“Pedigree Dogs Exposed” is the excellent documentary that resulted last year in the implosion of Crufts, the top dog show in the UK. The repercussions of this stellar reporting are ongoing. The major sponsor pulled out when they got wind of how breeds had been inbred to conform to an arbitrary notion of what looks were most attractive, regardless of health implications. The BBC refused to air the show. The RSPCA walked out in disgust.
Yes, it’s that bad. The health compromises have been devastatingly cruel. Dogs that can’t hold the weight of their own heads anymore, dogs whose brains are too big for their skulls, dogs who can’t breath because their faces are so flat. And these poor crippled creatures were winning and placing in dog shows. This is journalism at its best. Don’t miss it on BBC America tonight at 8:00 ET. Here’s a clip:
Related posts: Wednesday News Bites; Crufts Kennel Club Update; The Buzz Around London on Crufts; Good News for Pedigrees
Hat tip to our friend John Woestendiek at Ohmidog!
i saw this doc a few months ago & was really surprised at the lack of concern for the welfare of the dogs that the breeders had. The woman who had the top winning cavalier in britian at the time *knew* that her dog was a carrier of Syringomyelia yet her dog had already sired 30 litters!!
It’s great that positive changes have come about as a result of this documentary, but it saddens me greatly that so many innocent animals had to suffer to get to this point.
How is it that such “morally advanced” societies still hurting and torturing animals in 2010?! Shameful!
What's really breathtaking is the scope of these practices…it doesn't begin and end in the UK, and look at the drastic steps that had to be taken in order to get the KC to listen and change its ways. Even then, they tried to circle the wagons.