Veterinarian Dr. Anna Magdalena Naderer from the nationwide Filu veterinary practice network warns: “Every day, dogs are treated in veterinary practices for serious health problems caused by overbreeding. In order to avoid animal suffering and high treatment costs, dog owners should inform themselves carefully before getting a dog.” The veterinarian criticizes the unhealthy trend towards torture breeding, which causes a lot of suffering, as well as the inadequate education of dog owners.
Munich. The friendship between dogs and humans is a success story that goes back thousands of years. Whether hunting partner, guardian or friend – people and dogs make a good team. When humans began to domesticate wolves around 20,000 years ago, they laid the foundation for today's dog breeds. Through breeding, or more precisely planned and controlled mating, certain characteristics or properties are intended to be promoted and further developed. In this way, many healthy dog breeds with positive characteristics have been created. However, some breeds promote certain characteristics to such an extreme that they cause pain, suffering, damage or behavioral problems in dogs. In these cases one speaks of torture breeding.
Torment breeding characteristics
- Shortness of breath
- Movement abnormalities
- Lameness
- Abnormalities of the skeletal system
- Inflammation of the skin
- Hairlessness
- Eye diseases such as blindness, inflammation or misalignment of the eyelids (Entropion, Ectopion)
- Preposition of the eyeball (exophthalmos)
- deafness
- Malformations of the teeth
- Malformations of the skull
- Dysfunction of internal organs
- Dystocia (Birthing difficulties due to body shape)
- Reduction in life expectancy
Although animal protection has been enshrined as a state goal in the Basic Law for 20 years and cruel breeding has been banned in the Animal Protection Act since 1986, dog breeds such as pugs, French and English bulldogs, Chihuahuas and toy poodles are widespread. And even in predominantly healthy breeds, such as the German Shepherd or Poodle, torture breeding traits can occur.
For this reason, dog lovers should only purchase their animals from reputable breeders and pay careful attention to breeding characteristics. Because these can cause a lot of suffering for both the affected animals and their owners. “Sometimes cruel breeding traits can lead to life-threatening impairments and death of the animal,” says veterinarian Dr. Naderer and emphasizes that in addition to health and emotional stress, pet owners can also incur high treatment costs. Naderer therefore strongly advises against torture breeding and dogs with torture breeding characteristics.
Brachycephaly: Unhealthy infant pattern
A wide head, small noses and cute big eyes. These typical characteristics of the child schema trigger the need to take on care in many people. That's why dogs with these characteristics are very popular. In technical jargon they are called brachycephalic breeds. They include French and English bulldogs, Chihuahuas, Pugs, Pekingese and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Their cute appearance cannot hide the fact that these dogs sometimes suffer greatly from the traits they have bred into. “The main feature of brachycephaly is the inhibition of growth of the facial skull, which is why dogs no longer have a pronounced dog muzzle, which leads to a disproportion between the brain and facial skull. The consequence is, among other things, an elongated soft palate. This soft and mobile continuation of the palate obscures the airways and makes breathing difficult,” explains Dr. Anna Magdalena Naderer of the Filu veterinary practice network.
Depending on the severity, dogs suffer from shortness of breath and have difficulty regulating their body temperature by panting. In addition, there is painful irritation and drying out of the protruding eyes due to the eye sockets being too small. The shortening of the facial skull also causes extreme skin folds to form, which promote chronic inflammation. “Dogs with severe brachycephaly suffer extremely. At the same time, medical assistance options are limited,” explains Naderer. In addition to the physical symptoms, there are psychological effects because Brachycepahlia affects important animal behavior. Shortness of breath that occurs when playing or eating can trigger anxiety and panic attacks. The altered anatomy of the skull also limits facial expressions and thus the species' own communication, which has consequences for the affected animals. Stunted tails also impair species-typical behavior patterns and the ability to send communicative signals.
Dwarf breeds: Cute, but poor quality of life
Small dogs look cute and are often a popular alternative to dogs of normal height for dog lovers with smaller apartments, for example. Therefore, teacup dogs, as they are colloquially called, are widespread. They include Chihuahuas, miniature pinschers, Yorkshire terriers and toy poodles. However, the quality of life of these purebred dogs is limited due to possible physical defects. For example, the animals can suffer from hydrocephalus because organs such as the brain are often not adapted in size. Because in some dogs the fontanel, a gap in the skull to facilitate birth, does not grow in the long term, even an unfavorable blow to the head can lead to death in some animals. Dwarf breeds can also suffer from liver malformations and changes, which prevent adequate detoxification of the blood and sometimes require expensive operations or special feed.
When beautiful fur becomes a problem
Dog owners often value a beautiful coat, which is why breeders pay particular attention to this. Coat colors such as silver, charcoal or champagne are considered by many to be the epitome of elegance and beauty. This pigmentation is achieved by the Dilute gene, which causes the color intensity to lighten. Unfortunately, this can also lead to a pigment deficiency or color dilution alopecia, which can lead to hair loss, skin inflammation, dandruff or allergies. Such color breeding occurs, for example, in Dobermans, Greyhounds, Irish Setters or Labrador Retrievers. Dogs with completely or predominantly white fur may have Merle syndrome, which can lead to blindness, deafness, balance problems and susceptibility to infections. Breeds such as the Australian Shepherd, Bobtail or Collie can be affected. Whether impairments actually occur depends on the breeding and which gene types are paired with each other. The beautiful pattern of Dalmatians can also become a health problem for the dogs. Dalmatians lack an enzyme that breaks down uric acid. This is why the animals are prone to kidney diseases. To minimize this risk, owners are encouraged to avoid foods containing purine ingredients, such as offal and legumes. In addition, Dalmatians increasingly suffer from deafness; especially specimens with blue eyes. Although certain color and fur breeding can cause health problems, they are not officially considered to be cruel breeding. Therefore, dog owners should act responsibly and obtain comprehensive information.
Are Dachshunds and German Shepherds torture breeds?
In fact, both breeds may exhibit torture breeding characteristics as their altered skeletal systems can cause impairments. How serious these are depends on both the breeding and the husbandry.
In dachshunds, the straight back and short legs often lead to deformities in the area of the intervertebral discs and herniated discs. Reputable breeders therefore rely on precise family trees and DNA tests, which help to narrow down these hereditary diseases. If you want to get a dachshund, you should specifically ask about these measures. In order to avoid damage to health, it is also important to keep dachshunds in a species-appropriate manner. It is worth mentioning that the leash is kept correctly and avoiding excess weight and climbing stairs.
The situation is similar with German Shepherds. According to breeding standards, they should have a slightly sloping croup, which can lead to a more or less steep back line and deformed hind legs. Animals with a sharply sloping back line have an altered gait and disorders in the musculoskeletal system, which lead to joint diseases such as elbow and hip joint dysplasia (ED/HD) and lead to arthrosis. In severe cases, lifelong pain medication and surgical intervention are required. Due to the skeletal changes, some animals are no longer able to stand on their feet in advanced stages. 15 percent of all euthanasias in German Shepherds are due to these symptoms.