Thursday 1 May 2014

"Great push-back!"


This creature is the current No 1 Pug in the US - the multi-award-winning GRCH Hill Country's Tag I'm It ("JJ")

Apparently this dog has "great push-back".




The phrase refers, apparently, to the the fact that JJ's nose is pushing back and upwards into his face. It isn't called for in the breed standard but it is currently fashionable in the US - as, clearly, are huge, nostril-overlapping nose rolls.

How much longer before they look like this Pekingese? Oops sorry, Persian Cat.


This, by the way, is a Turkish Angora cat - what the original Persian Cat used to look like before cat breeders decided to improve them.




47 comments:

  1. At least the Persian cat looks cross for being turned into a freak. It does look weirdly like a Peke.

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  2. How I would like to push the nose into the same uncomfortable position of the person who bred him and the people who admire such a deformity. Again I will say poor dog, poor cat how horrible to be treated thus and I agree with Fran it really is creepy, I hope the same people don't have interests in other species. I wonder if the breeders/owners are freakish too.

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  3. And people wonder why puggles are so popular. They're not true pugs, but they can breathe and won't keel over in less than 10 years.

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  4. Such a shame, as he has a lovley little body, shame about the exagerated head features. I have just returned from the Algarve where I was horrified to see pugs and other dogs including Sharpei out in scorching heat, they seemed to cope well considering, and I wouldn't have called the ones I saw moderate, in head, but they were slimmer than we tend to see.

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  5. Im glad you mentioned the cats. I have an exotic shorthair (rescue who needed somewhere to go; I'd never pick that breed by choice!) and she is extremely flat faced AND has stenotic nares. She is constantly snuffly, sneezing, with extreme crusty weeping eyes that need cleaning several times a day if you want them to be remotely normal. I feel so sorry for her.
    Prior to her, I had a rescued 'doll face' persian, how they used to look. She had a slightly smaller, shorter nose than a normal cat, but absolutely NO breathing issues whatsoever. And she was very pretty. The persians of today are just horrendous, and I can't imagine how anyone could think that was preferable to the original look.

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  6. Yah its appalling. The problem with those persian cats is they end up living a life of utter misery. They need constant grooming usually done at a kitty parlour which cats absolutely hate it's pure torture. They never get used to it and it makes them grumpy and stressed.

    Unsuspecting people buy them only to realise when they are no longer a little kitten that they can't even shoot straight through the anus. Every time they go to the toilet they need to be cleaned as the faeces get caught in the hair which they then sit on causing hard pads of shit.
    What happens is the hair gets neglected for a week or two and the cat becomes a complete and utter disaster with matted hair and stink. The skin gets no air and it starts getting rashes and sores. It can't even walk in the garden without getting ensnared in twigs and leaves. Then the whole lot gets shaved off (if its lucky) a terrifying experience for a cat and then it has to be washed twice a week because of skin infections.... it's a snowball ride of hell and disaster.

    What is the point? A cat that can't be a cat and ultimately ends up suffering horribly. Its exactly the same as the show Pekingese im not sure which is worse but both are completely useless as dogs and pets.

    That pugs back looks too short to me it will though definitely have some deformity of the spine. This is the problem it's considered an ideal model, deformity is considered an ideal. Even if it can't breath it will win over something that can breath that has maybe a longer (healthy) back or less substance also considered a fault, after all if it cant fit through the dams pelvis it's considered perfect.

    It has excellent "push back" enough to kill it. Poor little bug such sweet eyes too. Though eyes in the pug are a mess...

    The worst cases of deformed backs I've ever seen have been in Show French Bulldogs, some are so short (compressed) they look like a crab (which doesn't have a spine of course), these often end up paralysed. We have one in our street it has wheels for back legs stenotic nares and it was an American champ. It has its own aupair maid and nanny who takes care of it daily (one of the lucky ones). Recently I've noticed she doesn't seem to much care for correcting the wheels much on sharp corners and it drags the whole shebangle down the street at a hell of a pace. Lots of drive and very game it is!

    There seems to be a fashion to sell dogs after they've won everything going in America to the highest bidder in Asia as way of "retirement", puppy mill fodder even in what are considered some of the best of "homes" here.

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    1. the owners of these kitties must be incredibly stupid or neglectful as i havea persian(not through choice) and this never happens but if it did i would make sure every time he went the toilet he was clean.

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    2. There are Persians and there are "Persians", the show Persians is particularly bad. You've probably just got a long haired cat with slightly compressed face.

