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Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

theguardian.com

21–30 of 264 posts

Re: Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

#21

Vast majority of purebreds have some serious generic issues. I'm hoping that we as a society will solve this whole situation soon. There is a BBC documentary on this https://vimeo.com/17558275

Totally agree! The only counter argument I've heard ist that purebreds also have predictably the same character traits, which is important if the dog has to fulfill a job. But to private owners health and longevity should matter more.

Re: Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

#22

Vast majority of purebreds have some serious generic issues. I'm hoping that we as a society will solve this whole situation soon. There is a BBC documentary on this https://vimeo.com/17558275

Whats the solution here?

Eliminate purebreds. Can you imagine we did the same with humans? Selecting for only one characteristic is a recipe for genetic disaster.

Re: Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

#23
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whats the solution here?

Maybe: we stop using terms like 'purebreed' and 'mongrel'. Or reclaim 'mongrel' I like the term 'natural dog'. "I'd like a medium sized natural dog with a long coat because it's cold here."

Start calling purebreds "GMO dogs" instead.

Re: Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

#24
post #19

Vast majority of purebreds have some serious generic issues. I'm hoping that we as a society will solve this whole situation soon. There is a BBC documentary on this https://vimeo.com/17558275

Suppose there was a breed of, say, monkey, that was popular as a household pet. They were considered to be quite clever and could be trained, over some years, to use a toilet, fetch things from the fridge, even manage primitive forms of communication. The only problem is that they're a genetic trainwreck. They've got a pronounced, gourd-like head with a snout so compact that it's common to have to surgically remove s…

Well, when the monkey gets older it can use tools to defend itself, as well as keep itself alive. However, I would perhaps suggest teaching it abstinence, sterlilisation if it has one of the particularly debilitating genetic diseases

Re: Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

#25
post #19

Vast majority of purebreds have some serious generic issues. I'm hoping that we as a society will solve this whole situation soon. There is a BBC documentary on this https://vimeo.com/17558275

Suppose there was a breed of, say, monkey, that was popular as a household pet. They were considered to be quite clever and could be trained, over some years, to use a toilet, fetch things from the fridge, even manage primitive forms of communication. The only problem is that they're a genetic trainwreck. They've got a pronounced, gourd-like head with a snout so compact that it's common to have to surgically remove s…

Humans are apes not monkeys.

What if you sister called and said there was a safe, cheap and effective way to remove, say, the myopia from her spawn (in the case of dogs, stop inbreeding, in the case of humans, currently imaginary)? Would you tell her not to do it?

Re: Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

#26
post #19

Vast majority of purebreds have some serious generic issues. I'm hoping that we as a society will solve this whole situation soon. There is a BBC documentary on this https://vimeo.com/17558275

Suppose there was a breed of, say, monkey, that was popular as a household pet. They were considered to be quite clever and could be trained, over some years, to use a toilet, fetch things from the fridge, even manage primitive forms of communication. The only problem is that they're a genetic trainwreck. They've got a pronounced, gourd-like head with a snout so compact that it's common to have to surgically remove s…

[deleted]

Re: Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

#27
post #19

Vast majority of purebreds have some serious generic issues. I'm hoping that we as a society will solve this whole situation soon. There is a BBC documentary on this https://vimeo.com/17558275

Suppose there was a breed of, say, monkey, that was popular as a household pet. They were considered to be quite clever and could be trained, over some years, to use a toilet, fetch things from the fridge, even manage primitive forms of communication. The only problem is that they're a genetic trainwreck. They've got a pronounced, gourd-like head with a snout so compact that it's common to have to surgically remove s…

I've had good success with telling people about how the industry works. These people probably like dogs (which is why they are getting them) and showing them that dogs suffer quite a bit due to their choices can be convincing.

Re: Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

#28
There was a great video I saw about how "purebred" dogs are essentially a cesspool of genetic disorders, and how we need to start taking active steps to bring back genetic diversity in our dogs. It was eye opening to see that the pedigrees we put on a pedestal are actually putting our dogs through a host of abnormalities and health complications.

https://youtu.be/aCv10_WvGxo

Re: Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

#29
post #19

Vast majority of purebreds have some serious generic issues. I'm hoping that we as a society will solve this whole situation soon. There is a BBC documentary on this https://vimeo.com/17558275

Suppose there was a breed of, say, monkey, that was popular as a household pet. They were considered to be quite clever and could be trained, over some years, to use a toilet, fetch things from the fridge, even manage primitive forms of communication. The only problem is that they're a genetic trainwreck. They've got a pronounced, gourd-like head with a snout so compact that it's common to have to surgically remove s…

https://xkcd.com/1650/

But comparing humans to dogs in that matter is kind of ridiculous. This is more like if your sister called and said "I just read about chinese foot binding, and I think it's a great idea so I'm going to do it to my children!" That's basically what people who only accept dogs who have debilitatingly short snouts, etc. are doing.

Re: Pugs are anatomical disasters. Vets must speak out–even if it’s bad for business

#30
post #19

Vast majority of purebreds have some serious generic issues. I'm hoping that we as a society will solve this whole situation soon. There is a BBC documentary on this https://vimeo.com/17558275

Suppose there was a breed of, say, monkey, that was popular as a household pet. They were considered to be quite clever and could be trained, over some years, to use a toilet, fetch things from the fridge, even manage primitive forms of communication. The only problem is that they're a genetic trainwreck. They've got a pronounced, gourd-like head with a snout so compact that it's common to have to surgically remove s…

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