27 January 2023

Mapping of initiatives to prevent inherited diseases and exaggerated phenotypes in dogs

Man holding two dogs. Photo: Levgeniia // Colourbox.com
📷 Levgeniia // Colourbox.com

Bruun, C. S., Fredholm, M., Proschowsky, H. F., & Sandøe, P. (2023).
Department of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, University of Copenhagen.

Background

Over the past few decades there has been a growing awareness that the breeding of certain dog breeds has a number of seriously negative consequences for the dogs' health, and thus also for their welfare. Some of these consequences are due to the numerically small breeding populations, while others seem to be a direct consequence of the breeding goals themselves, which have in some cases become exaggerated in comparison with the breed standards. However, in many respects, increased public awareness of these issues has not led to the problems being resolved. For example, a Danish study published in 2019 showed that more than 40% of French Bulldogs – which, in 2022, was the fifth most popular dog breed in Denmark – have serious breathing problems.

Focus and methods

Following a brief introduction to the historical background of the problems that we are still seeing in some breeds, in this report we describe and examine the effect of the following types of initiative designed to curb the negative consequences of dog breeding: research initiatives, initiatives within the dog breeding community, initiatives to inform and influence the prospective dog owners and legislative initiatives. We cover a number of western countries.

This report is based on 1) legal documents; 2) documents from Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI), and also from the Danish and other national kennel clubs, Animal Welfare organizations and other relevant stakeholders links to which are typically found on the organizations’ webpages; and 3) the scientific literature. Moreover, interviews were also conducted with stakeholders in Norway and the Netherlands.

Main findings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Recommendations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can read the report here: Mapping of initiatives to prevent inherited diseases and exaggerated phenotypes in dogs (pdf)

Topics