People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) have protested at Crufts, on one occasion being met with physical violence from security people. They are calling for and end to the senseless “canine beauty pageant” and the demeaning behaviours the dogs are forced to perform. In particular they are drawing attention to flat-faced or brachycephalic breeds such as bulldogs, pugs, Pekingese, Cavalier King Charles spaniels, Shih Tzu and boxers, who all too often lead painful lives, suffering from breathing difficulties as a result of their unnatural, deformed faces. Many of the supposed enhancements prized by the judges at Crufts cause a great deal of suffering.
The tide is turning says PETA: the BBC dropped the show in 2008, the RSPCA refuses to attend, and a group of veterinary professionals has deplored “arbitrary breed standards that the competition’s judges use to rate the dogs [which] call for them to be bred for extremely exaggerated physical features, regardless of the damage to their health. As a result, dogs are suffering.”
In the case of brachycephalic dogs, who are very much in fashion, the following can be the result of their deformities: difficulties with breathing, heat regulation, exercise, sleep, and giving birth, as well as skin, eye, dental and spinal issues.
UPDATE: Successful lobbying by PETA has resulted in companies dropping images of these dogs from their advertising and from greetings cards.
It seems high time we stopped forcing animals to compete with each other in any way.
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