ohmidog!

PETA sent a letter to the president of USA Network today, urging the network to cease showing the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, sponsored by the American Kennel Club.

The letter requested that USA Network follow the lead of the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), which announced last month that it will no longer televise Britain’s Crufts dog show because of harmful breed standard policies. The action followed a BBC special report on how breed standards have created health problems in many purebred breeds.

The standards of the British Kennel Club and the AKC are almost identical, PETA said.

“The AKC has failed to help reduce the debilitating health problems that plague purebreds. Furthermore, it specifically encourages painful mutilations such as ear-cropping and tail-docking. Dog breeders routinely perform these cruel procedures, which can lead to infection, and often use genetic manipulation or inbreeding to achieve certain “desired” breed standards,” a PETA press release said.

PETA also said purebred breeding adds to the nearly 8 million animals in shelters every year – many of them purebreds –about half of which are euthanized.

“Countless dogs suffer painful cosmetic surgeries and millions of wonderful dogs die in animal shelters because of the AKC’s inhumane policies,” says PETA Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “USA Network can take a stand against the cruel treatment of animals simply by denying air time to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.”

For the first time in more than 40 years, the BBC will not televise Britain’s biggest dog show.

BBC officials said Friday that the network had suspended coverage of the 2009 Crufts show “pending further investigations into the health and well-being of pedigree dogs in the U.K.”

Crufts organizers accused the BBC of making “unreasonable demands” that it exclude certain breeds of dog from the show.

The Kennel Club, the show’s organizer, and the BBC have been at odds since September when the BBC aired a documentary claiming decades of inbreeding had led to serious health problems in some pedigree dogs.

The show will take place as scheduled in March, but, because Crufts organizers would not comply with the BBC’s request for particular breeds to be excluded from the show, it won’t be shown on BBC.

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After 44 years as a supporter and backer of the Crufts dog show in Britain, the Pedigree pet food company has withdrawn its sponsorship, according to a United Press International report.

A statement from Pedigree’s parent company, Mars UK, said Pedigree would no longer offer nearly $2.4 million in funding to the annual dog show, whose future is now in doubt amidst allegations of animal mistreatment.

Allegations that the prestigious dog show promotes breeding techniques that lead to disease and deformity in purebred dogs were brought to light in a BBC documentary earlier this year. Subsequently, several animal welfare groups and others have opted to to withdraw support and decline to participate in the upcoming show, which is sponsored by Britain’s Kennel Club.

“After careful consideration, Pedigree has decided to withdraw its sponsorship of Crufts,” the company said. “The Pedigree brand has evolved and we are prioritizing initiatives that support the broadest possible community of dog owners such as our successful program the Pedigree Adoption Drive, and our online service for breeders, pedigreedirect.co.uk.”

When a British kennel operator found a visiting border collie dead, she panicked, buried his carcass in a nearby field and called his owner to say the dog had run away.

Jessica Valpied, 24, owner of 24-7 Petcare in Guernsey, apparently feared the death of a client’s dog would ruin her business and reputation: She won the National Pet sitter of the Year Award at Crufts in 2006.

Valpied was fined £400 by magistrates — an outrageously light punishment according to the dog’s owner, Michael Van den Bossche, who left the dog at the kennel when he went on a vacation in France.

Valpied reported the ‘missing’ pet to the Guernsey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and even orchestrated a high-profile publicity campaign to find him. She swore her employees to secrecy, and told them to pretend to search for the dog by walking around the area, calling the animal’s name, and whistling for it, according to an article in The Telegraph.

Van den Bossche, 45, who specializes in obesity surgery, also put up posters, made appeals on the radio, and placed an advertisement in a local newspaper.

But Valpied’s deception was uncovered when two junior members of her staff told their parents, who contacted police. The dog was apparently killed at the kennel by two other dogs who entered his pen.

Valpied said she claimed the dog, named Arte, had run away because she did not want her staff to get into trouble or for the killer dogs to be put down.

“It was a cruel and evil thing to do,” said Van den Bossche. “”This sort of thing should never happen again. We have been told lies and stories have been concocted. To lie to that extent is just awful.”

Valpied was awarded the Crufts honour in 2006 by beating 2,600 entrants who provide sitting, feeding, grooming and walking services for dogs and other pets.

Her website reads, in part: “The welfare of animals is always paramount in my life and goes far beyond the boundaries of business.”

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.”

Don’t look now, old chap, but England seems to be getting quite ahead of us in terms of progressive dog thinking.

For starters, they’re taking a hard and long-needed look at the questionable practices some breeders of show dogs use to meet arbitrary “ideals” of appearance. The Kennel Club and its big show, Crufts, have been put under the spotlight for breeding animals in a way that compromises not just the health of individual animals, but the future health of entire breeds.

Now comes news that Sainsbury’s, a renowned bank and insurance company, is offering insurance for dogs affected by what it calls “Master Separation Syndrome” — a behavioral disorder brought on by a pet’s owners splitting up.

Sainsbury’s estimates that over 60,000 cats and dogs in Britain could suffer from “Master Separation Syndrome,” and it offers a policy that pays benefits of up to £1,000 per condition for treatments and £250 a year for damage brought on by such behavioral problems.

Over the past year, Sainsbury’s Pet Insurance says it has seen a 28% increase in the number of claims linked to behavioral problems, and the company believes that Master Separation Syndrome is one of the reasons. 

“If a couple separating have pets, their animals can also suffer from the anguish and stress caused by the breakdown,” said Neal Devine, Sainsbury’s pet insurance manager. “Cats and dogs can be very susceptible to their owner’s feelings and if they sense they are unhappy they can easily become agitated and depressed.”