      It's not so much neglect its more failing to keep up with the impossible intensive care these animals demand to be kept just alive.

      Cleaning a cats anus every time it defecates is not easy. Unless you keep it in a cage and it cant go out there will be most definitely times you can't manage to do it in time.

      And why should it walk around with balls of kakha hanging off its rear end blocking further attempts to poo properly until its fudging a squishy mess onto its skin under a hard mat of excreta sticks and leaves. This can happen in a matter of a morning in the garden. Same with urine.

      Show extreme Pekingese must suffer the same fate.

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  7. Make a great PhD study the dog and now cat show world psychology (that cat looks just like an extreme Peke). Why people do this to animals in the name of what is deemed to be 'breed standard'? Hypothesis could be 'do some dog breeders and show people who breed for exaggeration have evidence of sociopathic and narcissistic traits. If so, should they be prevented from breeding, showing and owning animals due to the risk of detrimental effects on animal welfare'

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    1. Actually, I am researching this issue for another programme and no one has looked at it. If anyone is interested, or indeed knows anyone who has looked at it that I might have missed... please get in touch.

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    2. Jemima, for clarity, do you mean no one will take up the issue as a programme, or no one will take it up as a research project/PhD thesis?

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    3. I have not been able to find any researchers who have looked specifically at this issue.

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    4. For goodness sakes. One reason why; pedigree dogs and cats are becoming an end of an era. More and more people are rescuing. And eventually, everyone else will too. Why invest in something that will eventually cease to exist?

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  8. This malocclusion is becoming really popular with rabbit breeders too and it's decimating their life expectancy. As if rabbits needed another incidence of ignorant cruelty to add to their list. It's basically a death sentence that they are born with.

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16041978

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  9. Brachycephalic rabbits? What fresh hell is this??? Come on, you're a month and a day late for April Fool's day.

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    1. I had a brachy faced rat once. He was a rescue with an unknown disorder, possibly a form of dwarfism, where he had a very shortened face and limbs. He had constant problems with weepy eyes and snuffling. I've been told that earlier in the rat fancy, there were people who wanted to breed flat faced rats, but fortunately the ratty powers that be put their foot down and said 'no thanks' so it disappeared into history.

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  10. OK so after a quick bit of googling I found images of "Jersey Wooly" rabbits. Words fail me.

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    1. And now google damascene goat.

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    2. BE VERY AFRAID! Is all I can say.

      I spent a year in Riyadh and there was a goat show/auction which I gamely went to. No excuses Im fascinated with the animal/plant kingdom both domestic and wild and I am very fond of goats they fascinate me.

      Its almost beyond description what these animals look like. Take a large heavy blunt instrument and whack a goats face as hard as possible, you will more or less create a Damascene goat. Now pound the nose bridge and eye sockets for extra swelling, roll up the ears and cut off the ends like a cannelloni.

      Most of them can touch their nose with the curled up lower jaw encircling the upper jaw. Its a miracle they can eat never mind bleat which they do in the most terrifyingly sad way.

      Yes there is definitely something up with humanity when we can breed animals like these and be proud.

      Its seems we can, though. In a myriad of species from goldfish to pigeons to dogs ,goats, flowers, cats there are intentional extreme forms of almost anything and a standard for everything.

      I think we forget these are living things. Not clay.

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    3. (on a word PC so I can't post from my Google Account)

      The goldfish are one of the sickest too! Breeding them to have their eyes swollen and bent spines so they can't even swim!

      Slinky

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    4. UrbanCollieChick7 May 2014 at 21:50

      River P, when you said "I think we forget these are living things. Not clay.", you took the words right out of my mouth!

      I can't tell you how I wince when I hear anyone speaking about breeding animals being like "art". Even Cats 101 on American TV had a woman who claimed to be a GENETICIST, calling cat breeding "genetic art."

      That's when you start not the slippery slope. Thankfully she was supposedly breeding a new cat that was created from a wildcat hybrid. And other breeds were mixed in. And structurally wild type, sound cats were created. Too bad this isn't how every "artwork" turns out.

      I'm generally not much for language control or being PC, but I hate the phrase!

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    5. Christ on a bike, that goat is shocking the poor thing. We breed sheep not goats but not a million miles apart, if we produced something with those deformities then we would have no choice but to put it to sleep and remove both dam and sire from breeding stock....wtf is wrong with people??

