owners, and misguided or greedy breeders. So an estimated 21 dogs a day are put down in England.'

Puppy Farming:

Puppy Farm - Large-scale commercial breeding establishment.
'Animal charities report that puppy farms are dotted across the UK, with a particular concentration in Wales. The RSPCA estimates that 50,000 farmed puppies are imported (or 'trafficked') into the UK every year from Ireland, where breeding legislation is practically non-existent. A significant proportion of the UK's estimated eight million dogs started their lives in a puppy farm.'
The way that a puppy farm works, uses female dogs and isolates them. They are left with minimum food and water but kept alive enough to keep them breeding. They are used to breed continuously until they are worn out and then killed due to being no more use.
Common problems of farmed puppies - canine parvovirus, worms, hip dysplasia, dislocated kneecaps, congenital heart problems, mental health problems (aggression, bonding failures, over attachment).