ohmidog!

The Kennel Club in Great Britain — under fire for perpetuating breed standards and practices that critics say endanger the health of purebred dogs — announced yesterday that it will introduce strict new rules, including a ban on the breeding of close relatives.

The breed standards have been revised so that they will not include “anything that could in any way be interpreted as encouraging features that might prevent a dog from breathing, walking and seeing freely,” the Kennel Club said in a press release.

The club approved bans on mating father with daughter, mother to son and brother to sister, traditionally practiced by breeders to accentuate certain “desirable” physical characteristics.

“This will help to prevent the practice of exaggeration, where features that are perceived to be desirable, such as a short muzzle or loose skin, are made more prominent by breeders, and which can have detrimental effects on a dog’s health.”

The changes come on the heels of a BBC documentary last year, Pedigree Dogs Exposed, that claimed some of the Kennel Club’s standards encouraged dog owners to breed unhealthy dogs. The BBC — after the Kennel Club declined to comply with the networks demands that 14 “at risk” breds be excluded – announced it would no longer air the club’s Crufts Dog Show, leaving the event, in March, untelevised for the first time in 40 years.

The Kennel Club denied suggestions that the new guidelines were  a result of the BBC decision to suspend coverage of Crufts.

After the documentary, which claimed that decades of inbreeding has caused epilepsy and cancer among some show dogs, both the RSPCA and Pedigree, the shows main sponsor, withdrew their support.

Last week, PETA called upon the USA Network to follow BBC’s lead and decline to air the Westminster Dog Show.