KatzNK9
10-27-2007, 12:39 PM
More info on the designer dog trade & the results seen in shelters.:mad:
Designer dog breeding disaster (http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22659935-910,00.html)
DESIGNER dog disasters are flooding animal shelters, dumped because of deformities, disease, and overshot jaws.
The fad varieties, which include cross-breeds such as Labradoodles, Cavoodles and Pugaliers, are too often being bred with genetic faults, experts say.
And a surge in demand for designer dogs has resulted in production-line breeding, causing health problems for dogs and their puppies.
The Animal Welfare League and South Australian Canine Association have called for regulations on cross-breeding to stamp out the health problems.
Animal Welfare League spokeswoman Donna Sullivan said its shelter received designer-dog disasters daily, including puppies with genetic defects and others that had been used excessively for breeding.
"Their reproductive systems are so overworked to feed the want for `designer dogs', their mammary glands are loose or enlarged and occasionally the uterus of an overworked dog sits outside the body," she said.
"They are abandoned when they are unable to produce more pups."
Ms Sullivan said the designer crossbreeds came from unregistered breeders who were under no obligation to limit the number of litters they forced their dogs to have. "The parent dogs in many cases have no paperwork to guarantee they have no genetic health disorders," she said.
Sue Whelan, who runs the Hahndorf Interim Animal Shelter, said designer cross-breeding was a massive industry with no rules to stop faults being bred.
"Our records over the last seven years show a dramatic increase in these designer dogs ending up at our shelter with all kinds of defects," she said.
"There is a whole pet farming industry and you don't really know what has been crossed with what and a lot of these dogs aren't bred responsibly," she said.
"Most of the time they come in totally matted because people are buying these cute and fluffy poodle crosses and not realising they need to be almost sheared like a sheep at least twice a year. We clip them back and find all these problems with their shoulders and hips and jaws."
The continuation of this story on the link.:mad:
Designer dog breeding disaster (http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22659935-910,00.html)
DESIGNER dog disasters are flooding animal shelters, dumped because of deformities, disease, and overshot jaws.
The fad varieties, which include cross-breeds such as Labradoodles, Cavoodles and Pugaliers, are too often being bred with genetic faults, experts say.
And a surge in demand for designer dogs has resulted in production-line breeding, causing health problems for dogs and their puppies.
The Animal Welfare League and South Australian Canine Association have called for regulations on cross-breeding to stamp out the health problems.
Animal Welfare League spokeswoman Donna Sullivan said its shelter received designer-dog disasters daily, including puppies with genetic defects and others that had been used excessively for breeding.
"Their reproductive systems are so overworked to feed the want for `designer dogs', their mammary glands are loose or enlarged and occasionally the uterus of an overworked dog sits outside the body," she said.
"They are abandoned when they are unable to produce more pups."
Ms Sullivan said the designer crossbreeds came from unregistered breeders who were under no obligation to limit the number of litters they forced their dogs to have. "The parent dogs in many cases have no paperwork to guarantee they have no genetic health disorders," she said.
Sue Whelan, who runs the Hahndorf Interim Animal Shelter, said designer cross-breeding was a massive industry with no rules to stop faults being bred.
"Our records over the last seven years show a dramatic increase in these designer dogs ending up at our shelter with all kinds of defects," she said.
"There is a whole pet farming industry and you don't really know what has been crossed with what and a lot of these dogs aren't bred responsibly," she said.
"Most of the time they come in totally matted because people are buying these cute and fluffy poodle crosses and not realising they need to be almost sheared like a sheep at least twice a year. We clip them back and find all these problems with their shoulders and hips and jaws."
The continuation of this story on the link.:mad: