- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 16,205
- Points
- 113
Sixty-seven dog breeds could be banned in Britain if new breeding guidelines set by parliament become mandatory, campaigners have warned.
The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for animal welfare has launched a new tool to determine if a dog is healthy.
The cross-party committee has developed a 10-point checklist of extreme physical characteristics which can make for a poorly pooch.
Sixty-seven dog breeds could be banned in Britain if new breeding guidelines set by parliament become mandatory, campaigners have warned.
The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for animal welfare has launched a new tool to determine if a dog is healthy.
The cross-party committee has developed a 10-point checklist of extreme physical characteristics which can make for a poorly pooch.
They include mottled colouration, excessive skin folds, bulging outward-turning eyes, drooping eyelids, under or overbite and a muzzle that interrupts breathing.
The assessment - which is currently voluntary but expected to become law within five years - aims to drive out breeds with these sorts of exaggerated attributes.
It comes after studies have shown animals of these varieties can sometimes suffer pain, discomfort and frustration from birth.
But critics have cautioned the new criteria will see some 67 of the most popular types of dog in the UK automatically dubbed unhealthy, according to The Times.
This includes widely adored breeds like dachshunds, shih tzus and Scottish terriers - and even the late Queen's beloved Welsh corgis.
The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for animal welfare has launched a new test to determine if a dog is healthy. Popular breeds like shih tzus (pictured, file photo) would not pass
Even the late Queen's beloved Welsh corgis would not be deemed healthy under the new criteria. Pictured: Elizabeth II, who was then a princess, holding a corgi in September 1950
The Kennel Club, a national organisation for dog health, welfare and training, has collated and shared the list of types it fears are at risk with its members.
The Corgi, along with several other dwarf varieties of dog, would be considered unhealthy under the guidelines due to their short legs and closeness to the ground.
This is despite the fact these have long been highly prized features of the breed, which has historically been used for herding cattle.
Their small size helped them avoid any unwelcome kicks from the cows as they rounded them up.
Margaret Hoggarth, secretary of the Welsh Corgi League, asserted the animals are 'very healthy' - but are being 'lumped in' with the unhealthy, just for their short legs.
Elizabeth II owned more than 30 Pembroke Welsh corgis and dorgis, a corgi-dachshund mix, during her reign.
They were her constant companions and became an icon of her time on the throne.
After her death in 2022, her dogs, Muick and Sandy, attended her funeral, before they were adopted by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
The checklist classes dogs with shorter legs as those with a gap between their chest and ground that is less than one third of their shoulder height.
It asserts they can face an array of health issues, including spinal deformities, joint pain, arthritis and limb abnormalities, like bowed legs.
Animal campaigners have called the new set of rules a 'blunt tool', providing a subjective visual means to assess health, rather than rigorous medical tests.
Beverley Cuddy, editor of Dogs Today magazine and founder of the Union of Good Dog People, which promotes ethical breeding, called the criteria 'shocking'.
'We need proper, nuanced tests that don't throw the baby out with the bathwater or we're going to lose Britain's most beloved breeds in the blink of an eye,' she said.
And Ms Cuddy said the public would not be the only ones 'outraged' by it: 'I think the late Queen would have been very upset by this proposal.'
Crufts, the world-famous dog show, hosted by The Kennel Club, begins on Thursday.
But it has been suggested four of the last ten winners of best in show, the highest award at the contest, would not pass the new assessment.
The 2024 recipient of the gong was Viking, an Australian shepherd - a breed which would not pass the new test.
The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for animal welfare has launched a new tool to determine if a dog is healthy.
The cross-party committee has developed a 10-point checklist of extreme physical characteristics which can make for a poorly pooch.
Sixty-seven dog breeds could be banned in Britain if new breeding guidelines set by parliament become mandatory, campaigners have warned.
The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for animal welfare has launched a new tool to determine if a dog is healthy.
The cross-party committee has developed a 10-point checklist of extreme physical characteristics which can make for a poorly pooch.
They include mottled colouration, excessive skin folds, bulging outward-turning eyes, drooping eyelids, under or overbite and a muzzle that interrupts breathing.
The assessment - which is currently voluntary but expected to become law within five years - aims to drive out breeds with these sorts of exaggerated attributes.
It comes after studies have shown animals of these varieties can sometimes suffer pain, discomfort and frustration from birth.
But critics have cautioned the new criteria will see some 67 of the most popular types of dog in the UK automatically dubbed unhealthy, according to The Times.
This includes widely adored breeds like dachshunds, shih tzus and Scottish terriers - and even the late Queen's beloved Welsh corgis.
The all-party parliamentary group (APPG) for animal welfare has launched a new test to determine if a dog is healthy. Popular breeds like shih tzus (pictured, file photo) would not pass
Even the late Queen's beloved Welsh corgis would not be deemed healthy under the new criteria. Pictured: Elizabeth II, who was then a princess, holding a corgi in September 1950
The Kennel Club, a national organisation for dog health, welfare and training, has collated and shared the list of types it fears are at risk with its members.
The Corgi, along with several other dwarf varieties of dog, would be considered unhealthy under the guidelines due to their short legs and closeness to the ground.
This is despite the fact these have long been highly prized features of the breed, which has historically been used for herding cattle.
Their small size helped them avoid any unwelcome kicks from the cows as they rounded them up.
Margaret Hoggarth, secretary of the Welsh Corgi League, asserted the animals are 'very healthy' - but are being 'lumped in' with the unhealthy, just for their short legs.
Elizabeth II owned more than 30 Pembroke Welsh corgis and dorgis, a corgi-dachshund mix, during her reign.
They were her constant companions and became an icon of her time on the throne.
After her death in 2022, her dogs, Muick and Sandy, attended her funeral, before they were adopted by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson.
The checklist classes dogs with shorter legs as those with a gap between their chest and ground that is less than one third of their shoulder height.
It asserts they can face an array of health issues, including spinal deformities, joint pain, arthritis and limb abnormalities, like bowed legs.
Animal campaigners have called the new set of rules a 'blunt tool', providing a subjective visual means to assess health, rather than rigorous medical tests.
Beverley Cuddy, editor of Dogs Today magazine and founder of the Union of Good Dog People, which promotes ethical breeding, called the criteria 'shocking'.
'We need proper, nuanced tests that don't throw the baby out with the bathwater or we're going to lose Britain's most beloved breeds in the blink of an eye,' she said.
And Ms Cuddy said the public would not be the only ones 'outraged' by it: 'I think the late Queen would have been very upset by this proposal.'
Crufts, the world-famous dog show, hosted by The Kennel Club, begins on Thursday.
But it has been suggested four of the last ten winners of best in show, the highest award at the contest, would not pass the new assessment.
The 2024 recipient of the gong was Viking, an Australian shepherd - a breed which would not pass the new test.
