I don't believe this - Page 1

Telegraph News
German Shepherd dogs dying in misery due to intensive breeding

ufts changed the rules after Cruaghaire Catoria won a "best in breed" prize CREDIT: GERMAN SHEPHERD

Henry Bodkin
28 JULY 2017 • 1:00AM
German Shepherds are living and dying in misery due to intensive breeding for “cosmetic” reasons, a major new report by the Royal Veterinary College has found.

A survey of data collected from 430 clinics across the UK reveals arthritis, cancer, aggression and sloping backs are afflicting the breed at higher rates than others due to aggressive selection.

Nearly one in two German Shepherds is being put down because they are unable to walk, experts said.

If the general public refuse to buy these dogs then the breeders will stop breeding them
Dr Dan O’Neill, Royal Veterinary College
They said the trend would only cease when pet owners stop buying unnaturally shaped dogs.

The report follows an outcry at Crufts last year after a German Shepherd with an abnormally sloped back and painful looking gait won a “best in breed” prize.

It found that nearly 20 per cent of German Shepherd deaths reviewed were due to musculoskeletal disorders or osteoarthritis, while another five per cent were due to overweight and obesity,

Another 4.7 per cent of deaths were attributed to being put down due to aggression.

Dr Dan O’Neill, who led the research, which is published in Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, said a sloped back with shorter rear legs had become a fashionable look for show dogs, and that this was influencing breeding more widely.

. I don't know who is buying all these crippled dogs but I can say the fact that mine are not roach backed or sloping rear ends is the main thing people I deal with are after
That look really is NOT what Americans desire
The first question a potential buyer not familiar with my dogs asks is if they are straight backed non hock walkers.
I guess this is the reason so many non professionals get away with selling no n show line dogs

I wanna know the age of the dogs when they are pts'ed.

"Dr Dan O’Neill, who led the research, which is published in Canine Genetics and Epidemiology, said a sloped back with shorter rear legs had become a fashionable look for show dogs, and that this was influencing breeding more widely."

I am sorry Ibrahim isn´t here any more, but I would say the "rear legs" became LONGER, not shorter ( more angulation - the different lay of the hips may make the hindquarters look shorter, because the back in itself is deaper, but in reality the hind legs became longer, not shorter.

Otherwise - ( don´t forget, we are talking about Great Britain )

"20 per cent of German Shepherd deaths reviewed were due to musculoskeletal disorders or osteoarthritis" - think about HD/ED/DM/back problems - they don´t talk about age, as Baerenfang already recognized - might be true

"while another five per cent were due to overweight and obesity,.." that´s something I don´t doubt

"Another 4.7 per cent of deaths were attributed to being put down due to aggression."
That´s something I don´t doubt either.

Oh for f*ck's sake ...


' "Nearly one in two German Shepherds is being put down because they are unable to walk" say 'experts' "

Who is this guy ? The RVC's Dan O'Neill, I mean, not Henry Bodkin the Telegraph reporter
(who I strongly suspect of being one of Jemima Harridan's supporters).

This stinks of "bad science" - BE is quite right to ask about the ages of the dogs at death;
I suspect he has collated figures right across the age range, and probably 20% of ALL dog breeds will no doubt eventually die of something that can be connected to a muscular/skeletal disorder.

Like Susie I don't doubt obesity, or human decision to PTS, is as high as that; again, I suspect that if you looked at the figures for all dogs, right across the board, they would equate to much the same percentages.

There is no proven scientific or medical evidence to link the shape of the dog to any specific disease or cause of death; if they could find one to counter the arguments of the GSD breed's representatives in Britain, our Kennel Club would have leapt on it long before the Crufts 2016 fiasco.

We have a wide cross section of dog toplines and rear angulation among the UK's German Shepherds; dogs of all camps suffer from HD, DM, severe arthritis, obesity-related illness.
There is currently a study at Sussex University on Gait and Construction - I for one cannot wait for it to report and for some real science to come out.

Off to see if I can obtain a transcript of this 'research'. Will report back later.

Ha ha! Harridan she may be, but her last name is Harrison. Jemima's, that is. Nice Freudian slip. 😂

It was deliberate, Beetree.

https://cgejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40575-017-0646-4

if people wish to read this study for themselves.

 

"CONCLUSIONS: This study identified that GSDs have been reducing in numbers in the UK over the past 8 years*. [* Well whoop-de-doo, tell us something we don't know - although I don't know where he gets the 8 years from, except the KCs Registration figures, and as only 30% or so of possible GSDs here are Registered with the KC in the first place, there might just be more UN - registered (and therefore unexhibited anywhere) examples; but we've all recognised a down turn in pedigree dogs numbers coinciding with the rise of 'Designer Dogs', so nothing new there.] - he says elsewhere this MIGHT be down to predisposition to the sorts of diseases recorded in the clinical files of the vets' practises used for this study, and public perception of them; but it also may be down to other stuff: designer dogs, its a large breed, etc etc.

"The most frequent disorders in GSDs were :  otitis externa, diorrhea, obesity & aggression while the most common causes of death were : musculoskeletal disorders and inability to stand.  [ NB % for these 2 most common 'causes of death' = 16.3 % musculoskeletal; 14.9 % inability to stand.  Presumably he means death by euthanasia.]

"Agression was more prevalent in males than females. [!!!]

"These results may assist veterinarians to offer evidence-based advice at breed level and help to identify priorities for GSD health that can improve

the breed's health & welfare."

 

So - nothing new and concrete then; no direct connection re sloping croups, 'flat' toplines, hind angulation, pelvic angles, etc to any specific disease(s).

Certainly no "1 in 2 dying because they are unable to walk". 

What have ear infections and upset tums got to do with the conformation of the back, or hocks ?  (Interestingly, similar work on Swedish dogs put Pyometra at the top of their list.)

And frankly, I wouldn't trust half the vets at the practises I have used to be able to pronounce accurately on WHICH conformation shape any GSD of mine they looked at was, so I have no faith that those in the "VetCompass(TM)" group he was using for the clinial reports would be any better at it.

Oh, and he does not mention ages in relation to various conditions reported, or dogs PTS.  He does say average lifespan = 10.3 years.

 

PS Not even sure "Agression" is a medical condition !

I'm off to see what I can dredge up on this Telegraph reporter.

Nicely chosen pun of a deliberate insult, then. 😂

Aggression, when unprovoked has been described in medical conditions by others, and recently on this board. Tragic but true. The PTS option was then, also, their most humane choice.

http://rufflyspeaking.net/2017/08/01/gsdsdyingunabletostand/