Especially for Australian vets... a workshop in November 2015 in New South Wales (download pdf here) to help you earn more money from your clients who have been stupid enough to have bought a Bulldog or other brachy breed in need of surgery (i.e. loads of 'em).
Here's the schedule:
Cost? $2400 Australian Dollars. But don't worry.
Big business Bulldogs. The pups sell for between £1000 - £2500, sometimes more. They are terrifyingly expensive to insure because they are at such a high risk of health problems. Vets make a small fortune out of them - and as we can see, those who teach vets do all right, too.
It helps promote a conspiracy of silence.
Stuck in the middle of it all, meanwhile, is the poor lumbering, gasping, short-lived dog.
Here's one that was made earlier - currently being used by the Kennel Club to - ta-daaa - promote responsible breeding.
Check it out on Facebook here.
Never does a saying fit so well for vets. "If we cannot beat them, so lets just join them"earning a packet in the meantime.As time goes by vets for the most part disgust me. Sorry, just telling it as I see it. Pulling hair out in frustration.
ReplyDeleteWell they're stuck between the devil and the deep-blue sea in this instance. It wasn't vets that made the problem - and these dogs do often need treating. And it's good that they're being taught how to do it well. But, boy, if ONLY they would speak out more. In truth, every vet I know would love to treat fewer of these dogs. They do feel their pain.
DeleteI agree that it is not vets that created the problem, but when treating dogs and counselling their owners they really should be required to brief owners about the realities of choosing to buy and care for these types of dogs and what the consequences are on the animal's welfare. It should be part of the treatment plan to my mind. Dogs generally don't enjoy veterinary surgery either...so all in all it's hardly an improvement in treating the cause. It's just sticking plaster and more misery - it defies all logic really. But pragmatism is the only sane choice. If they chose not to treat a dog on principle, how do you live with yourself?
DeleteI would agree with you Jemima, that these poor dogs need help and you cannot not treat them, but if we saw vet seminars about how to educate the public on why not to support breeding of dogs like this and how being like the above dogs makes them suffer I would not be so disgusted, but unfortunately telling people the truth, making them feel a pang of guilt about buying in to such cruelty, does not bring income in a veterinary surgery, so vets are now part of the problem.
DeleteVets are creating an enviroment for more and more dogs to be bred like this, because rather than stand up and say stop breeding dogs like this it is cruel, the message they are putting out above is a vet can earn a tidy income from these dogs and to the public,any problems with your dog, for a small fortune we can do something for him/her, so don't worry.
Of course you have to treat a dog when it is suffering, but to allow that suffering to perpetuate from generation to generation and be silent disgusts me.
The silence of conspiracy also reinforces the warped ideology that continues to exist with these people who are determined to own deformed and diseased dogs.
ReplyDelete'Ooh! I have got to get me one of them! They are expensive, exclusive and they look sooooooooooo cute. I will look so cool with a dog like that and everyone will know I am rich (stupid) enough to afford one. Let's create a Bulldog cult that only special people who 'understand' this dog breed can be a member of...'
No. Extreme brachpcephalic dogs are deformed, diseased and face insidious suffering caused by your warped perspective of canid cutism. They look like the canid equivalent of a person who has had their face smashed in, had some bad reconstructive surgery to try to fix it and lost twice their body weight in the process leaving loads of wrinkles and loose skin, along with the skin diseases that unfortunate mess entails. That look cute to you? It's a mess of a dog.
The Vets are being pragmatic and exploiting the 'market'. People have always done that and always will. However, where is your ethics and morality so called professional vets? You are directly contributing to the problem not helping fix the cause.
And just to save you typing, I don't hate Bulldogs or any other type of dog. I just don't support the mentality of the pedigree dog breeding world, particularly those people who make money on the back of selecting dogs for deformity and disease. The people who wrote breed standards ‘back in the day’ were neither scientists nor biologists. They have subsequently been misinterpreted and 'adapted' by people who badly need educating in canid anatomy, physiology, population genetics and moral and animal welfare. But can you actually teach the latter and where is their empathy?
Oh geez. I used to joke about specialising in Bulldogs and making lots of money.
ReplyDeleteStill do, actually - if clients can't understand that these dogs are suffering horribly because of their appearance, then maybe I can get through to them from a financial angle. Funny how some people seem to be more concerned with their money than their morals.
Unfortunately pretty much no-one asks veterinary advice *before* buying a puppy or breeding their dog - all we can do is try to help the people and dogs in front of us. What am I supposed to do when someone rings me up wanting a caesarian section on their Bulldog bitch, or wondering why their Pug can't walk for very long?
Tell them why they shouldn't be breeding the dog. Explain about the health problems and the fact that you now have to do a C section because the dog cannot give birth naturally. Explain why this is a bad thing. Do the surgery but ask them to be responsible and not breed the dog again (unless they're outcrossing to a breed with a smaller head and a longer snout - then it might be possible for the bitch to give birth naturally and for the offspring to have functioning noses and muzzles).
DeleteUtilize their conscience. Sometimes it seems like some people don't have one, but usually it's because they've never stopped to consider anyone but their own wellbeing. If you explain WHY the dog is suffering and HOW the dog is suffering I'm sure you'll get through.
Good luck.