Unethical and Unsustainable or not?

After last weeks blog, we received a comment on our Facebook page from a veterinary nurse who was working in a practice that ticked all the boxes for a future focussed veterinary clinic. Well done to that practice!  I am hoping to be able to interview that veterinary nurse at some stage this year so watch this space.  If anyone else has got some stories to share, please let me know.  

A Boxer - a pedigree breed with a very long list of inherited diseases
Wikimedia commons

This week my blog is inspired by a conversation I had with a colleague over the sustainability and ethics of pedigree pets.  Remember, all pets have environmental impacts such as high carbon footprints from transportation of food or waste, in fact just one family Labrador Retriever has the same environmental impact as an SUV  If this topic interests you, this book would be worth a read.  But this time, we are talking about something different; the sustainability of producing pedigree pets that require a great deal of veterinary care to address inherited diseases. 

Breeding of many pedigree dogs focuses mainly on physical appearance such as short noses, wrinkled skin, broad shoulders, short legs, long ears and many others. Some of these physical attributes are not ideal for the pet and are linked to undesirable health complications such as luxating patellas. In addition, focusing on appearance rather than fitness has led to breeding animals that carry genetic predisposition for disease, just because they look especially nice. Boxers are a good example as they are highly predisposed to heart disease but because it often doesn't show up until breeding age, the animal may have already been bred and passed on the problem to a new generation. For those of you that wish to read more on this subject, there are many articles available online. Here are some examples:
1. Pedigree dog predisposition to cancer
2. Canine Inherited disorders database
3. Genetic diseases of cats

A Bulldog - this breed cant even give birth naturally due to the very narrow hips compared to the size of a puppies head.
Wikimedia commons

While there are breeders out there who do try to breed lines of pedigree dogs that are healthy and not predisposed to specific diseases, it is challenging to select for completely disease free lines without loosing the phenotypic (physical appearance) traits which are so important to the kennel club rules. In addition there are many unscrupulous breeders out there who will breed unfit dogs just to make money on selling offspring. Many prospective dog owners don't know exactly what to look for when choosing a pedigree breed.  

Hereditary conditions in pedigree pets, especially cats, dogs and rabbits, form the basis for a significant amount of profit in companion animal veterinary practice. Third eyelid flap surgery, total hip replacements, surgery to correct patella luxation, skin fold pyoderma treatment, dental surgery, heart disease management, cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy, inflammatory bowel disease diagnosis and treatment............the list goes on.  So many diseases have a genetic basis and are common in our pedigree dogs, with different breeds having predisposition to different sets of diseases. 

A Maltese - you rarely see one of these without at least a Grade 1 luxating patella identifiable at the puppy stage.
Wikimedia commons

So in summary the issues are: 
Social/Ethical - breeding dogs that are fundamentally unsound that suffer more pain/illness than is necessary,  breeding these dogs and selling them to the public is socially and ethically unacceptable. 
Financial - increased financial burden on owners
Environmental - increased need for surgery and/or medications which create a large waste trail.  

So, as companion animal veterinarians and veterinary nurses, do we just accept the status quo and keep treating these dogs without taking action or do we take a more ethical and social approach and take some of the following actions:

1. Educate clients on this issue, advise them away from pedigree pets but if they are going to choose a breed, help them choose a good breeder and a healthy pet. 
2. Lobby kennel club and breeders to change breed standards to allow these diseases to be bred out.
3. Work with genetic technology companies to develop tests to screen for the genes that carry specific diseases.
4. Lobby for licensing of breeders, or as a profession set up a license system and market it well so that breeders want to be a licensed.  

Would this put veterinary clinics out of business?  If the businesses aren't future focussed, yes probably, but if they are future focussed and looking ahead at the drivers of change they will foresee that by being more social and ethical, clients will be more loyal to the business. In addition, a future focused business is focused on wellness and preventative medicine rather than just treating illness. How good would that be?

Have a great week