I was just now, thinking about dog breeds (again – I do it often, I can say) and thought I would take me out of the German Shepherd, because I now happen to have lived with one for ten years. I looked at the breed club's website and went on to a breeder's website, and what I saw there in visual form was downright terrifying.
I would lie about I said that I have experience with the German shepherd as a breed – I have certainly lived with a German Shepherd for ten years, but it is in dog of many. Also bred by the armed forces, and other working dogs in all their glory, but I actually don't think they can measure up to her. One of the advantages of having a German Shepherd bred by the defense is that they have relatively nice backs.
The scary thing about the pictures on the website of the breeder I visited, namely backs and hind legs.
Oh my God, to be ju not wise out. For real, in other words. Backs lean in tame fan 45 damn degrees down, and hind legs – and, we shouldn't even talk about them.
The second I saw the images killed all my thoughts I could ever imagine harboring, about getting me a German Shepherd again. And, it would possibly be from the defense in that case, but then there are other things that speak against it instead.
But seriously; I don't understand how you can breed a breed to look like this. I don't see how that can be legal. And it's not just the German Shepherd that is being bred this way.
Just look at everyone breeds with short noses that cannot breathe, have difficulty eating and drinking water, the breeds that have difficulty producing their puppies, those with skin problems, eyes, ears and so on.
In which way is this ok? How the hell can you think it's ok to breed animals with such incredibly obvious problems knowing that the problems are due to your own choices?
I absolutely understand that you appreciate that a dog looks a certain way. I absolutely understand the point of a certain breed having a certain purpose which, for example, requires it to be a certain size. I also understand that you breed on certain things because you think it's nice. There are breeds I would never get because I don't like the look at all (or the mentality, for that part). Poodles are one such example.
But to let man's liking and taste before the dog's health is to me a deliberate exercise of power in a way that is extremely unflattering, and also an expression of deliberate animal abuse and cruelty.
My personal opinion in this matter is that there should be stricter requirements that breeding should be in the interests of the animals rather than humans – in other words; breed based on the animal's mentality and physical health instead of an appearance made up by us. I have a series of rather harsh opinions about this that do not fit in a single post.
The damn thing is of course that it's not just about dogs. Cats are also bred in a way that does not benefit them. There are cat breeds that also have indented noses, making it difficult for them to breathe. There are cat breeds that were bred not to be able to jump. I bet if it isn't there yet, then there will appear a breed of cat bred without claws.
At this point You must have noticed that this is something that makes me incredibly upset. Humans are truly the only species that cares about the appearance of both themselves and the animals we surround ourselves with in a way that makes us ignore how it affects health and psyche.
It is… deplorable.