Wednesday, December 8, 2021

Most Dog Breeds Are Highly Inbred -- and Unhealthy

 Dog Breeds Banned By Home Insurance Companies – Forbes Advisor

Within this article traits that are specific to certain dog breeds have been found to be most commonly achieved through inbreeding which significantly increases the amount of health risks for these dogs. An average rate of inbreeding was found to be 25% which is about as equal to how much DNA siblings share, this a a very concerning level to share for any animal or even human in general. In any species strong breed predispositions to health effects such as autoimmune diseases highlight how important it is that inbreeding dogs puts the dogs health at huge risks. Since there is so much inbreeding in the dog world there is a lack of genetic diversity within dogs and there should be more of a focus to preserving the genetic diversity among dogs. There should be a focus and careful management  to not lose the already existing genetic diversity through things such as breeding education and having inbreeding levels monitored.  

6 comments:

  1. It is very upsetting that with the biological knowledge we have, there is still forced breeding. Inbreeding causes homozygosity and creates no variation in the genome. Some genes lose function when both of the alleles are homozygous so this would hurt the dogs and the businesses that do this to dogs. I hope people can be more educating to properly take care of our animals.

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  2. It is very sad how much we inbreed dogs to create desirable dogs for ourselves. The average inbreeding rate is way higher than the deemed safe amount. We are definitely losing the genetic diversity of these dogs by inbreeding and causing them to have lots of health defects for our own purposes.

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  4. It makes me sad to think that we cause harm in a dog just to have a certain species that we like. We don't realize how much we are harming our pets for looks.. If inbreeding and crossbreeding are harming a dog in any way possible, then we should not be doing it!

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  5. This research is super important. As a dog groomer, I see trends within breeds and health conditions. The pugs always have trouble breathing, the cavaliers have heart conditions, the labs and shepherds have arthritis, and the list goes on. It is important for dog breeders and owners alike to understand that genetic diversity is actually a good thing, at that looks aren't everything, the health of a dog and a breed is much more important.

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  6. It is actually sick how these malice practices are still happening. The money hungry breeders are the only ones to blame, the purchasers interested in an aesthetically-pure bred dog are just as disgusting. This continued practice is only prolonging the potential health risks with each inbreeding. The phenotypes present should not be the considering factor when breeding.

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