"I wish those vicious creatures could be banned." ***WARNING: GRAPHIC***

[Scootaloo]

130. Watch "Pedigree Dogs Exposed."

It's a BBC documentary that probably led to the BKC recognizing the problem.

Afflictions like this aren't limited to english bulldogs; the head shape of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, for instance, leads to the brain being crushed by the skull in some dogs, resulting in seizures and phantom pains. Then there's that whole hip dysplasia thing among all sorts of breeds...

The problem is the excessively narrow genepool and the drive to get features even more exaggerated. For instance, the pug.

It used to be more or less like a boxer; smaller body size, but recognizable as a dog.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bQOT7RtkVe4/T-Y3lnm7c2I/AAAAAAAAA24/lWfazDyfBDs/s1600/Pug+antique+pooch.png

Now? They look like potatoes suffering a mental breakdown


Now, I'm not knocking the dogs, or even their owners really. But this whole thing about getting generations upon generations of dog that cleave perfectly to some platonic, unflinching "standard" even at obvious cost to the well-being of the animals, that's just bad. I'm not going to take the PETA route and compare such breeders to the Klan (...really, PETA? Sigh, wasted potential) but it sure seems several steps on the wrong side of the fence, with regards to animal welfare.