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  11. Anon, most lop breeds have brachy symptoms. I've now discovered that even the lop ear alone lends itself to increased risk of ear infections and rabbit abscesses are in esscence, fatal.

    Breeding for show is entirely a sick occupation. Horses haven't even escaped this freaky face landscaping mission!

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  12. Right, now I'm beginning to lose it. Jersey Wooly rabbits and damascene goats. I would think that anyone who undertook research on the mentality of people who produce these wicked deformities will dedicate a lifetime to it. In danger of becoming so sickened by what they see and hear their quality of life will be severely compromised. Speechless, especially the goats, what on earth has been done to their ears, it's just plain wicked, absolutely sick.

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    1. The Damascene goat is an ancient landrace. The fact that there are some obscene show versions, and that some cultures practice cruel treatments to 'improve' appearance does not have a lot to do with Western dog breeding . . . other than showing that humans have a perverse fascination with extreme appearances. That is, I doubt the people showing goats in Riyadh had the institutional equivalent of the KC and breed clubs. It would be interesting to know if they knew their animals pedigrees beyond two generations.
      Obsession with extreme type is not uniquely human: look at what has happened to some animal species through sexual selection (eg, the Irish elk's antlers, peacocks, birds of Paradise, etc.). If other species had breeding programs for their pets, we'd probably see a lot more weird creatures.

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    2. I can't find much bad with the Jersey wooly, but this Angora rabbit: http://media-cache-ec0.pinimg.com/736x/5c/e0/40/5ce040e53d0d7e18530dfa892364c49c.jpg
      And a smile to top it all of. I really wonder what's going on in the heads of people who approve of this "extreme breeding" in all animals.

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  13. *facepalm* Jersey Woolys are small angora dwarf rabbits. Just as netherland dwarfs, dwarf hotots, holland lops, are also dwarf rabbits. They also tend to be popular pets and very long lived albeit having smaller litters than similar sized normal breeds (usually 4 instead of six)- my oldest was 16 and quite a friendly character. Pretty good life for a bunny as at no point in his 16 years did he ever need or see a vet. I wouldn't cry suffering in the case of show bunnies. For the most part they can still move, breathe, and reproduce on their own without a great amount of intervention and doing more to give them quality of life is improving their plight all over.
    Rabbits as shown in the states are livestock. Breeders eat or feed their mistakes to something else, and breed a new generation with little fan fare. Keep the best, eat the rest.
    Want to gripe about something in livestock related to welfare and structure? How about belgian blue cattle, or for deliberate defects in the case of fainting goats, or turkens.

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    1. The story of the Belgian Blue Cattle is sad but thankfully they are no longer very popular so that problem is weeding itself out.

      I'm shocked that you seem to be "normalising" the deliberate shortening of the face and jaw malocclusion in rabbits however. If you have owned a rabbit yourself, you should be fully aware of how imperitive it is for their teeth to have good alignment in order to prevent spurs.

      One of my own rabbits (adopted) suffered all the way to 9 years old with his horrendous teeth - which I did not fully understand the extent of at the time. He couldn't eat hay, it affected his bowel movements and he couldn't groom. This left him in a position where he was constantly being bathed and having faeces clipped out his fur.

      He needed his teeth clipped and filed every 6 weeks and when he had molar spurs, I refused to have him put through an operation where his jaw would need to be broken to reach in and remove his back teeth.

      He was put to sleep and I can only wish I'd done it sooner.

      Pugs (back to the main point) and other dogs suffer in a similar way. Perhaps their teeth do not grow continuously but they cannot possibly chew their food correctly nor can they breathe correctly. It's just plain cruelty to allow them to reproduce.

      So are you now going to roll off a whole list of dogs with brachy faces and remind me that they are popular pets too?

      Slinky

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    2. In the UK, rabbits are the third most popular pet, but the most neglected pet. They need an inordinate amount of space for their size, which most owners are either unaware of, or unable to provide for. The Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund's (RWAF) campaign is 'a hutch is not enough'. Owners need to think of the space and exercise requirements akin to that of a small dog, rather than the small pet they assume they're dealing with, i.e. a shed and large run, rather than a hutch. As a comparison, wild rabbits would cover the size of two fields in a day; this is in stark contrast to being stuck in a 4ft hutch at the bottom of the garden, which is the sad fate of so many pet rabbits.

