Artifical Breeding: The Hidden Danger

Artificial Breeding: The Hidden Danger

Notable Breed Changes Over Time

Conclusion:

Works Cited

German Shepherd:1915-Now

The Bull Terrier: 1915-Now

Allen, Terry J. "We’re Breeding Dogs to Death." - In These Times. N.p., 27 May 2015. Web. 08 June 2016.

Beck, Melinda. "When Cancer Comes With A Pedigree." The Wall Street Journal. N.p., 4 May 2010. Web. 8 June 2016.

Becker, Karen. "Comparing the Looks of Dog Breeds in 1915 and 2015." Mercola.com. N.p., 2 Mar. 2015. Web. 09 June 2016."Canine Eugenics And Breed Standards." Pets4Homes. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2016.

"Breeding Policy Wouldend Early-onset MVD." Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June 2016.

Becker, Karen. "Is Ear Cropping And Tail Docking Harmful To Dogs."Mercola.com. N.p., 27 Jan. 2010. Web. 08 June 2016.

Brandow, Michael. "Why Breeding Pedigree Dogs Is Just Eugenics By Another Name." Indefinitely Wild. N.p., 17 Mar. 2015. Web. 08 June 2016.

"Chinese Shar-Pei Dog Breed Information, Pictures, Characteristics & Facts – Dogtime." Dogtime. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June 2016.

"Common Dachshund Health Problems." Dachshund Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June 2016.

Cosner, Lita. "‘Parade of Mutants’—Pedigree Dogs and Artificial Selection."Parade of Mutants. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2016.

Davis, Lauren. "Stop Cutting Off Your Pet Dogs' Tails, America." Io9. N.p., 05 Feb. 2015. Web. 08 June 2016."Pedigree Dogs Exposed - The Bbc Documentary On Breed Standards (part One)." Pets4Homes. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2016.

"Dogs in Rome and Greece." Dogs in Rome and Greece. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 June 2016.

Freedman, Adam H., Ilan Gronau, Rena M. Schweizer, Diego Ortega-Del Vecchyo, Eunjung Han, Pedro M. Silva, Marco Galaverni, Zhenxin Fan, Peter Marx, Belen Lorente-Galdos, Holly Beale, Oscar Ramirez, Farhad Hormozdiari, Can Alkan, Carles Vilà, Kevin Squire, Eli Geffen, Josip Kusak, Adam R. Boyko, Heidi G. Parker, Clarence Lee, Vasisht Tadigotla, Adam Siepel, Carlos D. Bustamante, Timothy T. Harkins, Stanley F. Nelson, Elaine A. Ostrander, Tomas Marques-Bonet, Robert K. Wayne, and John Novembre. "Genome Sequencing Highlights the Dynamic Early History of Dogs." PLoS Genetics. Public Library of Science, Jan. 2014. Web. 08 June 2016.

"HEALTH PROBLEMS | The Bull Terrier Club." The Bull Terrier Club RSS2. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June 2016.

"Here's What 100 Years Of Dog Breed 'Improvements' Has Really Done To Our Loyal Companions." Sunny Skyz. N.p., 3 Jan. 2015. Web. 09 June 2016.

Hohenhaus, Ann. "Purebred Dogs and Cancer: How Genetics Come Into Play." Vetstreet. N.p., 12 Mar. 2015. Web. 09 June 2016.

Jobe, Mat. "Cuteness Kills: The Case Against Teacup Dogs." Terribly Terrier. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 June 2016.

Kerns, Ben. "Why People Cut Their Dog's Ears (And Why You Shouldn't)."Thedodo.com. N.p., 23 June 2015. Web. 7 June 2016.

Larson, Greger, Elinor K. Karlsson, Angela Perri, Matthew T. Webster, Simon Y. W. Ho, Joris Peters, Peter W. Stahl, Philip J. Piper, Frode Lingaas, Merete Fredholm, Kenine E. Comstock, and Jaime F. Modiano. "Rethinking Dog Domestication by Integrating Genetics, Archeology, and Biogeography." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. National Academy of Sciences, 05 June 2012. Web. 08 June 2016.

Maldarelli, Claire, and Scienceline. "Although Purebred Dogs Can Be Best in Show, Are They Worst in Health?" Scientific American. N.p., 21 Feb. 2014. Web. 08 June 2016.

Mason, W. E. Dogs of All Nations. San Francisco: Publisher Not Identified, 1915. Print.

McAlinden, Aiden. "Brachycephalic Dog." The Veterinary Expert Pet Health. N.p., 25 Nov. 2012. Web. 09 June 2016.

Pena, Melvin. "No Small Problem:The Ethics of Teacup Dogs." Dogster.com. N.p., 25 June 2014. Web. 9 June 2016.

"The Science of Heredity That "created" Dogs." The Science of Heredity That "created" Dogs. N.p., 2010. Web. 08 June 2016.

Starr, D. Barry. "Understanding Genetics." Understanding Genetics. Thetech.org, 18 Jan. 2012. Web. 09 June 2016.

Swartz, Anna. "Dogs' Eyeballs Are Actually Popping Out Of Their Heads."The Dodo. N.p., 18 Sept. 2015. Web. 09 June 2016.

Welton, Michele. "English Bulldog Health Problems and Raising an English Bulldog Puppy to Be Healthy." English Bulldog Health Problems. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 June 2016.

Wilkes, Joe. "Have We Overbred Bulldogs?" Cesar's Way. N.p., 17 June 2015. Web. 09 June 2016.

