Cute only goes so far

Today in a Facebook group I am a member of someone posted a link to a news article reporting the fact that dogs that are ‘not cute enough’ are being left in shelters as people only want particular breeds (link at the bottom of this entry for anyone interested).

That alone is enough to rankle, but the list of most requested breeds also pricked at my irritation levels. Pugs, French Bulldogs and miniature Dachshunds. All of these breeds have serious genetic health issues prevalent in their breeds. Pugs and French Bulldogs are both bracycephalic. They are short snouted, giving them that apparently ‘cute’ appearance. In the cases of many examples of these breeds, they are also given an extreme difficulty in breathing and many require surgery to be able to manage a normal biological survival process. Their skulls are so shortened that their brains can actually be physically rearranged.

One of the great pleasures for many dogs is sniffing and exploring the world through their noses, Because of difficulty in breathing and significant brain reorganisation meaning a loss of olfactory bulb function (the area of the brain responsible for processing scents, usually located in the front of the brain) these dogs cannot enjoy sniffing in the same way as others. In fact, many bracycephalic dogs can barely manage a gentle stroll with their owners without struggling to breathe.

Dachshunds have been bred to be so long that their backs are in constant danger of being damaged. Disc problems are very common and frequently as puppies they have to be severely exercise restricted to attempt to cut down on the issues in later life.

It probably does not help that the least wanted list is more than half made up by breeds that I like! In all seriousness, the breed of a dog can make it more disposed to certain traits, but it does not guarantee that those traits will be there. I have Border Collies, the breed that exists to herd. My older dog is utterly defective in that department. He took one look at a field of sheep and departed at high speed to find a ball. I think this picture here sums it up perfectly:

I am not even going to touch on the frivolous reasons that people give for handing dogs in to rescues as I will start to rant! Obviously there are people that have valid reasons for surrendering a dog and I feel for those people, but the ones that do not have a real reason at all make me furious!

Link for those interested in reading: 'Dogs not 'cute' enough for social media left in shelters'