      The problem with showing rabbits, is that they frequently don't get the space and exercise requirements necessary to their health and welfare. The more rabbits people own - e.g. when showing them - the less likely they are to provide this kind of space. They also don't like their rabbits to get dirty hocks, which also limits where they're allowed to exercise.

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  14. Blogger M 354, it doesn't matter what the species is, it is the mentality of the people who perpetrate such deformity, exaggeration, cruelty. We are not focusing on rabbits to be horrible about them, it is the malpractice associated thereto. As in dogs, sheep, horses, cows, fish, cats etc etc etc. It is not the species for avoidance of doubt, IT IS THE HUMAN INPUT WHO THINK IT IS OK TO DEFORM A SPECIES IN ORDER TO FULFIL THAT HUMAN'S SHORTCOMINGS, MENTAL PROBLEMS, SADNESS. What is the difference between somebody deliberately tying up and torturing a dog which is illegal and has legal consequences? What is the difference? What I see and hear is cruelty by way of "acceptable practice in a show/exhibition world in pursuit of "breed standard" exaggeration". That is a real problem because it seems to be on the increase across species. When will it begin with the human species? Will we accept that some dangerously odd person decides that they will cripple their own children because they "like the look of it"? And so it goes on..... Dogs are my particular passion, they give, I take, I love them dearly, they accept my silliness, and like a lioness protecting her cub I want it to stop and people to understand exactly what they are doing. In dogs we have the The KC and they have the power to stop it, and at some point they will begin to understand the unacceptable extremes are not breed standards but deformities. Don't be angry with us, just look at what you see and see if you really like it and would be happy to live your own life with such a condition.

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    1. The ancient Chinese practise of foot binding comes to mind.

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    2. River P, yes you are of course right, and the people in poor countries who do damage their children for begging purposes. Tragic, but it does underline the insane practices human beings will undertake in the pursuit of what they believe is "perfection" in the Chinese example, and the extremes people are driven to survive. I see Blogger M is justifying the rabbit line, he/she is missing the point. We all accept pure/pedigree breeding is breeding to a type either for a purpose (hunting,gundogs) or companion toy breed. I don't have a problem with that provided that the dog produced is able to be what it is, a dog, and feel the same about all species. A cat that cannot clean itself is shocking. They are meticulous creatures and to be consumed by hair that they ingest, eyes that are sore, bottoms that are clogged up must be real torture for them, and the same can apply to rabbits. Rabbits are a prey species I believe and it is imperative to them I would have thought to leave as little scent around as possible otherwise their lives come to a swift end in the wild. In captivity their natural instincts will still be on high alert so it must be stressful for them to thus. And so it goes on and on and on. People who share M's ethos on what can be done to another species makes me really despair about the human condition.

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  15. Since we're on the topic of "freak breeds" of other animals, has anyone here seen the Feather duster budgie? A lot like the coat of a peke or persian, or angora rabbit for that matter.
    That poor thing can certainly not function as a normal bird.

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    1. To be fair, feather duster budgies are a lethal mutation that occurs by accident in show budgies. The birds don't survive long because they just can't sustain the energy requirements of that feather growth. No one aims to breed feather dusters. Although, that said, it is telling that feather dusters only occur in show type budgies (selectively bread for size, width of head, style of plumage etc) and never in pet-type budgies.

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    2. Show budgies (English budgies) are a sad mess. They don't live as long or fly as well and have all sorts of problems, slow to breed and mature, don't communicate as well with the world, generaly not such good doers. It's strange because ordinary budgies are so very cute and delightful. Diminutive social parrots packed with energy and personality.

      If they were naturaly big they would try and breed minis of course and etc.

      This is happening with agapornis over the last few years they have managed to breed a large size one with fat scaly feet......the "standard" show agapornis is almost complete. Before the show agapornis was the same size more or less as the wild form.

      For some reason we need to tinker. It happens all the time.

      I read a comment from a judge in a e-zine and he was saying just think what they will be able to achieve with the agapornis (like it wasnt already perfect) he seems to think very soon there will be a "Kuif" variety one that has an Elvis hairdo.

      I lived in Brussels and they had a show just for pet birds... things you do on a rainy weekend but it facinated me all the colours and breeds of domestic pet birds in a big hall!

      The blue grey and white frilly backed pigeons took my fancy (blush) looked like something straight out of a Henri Matisse painting. Very ornamental. Like the Borzoi which is one of the most ornamantal dogs in the world, luckily with few problems, a marvelous creation.

