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After first defending the practices of its members, Britain’s Kennel Club has announced that every pedigree breed in the United Kingdom will be reviewed to make sure that pressures to produce perfect show dogs don’t contribute to widespread genetic diseases.

The turnaround comes after a public outcry that followed a BBC documentary claiming the breeding process for pedigree dogs has resulted in a high incidence of inherited genetic disease.

A breed health plan will be coordinated for some 200 pedigree breeds, and dog show judges will be briefed on the new breed standards so healthy dogs are rewarded in the ring, the Kennel Club announced.

The BBC documentary, “Pedigree Dogs Exposed,” spotlighted several breeds in which breeders have, through inbreeding, emphasized physical traits over the health of the animals, leading to problems that include cancer, epilepsy, heart disease and difficulty breathing

The Kennel Club released the first of a new set of breeding standards today — for Pekingese dogs, which critics say have bred to have increasingly flatter faces, which has led to breathing problems.

Health plans for all 200 or so breeds are to be completed by early next year.

“We have been listening and agree with the general public’s view that more needs to be done,” said Kennel Club Secretary Caroline Kisko. She said public attention helped the club “drive through, with added urgency, new and extended initiatives that will help to safeguard the health of our pedigree dogs.”

“We have been working hard in recent years to identify and address health problems that exist in dogs, and we are taking advantage of the opportunities that advances in science have given us to improve dog health. We look forward to continuing our work with various institutions and organisations that share the same objective: to protect the health and welfare of all dogs,” she said.”

The Kennel Club initially defended breeders, after the BBC report, and filed a complaint about the documentary. Animal welfare organizations, however, echoed the concerns raised in the documentary, and several, including the Dogs Trust, RSPCA and National Dog Wardens Association announced they were pulling out of the country’s largest dog show, Crufts.

Jemima Harrison of Passionate Productions, makers of the “Pedigree Dogs Exposed” documentary, said she was “delighted” with the new initiatives. “…The real winners are the dogs. Getting a better deal for them was always the film’s primary objective.

She questioned, however, whether the intitiatives go far enough.

“I am very disappointed that the Kennel Club has not acted immediately to ban the mating of first-degree relatives but, for the first time, there is mention of the importance of genetic diversity, which is hugely encouraging. There are going to be howls of protest from some breed clubs and it remains to be seen how much genuine change will result.”

No Paws Left Behind, an animal welfare group in Houston, has launched a drive to raise money to bury or build a memorial to Bob Emery, the Florida hurricane relief worker who was killed trying to rescue three dogs from a Houston freeway.

Meanwhile, the Houston Chronicle reported that the owners of the three dogs Emery was trying to rescue say they are grateful for his efforts.

“You just don’t meet people with hearts like that,” said the dogs’ owner, who the Chronicle identified only as Jackie.

Robert “Bob” Emery, 54, was killed the night of Sept. 27 when he was struck by a motorcycle as he tried to reach the three dogs, huddled on the East Freeway median. The dogs were later rescued by animal control officers.

Emery’s death has rallied animal lovers, who have vowed that Emery — who lived alone in a trailer in Florida until he was recently evicted – won’t be buried as a pauper, even if his family is never located, the Chronicle reported.

Emery had traveled to Texas as part of a crew of about a dozen men from Florida wanted to help in the hurricane relief efforts and make some money.

Jackie said she and her husband are senior citizens and lifelong animal lovers who took in two of the dogs after finding them abandoned as puppies in a Houston park. The third dog was also a young stray they had adopted.

The three dogs had escaped from their yard about two days before the accident.

By Wednesday, she had picked them from the city kennel. Two of the dogs, Honey and Nicky, were fine, but Sweetie, a reddish retriever mix had a badly mangled paw and is hardly able to walk.

The Houston nonprofit group, No Paws Left Behind, has been taking up a collection to hold a funeral or otherwise memorialize Emery. For information on how to contribute, click here.