Nitpick: American Shorthair is a breed, with a pedigree and everything. Domestic short/longhairs are the mutts. Of course, you might not know it by looking at them without seeing the papers; AS standards seem rather flexible.
My other cat is a shelter adopted mutt. He’s the biggest mush cat I’ve ever been around. Even in shelter adopted cats there are noted adoption preferences. We originally wanted an orange tabby but they’re very popular and often hard to find according to the shelter officials I spoke with.
The authorities need to outlaw certain breeds of cats and dogs and be done with it. If you can’t breed healthy King Charles Cavalier spaniels you need to stop breeding them. I watched the entire documentary in complete horror. I had a friend who had a Persian. Sweet cat but her eyes were constantly tearing because the poor kitty’s tear ducts were simply too small for her face.
Were you as stunned as I was at the straight-faced way the show breeders responded to questions about the deformities, calling them “correct”? The willful refusal to absorb or consider information that wasn’t desirable was infuriating.
Yes. It was mind blowing. How can you not look at the gait of the German Shepards in sheer disgust? They appear completely uncomfortable as they walk. I thought the worst was the woman with the champion Cavalier spaniel. Why would you show a dog who is seriously ill? Why would you even think of breeding from said dog?
We bought our first Maine Coon kitty from a wonderful breeder. Unfortunately when we took the cat to the vet to get neutered the vet told us the kitty had a grade 4 heart murmur and a projected life expectancy of no longer than two years. The breeder was horrified. Her own vet had told her the darling little thing was perfectly healthy. She immediately took the kitten back, had the other kitties from the litter examined by a different vet and had the kitten neutered.
That was a responsible breeder. These people are the exact opposite. No one should breed or sell sick animals. Top private breeders are apparently indistinguishable from puppy mills.
I have a couple of friends who are heavily involved in showing their pedigreed Great Danes. I can’t really talk to them about this topic, because it has potential to end the friendship. They’re very intelligent, morally-responsible people, yet they see nothing wrong with supporting the messed-up industry that is show dogs. At least the cropped ears are optional for Great Danes here (I don’t know about other places). That’s another problem with show dogs - if you have to mutilate them to achieve a standard.
We had a weimeraner growing up and he was from a line that was bred for hunting, obediance and strength. There is another line that is bred for showing and the difference is shocking. Show dogs are skinnier etc but it is their tempermant that lets them down, they are just big puppies scared of their own shadows.
We recently got a couple of spoodles, cocker spanial/poodle cross and they seem very healthy and as they don’t come from show stock but rather the ones that were not deformed in enough should last a long time.
Meh. I like purebred dogs, although I would never choose to own one of the really deformed breeds and I think there should be stricter regulation of purebred registration, breeders, and breeding. My own purebred (from a great breeder and a long line of show champions) will turn 14 next month and is doing wonderfully, although so is my random-bred dog who is also a senior.
Cat Whisperer, the first thing I looked at on the AKC page was the standard for Doberman Pinschers. Sure enough, their standard is the ears must be docked. Absolutely abominable.
Ears are cropped. Tails are docked. And yes, the Doberman standard includes docking of the tail, as well as cropping of the ears.
I watched this on the BBC a few years ago (I’m assuming it is the same one) and recall the commotion it caused.
Rightly so.
I’m no fan of dogs but I can see how some might like their company or use them for working purposes and that is fair enough. I can also see how selective breeding would push a working breed towards useful traits…again, fair enough.
My huge problem is with the breeding of animals purely towards an aesthetic ideal and so ensuring a shortened life or increase in suffering along the way. I simply cannot get my head round this. The breeders bear some responsibility, the various kennel clubs also for setting a cosmetic “standard”.
But christ on a bike people, are you sheep? Those who choose to buy a pedigree dog with known issues are the real problem. No-one forces you at gun-point to buy a particular breed. You make a free choice and if you choose a King Charles well guess what? The cycle continues. And if you show one of the compromised breeds you are even more to blame.
Perhaps because I’m not a dog owner I see this though different eyes but is all this not obvious?
I think what you’re missing is that quite a people aren’t aware that these breeds have certain problems or so many problems. You say you saw the documentary - didn’t you see the people who said “I had no idea this problem existed!” The breeders aren’t advertising the fact their puppies are at high risk of genetic disease after all, in fact they’re in denial about it from how they’re portrayed. I question if the average pet owner has any idea about these things.
That was interesting. I have now tried to watch the film three times, and I cannot get to the end. When the King Charles Spaniel starts crying, my dog (a malinois) starts rushing around the house trying to find it. He is really agitated and upset by it and can hear it from upstairs.
So I will have to try it with headphones later on.
I don’t see how ignorance is a defence. In htis day and age I can find out at the click of a button what problems different breeds are prone to.
Do people just buy a dog on a whim or do they investigate beforehand? If the former, they are at fault. If the latter, they are at fault.
A whim. “I like those cute, pushed-in little faces,” with no thought or research done into what kinds of problem a pushed-in little face creates.
I don’t like the words “cropped” or “docked.” What they mean is “cut off.” Yes, they cut parts of the ears and tails off of puppies because humans think they look better that way. In some cases they cut parts of the tails off because they have bred the tails so thin that they break in a good happy frenzy of wagging - also not acceptable. The arrogance of humans just takes my breath away sometimes.
In half-hearted defense of the ignorant, I was well into my adult years before I realized that some dogs didn’t have pointy ears and short tails naturally. That doesn’t excuse those who’re supposed to have researched their breed before buying one.
Although I can’t imagine what it’s like being whacked by the kind of club an undocked Great Dane would be wielding in welcomehomemasterwherehaveyoubeenimissedyousomuch excitement.
I’ve never seen a Dane without a tail. They’re not supposed to be docked. Danes are friendly and happy to see you, but they’re not nutty like labs with the tail wagging. Of the giant breeds, they’re the nicest I’ve worked with.
My mistake. My mental image was that the tails were docked, but looking up the breed standard (to defend my mental image…ironic!) I discovered that a docked tail is actually a disqualification for Danes.
Long tails are our fault, not natural phenomena. And for some breeds, keeping it is going to cause a lot more pain over the years than cutting it off early.
Cutting it off without anesthesia is barbaric. It is both easy and economical to numb the area first, and provide analgesics during the healing process.
Cutting off tails and ears just to provide a fighting advantage is disgusting; and the result of a whole 'nother type of barbarism.
This totally made me think of my pit/boxer mix that I rescued last year. She is the sweetest girl in the world, and when she wags her tail, her entire back half wags with it. Seriously.
I am pretty sure the AKC standard for both pits and boxers is to chop off the tails. Someone wants to cut off my dog’s tail to make her more aesthetically pleasing, and/or conform to some norm??? :mad:
Stupid fucking goat felchers!!!
How so? Foxes, wolves, African Wild Dogs, dingos, carolina dogs, and all known wild and ferally breeding canids have a tail halfway down their leg.
I don’t know of a dog that naturally has a stump tail 2 or 3 inches in length.