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  16. The burden of proof is on you guys. No one is going to say a holland lop is less healthy than a mini lop or that a polish/britannia petite is more healthy than a netherland dwarf who actually knows anything. Because there is no proof that at least in the case of rabbits it causes any major changes in the rabbit's ability to be a rabbit. To live their life in good health, move freely, have natural functions, and live without pain. One can say that evidence exists overwhelmingly in dogs which is why I take someone to task when they start crying foul because if it one it must mean the other too.
    You are right in that tooth alignment is important but what you're wrong about is that the solution has anything to do with dwarf rabbits not being bred as malocclusion can happen in any rabbit and the only acceptable bite in bunnies is a normal one which is different from dogs. It has everything to do with selection, the willingness to cull and social acceptance that one person's pet rabbit is another person's meal.
    I have been in probably a hundred rabbitries over the years and dealt with everything from the guy who didn't believe in cages, to the commercial grower producing several hundred rabbits a week for slaughter and yes even the pet home. I can tell you the rules you wish to apply between species based upon standards in dogs is a load of utter nonsense based on magical thinking.

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    1. I'm sorry M, if you are trying to say that breeding any species of animal to make it's head larger and it's face flatter will not affect it's dentition, then that just won't sit with me. Any sensible person, never mind reasonable vet will agree with me. If you're looking for articles on this for "proof" then take about two minutes on Google and you'll find countless articles just like this one:

      http://therabbitadvocate.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/health-special-malocclusion-in-rabbits.html

      Did you look at the Damascene Goats or the budgies that we mentioned?

      I feel I speak for the majority here when I say that this blog is really about damage control. We want to see things changed BEFORE it's too late for the animals.

      Also, try to remember that deformation doesn't always shorten the lifespan of an organism. So even if what you're saying about your rabbit living to 16 is in fact true, as it never saw a vet in it's existence, you have no evidence that it was not actually living in any kind of discomfort.

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  17. Why not simply make the deliberate breeding of any brachycephalic animal illegal? Dogs or any other species. The Germans have a word for it - qualzucht (torture breeding)

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    1. I'm reminded of the Dr. Seus book, "If I Ran the Circus". While we're at it, lets also ban stiletto heels . . . another cruel and crippling deformity.

      Sometimes the most obvious 'cruelty' is not the worst cruelty. What of dogs with skin problems, who itch their whole lives? Or giant breeds, whose skeletons aren't up to their body mass and who suffer horrible arthritis, as well as cruciate tears, and who, on average, don't make it past six or seven years? Or a highly social animals who is kept alone on a chain or in a cage pretty much all the time. I don't know which suffers most. But I'm not ready to jump to the conclusion that it is the brachy breed.

      btw 'mother' Nature has created some pretty absurd deformities through sexual selection. The Irish elk is said to have gone extinct, in part, due to its oversized antlers. Look at lyre birds or birds of Paradise, or peacocks.

      Slow though it is, I think education is the best counter to cruel practices.

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    2. Most westies suffer miserable lives due to their skin , & the eye issues , ear infections , joint disorders , digestive problems. They are one of the most popular breeds & many spend their lives in the vet for one thing or another , or the unlucky ones never see a vet because " its just a bit itchy , or its eyes are a bit gooey or its ears are a bit runny. or it just walks a bit funny. no need to spend money on it.

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    3. Banning human activities in this regard tends to be the response of a punitive society. Education is the key and it would be impossible to measure which animal suffers most with their various physical deformities and diseases that we have inflicted upon them due to our selfish and pretty abhorrent breeding practices over the years. However, the basic anatomical and physiological function of being allowed to breathe normally and able to regulate body temperature should be a basic animal right surely? We breathe every second of every day........deliberately breeding to enable that discomfort is pathologically insane. It's no coincidence that one vet has come out in favour of banning brachycephalic breeds.

      For education to be effective, it has to be undertaken at a grass root level. In schools. Similar to conservation in developing countries where children are educated about the problems with poaching and hunting endangered species. The generation that continues to torture breed seems to be so entrenched with their current practices to be beyond help. And I really do mean that they need help. They're mentally unwell. You can not purport to love something that you breed to endure pain and suffering. Banning this activity would seem sensible given the mentality of the people who continue to do it.

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  18. Banning some brachycephalic dog breeds could happen in the EU, where a precedent has already been set with the banning of the importation of some goldfish breeds on the grounds of welfare issues. Compressed brachy like fish whose eyes pop out of their heads, can't swim properly or see sometimes not at all e.t.c.

