Government Report in to Pedigree Dog Health a Slap in the Face for the Anti-Health Campaigners
The report published today by the Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare extensively supports the views aired by the BBC’s controversial Pedigree Dogs Exposed programme. It is the second, independent, robust report in to pedigree dog health since the airing of the show and, it would seem, a strong consensus is emerging, one that is sure to enrage the small group of revisionists who have spent the last year and a half arguing that Pedigree Dogs Exposed was a ‘biased’ ’sensationalist’ ‘misleading’ documentary. When Pedigree Dogs Exposed first aired last year, it caused a national storm.
It transcended the pet press and the professional pet insiders and went and placed a huge marker down that was visible for the entire country.
The firestorm that surrounded the documentary created a split.
There were those who claimed it to be the most important thing to happen in terms of advancing the message of dog health campaigners and there were those who spat their dummies out, stamped their feet and cried mercilessly that the documentary was nothing more than a sensationalist piece of fiction.
Those people still believe that today, I’m convinced.
Those people will not be told that the problems affecting pedigree dogs and pedigree dog breeding are extensive and in desperate need of massive reform.
Those people are now finding their initial arguments much harder to stand up.
On the back of Pedigree Dogs Exposed;
- The RSPCA withdrew from Crufts
- The Dogs Trust withdrew from Crufts
- The PDSA withdrew from Crufts
- An independent scientific report commissioned by the RSPCA wholeheartedly supported the findings of Pedigree Dogs Exposed
And now, the government has stepped in to back the documentary’s key messages too.
The Kennel Club, for their part, have moved to make some changes – nowhere near enough, but some – and they have publicly acknowledged that Pedigree Dogs Exposed caused them to accelerate those changes. This, it has to be said, after complaining to OfCom (The British broadcast regulator) about Pedigree Dogs Exposed in the aftermath and spending an inordinate amount of time arguing black and blue that things were all in hand and they should be just left to get on with it.
Pedigree Dogs Exposed called what has happened to our pure bred pets the biggest animal welfare scandal of our time.
Please, make no mistake – this is not sensationalism, it’s 100% correct.
The sheer volume of health problems that we now nonchalantly acknowledge as ‘breed traits’ is nothing short of disgusting.
We have pet food companies manufacturing dog food and marketing it as beneficial for the disabilities suffered by that particular breed.
We have visibly unhealthy dogs STILL taking prizes at Kennel Club endorsed dog shows.
And, worse, the dog community is still infected by a small group of small minded people who simply refuse, in the face of massive, overwhelming evidence, to see what is before their very eyes.
The great news is, things are changing. The thinking that has held back pedigree health reform is – quite rightly – being questioned and, more importantly, dismissed as the self-interested, misguided nonsense that many of us have always recognised it to be.
No longer should the public tolerate the deliberate disabling of man’s best friend.
No longer should we blindly accept the empty promises of ‘we’ve got it all in hand’ from an organisation that’s over 100 years to ‘get it all in hand’.
The momentum for change is building. The evidence is overwhelming. We can’t let things EVER return to the way they were. Dogs deserve far better, hopefully they’ll now begin to get it.
READ THE APGAW PEDIGREE DOG HEALTH REPORT HERE ->
Highly Recommended: What dog owner wouldn’t want a piece of THIS action? – Get FREE dog food!
Related posts:
Loading ...
I think you meant the term “Anti-Health Campaigners” kind of tongue-in-cheek, as if no one would really campaign against health. Yet that is exactly what’s happening in my breed (Dalmatians). People are making ridiculous arguments against any change. They actually defend the health problems as good, speculating that one health problem might decrease the incidence of other health problems, or blithely denying their existence – “Gee, I’ve never had a problem with that.” I don’t see how they can keep a straight face. A lot of dog show people are seriously out of touch (probably a majority), and the higher they are the more in denial. Jemima’s documentary is understated if anything.
I have no doubt that their real reason for such vehement opposition is that if health were to be improved, they puppy-buying public would want the “new and improved” ones. In other words they are against change because it might work.
Reply
It is a truly perverse mind that can derive pleasure from the deformities deliberately bred on, and the denial of good health and robust bloodlines in their self-serving self interest.
Reply
I always enjoyed watching cruffs until a few years ago when I had to turn it off and vowed never to watch it again.
The GSD were as this artical says disabled. Pulling themselves along with their front end whilst dragging their back, it was so upsetting and disturbing to think that less informed people would think this normal and go out and buy on this basis. Also it was commented about several breeds that these are not the working type dogs but the showing type, they obviously could not do the job the breed was designed for. Border Collies as another example, they were huge and didn’t look like they could keep up with a sheep let alone on hilly uneven ground! Not a deformity but a good indicator of how removed the KC standards are from the actual original breed spacifics and yet they deny any changes in the dogs physical apearance over the years because the standards have remained the same. What’s the point of breeding a dog that has no chance of performing the basics involved in their spacific type of work? I think it is highlighted when the police have their own breeeding programs and won’t consider taking any KC registered dog due to health issues and the obvious inability to be ale to take on the work, I cannot imagine one of those cruffs GSD’s being able to scale a 6′ wall without help or injury!
There are lots of cruelty cases that have and are being ignored in the effort to make money (king charles spaniel anyone?).
Responsibilty needs taking for the monstrosity that is the pedigree dog today! I always advise people to rescue a good one not buy a bad one!
Reply