The true cost of breed manipulation
Our pets, when we really think about it, are not naturally occurring animals. The first dogs, as the story goes, were friendly wolves who became domesticated over time to become man’s best friend.
But even among our existing pets today, there is a lot of breed manipulation, i.e. selectively breeding dogs and other animals to bring about certain desired traits or even create completely new traits. Such breed manipulation is common practice – we’ve been doing it for centuries and will likely continue doing it for centuries to come.
Selective breeding practices have, over time, given way to hundreds of different dog breeds. In modern times, it has been found that this breed manipulation can be a dangerous game for animals. It is common consensus that there can be no ‘best breed standard’ and breed manipulation is undertaken based on a set of arbitrary characteristics desired by animal fanciers, with examples including leg length, tail length, and colour pattern.
Breed manipulation can cause a plethora of health complications for the animals it creates. A notable example is the pug; the pug has been selectively bred to feature an extremely flat face, which contributes to breathing difficulties and eye injuries.
Large purebreds such as German shepherds suffer from disorders like hip dysplasia, which has emerged due to the breeder’s desire for a sloping back. Cavalier King Charles spaniels are more likely to be born with brain deformities due to the domed shape of their heads, which give them a ‘puppy look’ throughout their lives.
Genetic manipulation also occurs in cats and other animals. There are some cats purposely bred for flattened faces like Persians and Himalayans. Due to this preference for flat faces, humans have created cats that suffer a higher risk of breathing problems and almost constant runny eyes.
We see one of the most unfortunate examples of breed manipulation in thoroughbred horses. Bred for light bones to promote speed on the racetrack, thoroughbreds are particularly susceptible to broken legs and ankles.
The pitfalls of breeding designer dogs
Inbreeding occurs when offspring are produced from a male and female who share the same family line. Males and females from the same nuclear family are likely to have very similar genetic profiles and therefore these animals will naturally be predisposed to certain maladies or carry a recessive gene for a disorder.
Accordingly, their offspring are likely to inherit double the trouble. This is a primary cause for the offspring of inbred animals to develop poor overall health, especially on occasions where dog breeds are bred for extreme traits such as a tiny size as in the ‘teacup’ varieties, which make a dog prone to injury.
Mixing different breeds ensures that the offspring will likely benefit from greater genetic diversity than a purebred puppy, therefore by inbreeding in this manner we are denying the sustained strength of these animals and their chances of survival.
The Sunday Morning Brunch reached out to Dr. Roshini Madushani, a veterinarian at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, University of Peradeniya, for her thoughts on the matter in the Sri Lankan context.
She said: “I do not encourage breeding, but most people want to buy pups of good breeds. Hence, the process cannot be stopped. Not everyone wants to adopt a street pup. As long as there’s a demand, the breeders will continue their work.”
Dr. Madushani also made note of the prevalent health complications: “There are various medical issues due to inbreeding, especially among German shepherds and Rottweilers. They are prone to have hip dysplasia and weak hind quarters. Inbreeding has aggravated the occurrence of this problem. There are several other problems too, but this is the most prominent one,” she said, adding: “Dogs with short snouts such as pugs, Shih Tzus, and boxers are prone to have respiratory problems from birth.”
Pet owners’ perspectives
Theruni Ranathunga, a pet owner with three pugs, shared her experience with The Sunday Morning Brunch.
It is important to note that there is a stigma attached to purchasing pets considering that there are many dogs that can be adopted. Moreover, the purchase of purebred dogs is often questioned owing to the awareness created about such animals.
We must stress that we do not wish to carry out a witch hunt against purebred dog owners or their reasons for purchasing inbred or genetically manipulated dogs. We have documented Thernui’s experience as a pug owner to shed some light on the experience of a pet owner who provides care for a genetically manipulated animal.
Theruni has three pugs, one of which is a Pug-Zu; a hybrid where the pug is crossed with the Shih Tzu.
Speaking about her dogs, Theruni said: “Yes, they are prone to disease and when I got my first pug I wasn’t aware of it because it was in 2015 and I had just lost a pet. I was going through the classifieds in the newspaper and saw a picture. I had never heard of pugs before so I googled them and they looked super cute. We just went to the place and saw the puppies and just bought a puppy,” she said, adding that they did not do any prior research.
“My first pup, Panchi, is now seven years old and is a very healthy pug. She is a bit obese but that is because we had her sterilised. My father didn’t want to sterilise or neuter her without giving her the experience of being a mother so she did have a litter,” Theruni said. However, she notes that it was not done with the intention of breeding.
“It wasn’t done with the intention of breeding more pugs, it was purely to give her at least one chance to be a mother. I don’t know if that was the best thing to do, but it is known that if they don’t have puppies they are prone to get cancer of the womb, so the safest thing to do was to sterilise her earlier. She started gaining weight due to hormone imbalances after the operation, but otherwise she is a very healthy pug.”
Theruni added: “Of course, she has breathing problems. She snores louder than my father and she runs out of breath fast. She is very lazy so it is difficult to get her to exercise. But otherwise, she lives life like a normal dog. I suppose you can compare her to a very obese Labrador retriever.”
Constant medical care
Theruni also shared her experience with her second pup, a Pug-Zu called Chooty: “My second pup is problematic because he has a very weak immune system. We weren’t aware of it when we bought him. He has been on medication all his life and we have to give him a steroid injection once every three to four months.”
Theruni noted that they attended to Chooty’s medical care: “Chooty has to see the vet at least once in two months and it is not like we have abandoned his health needs.”
“My third pup is Malla and he is like any little puppy. We got him impulsively – I honestly don’t know how to justify this decision,” Theruni said. Thankfully, Malla is a relatively healthy pup.
She also shared her previous experience with a Tibetan terrier: “My Tibetan terrier had a problem with seizures. He was apparently interbred to maintain the pedigree and because of that he had a very weak immune system. He was on medication all his life and only lived for four years.”
Theruni stated that the pup was given an incredibly strong medication called Phenobarbital – a drug that is given to addicts when helping them rehabilitate. “He was on it for four years. The vet did not tell us to check his liver and he died from liver damage.”
As she is currently living in the UK, Theruni noted there were much more adverse trends in the Western world when it came to breeding. “Like iPhone models, there are specific trends for types of breeds,” she said, noting that she was unaware of the extent of genetic manipulation that pugs were subjected to.
She stated that as a pet owner with inbred dogs, all that she could say was that you should get a pet only if you were capable of caring for them and were able to satisfy their needs and that you should do a lot of research before even starting to think of getting a pup.
“According to my experience, if you are capable of giving them the love and care they need, then there isn’t anything to worry about, because whether you like it or not, people are going to breed dogs like this,” she said.