Neopolitan Mastiff: 1950-Now

English Bulldog: 1915-Now

Overall, the breeding of an animal for a specific appearance or trait does more harm than good. Breeding practices can foster disease, or eliminate pups that do not conform to standard. Dogs are subjected to painful practices to adhere to breed regulations. These regulations and inheritance of disease lower the lifespan of many purebred dogs, and develop numerous health issues that can deform or continually cause pain to a breed.

(Mason, W.E.)

Cover Page

Background info:

Thesis:

Meara Docherty

Longworth

Honors 2 English

June 2016

Period 6

The breeding of dogs for a cuter appearance is harmful to the health of the animal because it utilizes unethical breeding practices, lowers the animal's lifespan, and causes numerous health problems.

While dogs have been around for hundreds of thousands of years, their origin is relatively unclear. Most recently, it has been hypothesized that dogs had formed a sister clade, or group sharing a common ancestor, with wolves, and that present-day wolves are not related to the wolves that eventually evolved into dogs (Freedman). After this point of divergence, the domestication of the dog is largely unknown due to admixture of the varying species (Larson). By Roman times, most dog breeds had been developed and assigned a function ("Dogs in Rome and Greece"). The origin of dog breeding, and the development of purebred dogs, began in nineteenth century Europe. Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was written in 1859, and the central concept of survival of the fittest developed into the concept of eugenics. As stated in the article, "Why Breeding Pedigree Dogs Is Just Eugenics By Another Name",

Most upright citizens have officially sworn off applying eugenics to humans these days, but for some strange reason, they continue to breed and buy their dogs along old eugenic lines. Anderson Cooper was shocked and appalled on his show in May 2012 to report that forced sterilizations of "undesirables" were conducted by the tens of thousands in the United States until as recently as the 1970s (Brandow).

This breeding of the animal without regard for the general health of the breed in question causes numerous problems made worse by the insistence that we keep purebreds "pure".

Life-threatening Genes

Dog Breeding Practices & Issues

Changed for the Worse

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

Early Age Modifications

• The breed is praised for its small head and large ears.
• 70% of all Cavalier King Charles Spaniels develop Canine Syringomyelia, a disorder that causes the skull to be too small to accomodate the brain, by age five.
• By the same age, half of all Cavaliers develop mitral valve disease, a heart condition that threatens the life of the pet (Maldarelli).
• Hip Dysplasia affects 1 in 4 of all Cavaliers, and they are predisposed to strokes (CavalierHealth).

• Many Purebred dogs, specifically hunting dogs like the Doberman and Schnauzer breeds, undergo a process called tail docking. Tail docking is the shortening of the dog's tail at a very young age. The dog's tail is usually removed with surgical scissors and causes the pups to yelp out in pain.
• This process is usually done at home, and can result in infection, and painful regrowth of the nerves (Becker).

• The mutation of the Bull Terrier skull its current egg-shape, and the significant thickening of the torso have resulted in heart problems, and deafness (Health Problems; Here's What 100 Years...).
• Dachshunds develop invertebral disc disease, have trouble jumping, and can develop color dilution alopecia, which can cause the dog to have dry skin and lose all their hair ("Common Dachshund Health Problems").
• Shar-Pei dogs develop Shar-Pei fever, the painful swelling of the hock joints, elbow dysplasia, Seborrhea, which is the dryness and foul odor of the skin.

• Diseases are often connected to the trait that makes a species unique. For example, Dalmatians are extremely prone to painful kidney stones and high levels of uric acid. These are controlled by the same gene that gives Dalmatians their spots, if one were to remove the harmful gene, the spots would also be removed (Starr).

• One third of all purebred dogs develop cancer.
• 60% of Golden Retrievers develop cancer, including hemangiosarcoma, whose first symptom is sudden death.
• Breeds extremely susceptible to cancer: Boxers, Golden Retrievers, Rottweilers, Bernese Mountain Dogs, and most Terriers (Beck).

The English Bulldog

• The American Kennel Club (AKC) defines the standards for every recognized breed of dog.
• To maintain the appearance of the breed, many breeders will use line breeding, which breeds a dog with their grandparent. When a dog wins many championships, they are bred widely regardless of the diseases they may be carrying, this is known as popular sire syndrome (Maldarelli).
• In the course of 40 years, some dog breeds have only passed down 10% of their total genetic variety (Cosner).
• There are no regulations against breeding dogs known to carry genetic disorders, and popular dogs can sire dozens of litters (Cosner).

Modifications Part Two

• 80% of all Bulldog pups are delivered Caesarian section due to the enlarged head size of the breed.
• Most cannot breed without assistance because of weak altered bone structure (Maldarelli).
• Median lifespan of the English Bulldog: 6.25 years (Becker).
• Numerous joint and hip problems, easily dislocated joints, mast cell tumors, invertebral disc disease, and cruciate ligament rupture (Welton).

• Ear cropping is the practice of cutting up to two thirds of a dog's ear off, and is usually done at a very young age.
• Unlike tail docking, ear cropping is done under general anesthesia, and the dog must wear tape for an extended period of time to keep the ears upright.
• This procedure is usually performed on Dobermans, Boxers, and Pitbulls, among other breeds.
• This procedure is said to be preventative against ear infection, but this has not been proven, and ear infection is one of the risks of cropping the ears (Becker).

Teacup Puppies: Small body, Big Problems

• The definition of Teacup Puppy is any dog smaller than the recognized average, and usually weigh four pounds or less at full maturity.
• Teacup pups' small bodies have a litany of health problems such as extreme stress, deformed skulls with permanent soft spots, fragile bones, and overworked hearts and lungs (Pena).
• Teacup dogs are usually bred by mating two runts, the weakest of the litter, which is likely to cause complications for the parent and child (Jobe).