    Already some airlines in the EU, America and Asia have banned brachycephalic dogs from flying, some with restrictions others completely.

    This is an over reaction in my view. Obviously some can travel perfectly well if they are functional. Unfortunately some airlines like Cathay pacific for example taking their lead from other airways then went and banned them outright which means many have to now suffer longer broken trips to reach their destinations on other airlines with often lower safety records for animal cargo.

    I don't think there should be a full on banning of these breeds by governments either but ideally kennel Clubs should ban them being shown until such a time as they are properly improved.

    However given the lack of any real response as seen on this blog by some of these clubs I don't see why the EU for example shouldn't step in giving a timeline for breeders to put their house in order or it's tickets.

    If they want to keep these breeds they will be forced to change them for the better.

    Education does takes time but it will have the most profound affect, with "pedigree dogs exposed" this has in fact already had a great effect.

    I would hate for any living dogs to suffer as a result of any measures or discrimination that would be dreadful.



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    1. I can understand why airlines ban them though; they're covering their arses. If brachy dogs have a higher chance of suffering on flights, or even dying, they don't want to have to deal with that, or with upset owners whining, its damage limitation. Or maybe they just implement it genuinely for the welfare of the animals?

      Banning anything outright that people have previously had free access to will always cause problems, it can't not. There will always be people protesting, and there will likely be negative ramifications for the dogs involved too. But will those negative ramifications be any worse than continuing to breed suffering dogs for the next 100 years?
      And there is also the issue of how would one enforce such a ban? Would they be coming to your house with rulers to measure your dogs nose and take it away if it is 'too flat'? Banning pit bulls in my country has done nothing for the welfare of that breed: people still breed them, but they do so in an unmonitored, unregulated, uncontrolled way, under the radar.
      If people wanna do something badly enough, they'll do it regardless of the law, and I can't see any money being put toward policing a ban on brachy dogs. People still illegally dock tails, even though thats been banned here for years.

      So really, no, I agree a ban would be at best ineffective, at worst, damaging to dogs.

      But something does need to be done. And Im not sure what it is, because people who love their brachy breeds have their heads firmly planted in the sand about it all, and see any naysayers as 'animal rights extremists' (lol, as if) So I think its the public's mindset that has to change, which will happen eventually with the right education and exposure to the truth.
      I already know more people now who are aware of the issues of brachy dogs that weren't 5 years ago. We're slowly moving in the right direction, but it often seems its 3 steps forward, and 2 back. For every exposure we see on the welfare issues with brachy breeds, there'll be another advert or cushion cover or greeting's card with a pug on to promote them :/

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    2. More dogs will die if the only way they can travel is on dodgy airlines. Hopefully, if more airlines in the USA start to ban them, owning a brachy dog may become too much hassle, and people will think twice before doing so. It won't be campaigns or education that ultimately help these dogs, but convenience.

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  19. Celebrating "push-back" in dogs or cats is atrocious. Some white tigers get "push-back," too, because they are an inbred color morph of the Bengal tiger. Only there, it is not lauded as some breed standard, but rather is recognized as the birth defect it is.

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  20. UrbanCollieChick7 May 2014 at 21:42

    God! That poor cat!

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  21. When i was a kid, the vet had some of those sad eyed cat and sad eyed dog paintings hung up in his lobby. I recognized them as spoofs on the sad eyed child paintings which were popularly sold at flea markets and swap meets. These were often painted on a velvet 'canvas', Elvis and Jesus were the most common subjects of velvet painting - and you can still find fresh Elvis paintings being sold, I guess it goes with the velvet theme or something. The sad eyed girl and boy, and sad eyed dog and cat painting were quite popular for awhile. I guess some people like looking at sad faces.

    The sad eyed kitty was really quite pathetic, half starved, begging, but like a beggar begging out of nearly hopeless habit, not expecting anything but death. I have never understood why some people love those paintings, it bothers me to look at them. How can I rescue a sad animal who is only a painting? It bothers me to look at them. But I guess a lot of people love them because the artists paint what sells, and the swap meets fill a niche that regular art doesn't.

    Maybe sad eyed art fans could volunteer to be put in a cat scan while looking at sad eyed paintings, and then compared to people who buy beautiful paintings. Wonder what Pug lovers feel when they look at Pugs vs what Siberian Husky lovers feel when they look at a Husky?

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