“Also,” he adds, “if you suddenly become reliant on one income to look after a pet the need for pet insurance will usually be greater as it will help you to cope more easily with any large unexpected vet bills.”

England’s Kennel Club, sponsors of the prestigious dog show Crufts — viewed as oh-so-Britishly proper for 122 years — is facing mounting criticism for sacrificing the health of certain dog breeds for the sake of “beauty.”

Last week the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals severed its links with Crufts after a BBC documentary revealed how  dogs had won prizes at Crufts despite suffering serious health problems due to inbreeding.

After that, the Government warned that it was considering forcing commercial breeders to begin “programmes aimed at the eventual eradication of traits that cause unnecessary suffering in dogs.”

And the Dogs Trust, Britain’s largest dog charity, has  withdrawn support for Crufts in protest of breeding techniques.

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    Roy Hattersley sang the praises of mutts this week, as controversy continued to simmer over purebred breeding practices and dog shows that put a higher premium on “beauty” and “conformation” than they do on canine health.
    This week saw the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals pull out of Crufts, the world’s largest dog show, due to concerns about health problems in pedigree dogs and the role Crufts plays in perpetuating those problems.
    Meanwhile, the Kennel Club filed a complaint against the BBC, calling the documentary that led in part to the RSPCA withdrawal, unfair.
    The multi-part report, “Pedigree Dogs Exposed” looked at the health problems experienced by certain breeds as a result of breeders striving to accentuate certain physical traits.

The documentary featured boxers with epilepsy, pugs with breathing problems and bulldogs that were unable to mate and — because of breeders striving for broader heads in the breed — unable to be born without Caesarian section.

A preview of the program can be found here. The entire series can be found on YouTube.

Here’s some of what Hattersley — politician, author, journalist and former member of Parliament — wrote:

“It is barbarous to breed a dog with a brain too big for its skull just to make it look right when it is walked around the competition ring. But the idea of breeding the perfect specimen is wrong in itself. Dogs should be loved as dogs, whatever their shape and size.

“Dogs were made to be friends not exhibits, status symbols or “positional goods” that demonstrate their owner’s aesthetic sensibilities, status, income or fastidious good taste. I am for mongrels because they proclaim the glory of just being dogs - not heads set at the right angles, legs of the proper length or ears suitably pricked. Mongrels are the essence of dog - dog as a virtue in itself … I believe that being a dog is - or ought to be - enough.

Hattersley is the author of many books, including “Buster’s Diaries,” in which his dog Buster defends  killing a goose in one of London’s royal Parks. In 1996 Hattersley was was fined in connection with the goose death.

His full essay can be found in the London Times.

Yesterday, we re-reported here that the BBC was considering stepping away from its traditional broadcast of the Crufts dog show.

Now comes news that The Kennel Club in Great Britain, which sponsors the dog show,  is lodging a complaint with TV regulator Ofcom over the BBC documentary earlier this year about health problems in pedigree dogs.

The documentary claimed the breeding process of pedigree dogs resulted in a high level of genetic illness, but unhealthy dogs were still able to compete in shows and had gone on to win “best in breed”.

The Kennel Club said it was lodging the complaint over the “unfair treatment and editing and failure to fairly and properly reflect the Kennel Club’s deep commitment to the health and and welfare of dogs and responsible dog ownership despite being made aware in detail of those efforts in advance of broadcast”.

The move comes the day after the RSPCA said it was pulling out of Crufts over concerns about the welfare of pedigree dogs.

Crufts, the UK’s most prestigious and popular dog show, is taking some heat as it prepares for its 118th annual show next spring.

Yesterday, the RSPCA, which has long operated booths at Crufts, announced it was pulling out of the show because of concerns that the show is contributing to thousands of pedigree dogs suffering from genetic defects, purposefully bred into them in the name of looks.

And the BBC, which has broadcast the show for 40 years, is also thought to be on the verge of deciding whether to halt its coverage.

The RSPCA’s decision to relinquish its stand at Crufts in March next year follows a BBC documentary, broadcast last month, that highlighted breeding practices that result in unhealthy genetic side-effects.

Chief veterinary adviser for the RSPCA, Mark Evans, called for a shift in emphasis away from looks and towards health, welfare and temperament.

“Dog shows using current breed standards as the main judging criteria actively encourage both the intentional breeding of deformed and disabled dogs and the inbreeding of closely related animals,” he said. “From a dog health and welfare perspective, such shows are fundamentally flawed and do our much-loved pedigree dogs no favors. Intentionally breeding deformed and disabled animals is morally unjustifiable and has to stop.”

The BBC program, “Pedigree Dogs Exposed,” featured boxers with epilepsy, pugs with breathing problems and bulldogs that were unable to mate.

Mike Flynn, chief superintendent of the SSPCA, said hundreds of Scottish owners had called the organization after the program featured a Cavalier King Charles spaniel with syringomylia – a breeding-related condition where the brain is pushed back into the spinal chord.

The program documented other unhealthy changes, brought about by inbreeding and a quest for arbitrary standards for what certain breeds should look like: Dachsund’s have been elongated, and their legs made smaller, leading to serious back problems. They have difficulty running and jumping and are prone to epilepsy and deafness. Bulldogs have seen their muzzles shortened, creating breathing problems, and their heads have become broader; most now have to be born by Caesarean section.

“The Kennel Club is dedicated to improving the health and welfare of dogs through responsible breeding,” Caroline Kisko, Kennel Club spokeswoman, said in response to the developments. “The fact that the RSPCA continues to make such unhelpful statements … is extremely regrettable but we will continue to endeavour to work with them despite their stated position, for the benefit of dogs.”