‘Ethics’ of dog breeding
Published on: Monday, November 23, 2020
By: Shirley Khong
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There are many dogs in shelters and rescues in Sabah and breeding dogs means the ‘buyers’ will not adopt dogs from shelters. There are many animals in our local shelter, breeds and mix/local. Some people believe that by purchasing their dogs from a breeder they will somehow be getting a superior pet, this is not always the case!
Many breeders don’t realise how breeding pets affects the existing pet/stray overpopulation problem we have in Sabah. Millions of dogs all over the word are euthanised in shelters every year because of lack of space, resources, and people to adopt them... this is not the case here in Sabah – yet.
The idea of producing more dogs/cats to meet the “demands” of people who are willing to pay large amounts of money for a purebred pups while hundreds of dogs are in overcrowded shelters/roaming the streets is not right.
Bad Breeding Practices
Many breeders push the limits causing extensive health issues for animals.
Dog breeding used to be highly functional – a shepherd breeds only the best herding dogs or a hunter breeds the dogs with the best instincts – but with dogs now serving more of a companionship role many people are simply looking for specific looks in their puppy, whether purebred or designer mix. This has led to over-breeding of specific types of dogs bred for financial gain without research and time that is necessary to produce a healthy dog.
The English Bulldog is an example of very poor breeding practices as it gained popularity for its pleasant demeanour and child-like practices. Unfortunately, this popularity has led the Bulldog breed to be ranked second of all breeds in congenital diseases and related deaths among puppies. This was a result of years of bad breeding practices so that now many of these animals are in constant pain. They suffer chronic physiological stress as a result of significant physical limitations that have been deliberately imposed on them by misguided and unscrupulous breeders, breed clubs, and kennel clubs.
Encouraging Puppy Mills
Dog breeding is considered an industry and in each industry, there are some doing it properly, and those doing it just for money, cutting corners on the dog’s health, hygiene conditions, etc. The demand for popular breeds/designer dogs has led to individuals mass-producing dogs, often, with little to no dog breeding experience in what are called ‘puppy mills’.
These mills are large-scale cat or dog breeding facilities where profit is given priority over the well-being of the animals. These breeders often house dogs in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions without adequate veterinary care, food, water or socialisation. In order to maximise profits, female dogs are bred at every opportunity with little-to-no recovery time between litters.
Puppy mill animals often as young as eight weeks of age, are sold to pet shops or directly to the public over the Internet, through newspaper ads and markets, and because puppy mills focus on profit, dogs are often bred with little regard for genetic quality. Puppy mill puppies are prone to congenital and hereditary conditions including heart disease and blood and respiratory disorders. In addition, puppy mill puppies often arrive in pet stores and in their new homes with diseases or infirmities ranging from parasites to pneumonia.
As breeding continues to grow more popular and is seen as a fast way to make money this is a recurring problem with little legislation or means to monitor such bad practices.
Promoting Purebred Superiority
Breeders focus on breeds because many believe the designer animals are superior, whereas a local/kampung dog or rescue animal is seen as a downgrade when in fact, studies have shown that purebred dogs have more health conditions than a mixed breed.
There is the fear that if a dog is mixed their behaviour may be unpredictable but often you can tell from their appearance what dogs and therefore traits are more likely to be present in their character. And although purebreds often exhibit the behaviour and characteristics of their lineage, breed does not guarantee behaviour.
Tail-Docking and Ear-Cropping
Tail docking and ear-cropping is a practice of removing an area of a dog’s tail or ear... both of which are illegal in Sabah!
Apart from being illegal here (and in many other countries) this cruel, painful and needless practice is still being carried out by many unscrupulous breeders and vets in order to force their dogs to look a particular way.
Beauty Over Everything
Today most dogs are family/companion dogs and the breeders and buyers are more interested in their appearance which can sometimes mean health is overlooked.
Dog breeds such as the Husky have been bred in our climate for which they are clearly not suited to; yet, many breeders still breed, knowing the dogs will have issues and not do well. Many of these purebred dogs that were bought and produced for cosmetic and financial reasons end up in the already overpopulated shelters and rescue centres across the world or abandoned on the streets in Sabah.
Short-Term Trends
Puppy mills and unethical breeders are happy to produce breeds that the public suddenly likes, regardless of the consequences on the dogs. Social virality likes tiny dogs so some breeders breed tiny dogs despite horrible health problems. Often the female dogs are bred too young and, once they reach a point of physical depletion and can no longer reproduce, they are left to die or are dumped.
Pet stores help support this activity by purchasing from breeders or breeding the animals themselves! The buyer, drawn in by the cute doggie in the window will purchase these animals without knowing the real background of where the dogs came from, since these customers are not interested in it either.
This following of trends and then capitalising on a dog’s life for monetary reasons is one of the sad realities of dog breeding today and because so many of these breeders are operating without oversight, it is impossible to accurately track them or to know how many there truly are. When selling the animals, many say they are not breeders, the puppies were just an ‘accident’ ... or worse still they say its their ‘hobby’?
We need to be responsible and take the animals health and wellbeing into consideration... they are not objects or communities and buy choosing to buy from a breeder you are helping to further contribute to animal cruelty and the prolonged suffering of animals being bred, sold, abandoned on our streets!!
When you decide you are ready for a pet, please choose wisely... and adopt not buy!
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