Are you aware of the RSPCA's Born to Suffer campaign (which aims to improve the health and welfare of pedigree dogs)? Since they launched the campaign at the end of December last year, more than 16,000 people have signed the petition calling for pedigree dog breed standards to be reviewed and put health and welfare above looks.
Their plan is to present the final petition numbers to the Kennel Club as a demonstration of the scale of public support for a review of the breed standards. You can find out more about the campaign here:
www.rspca.org.uk/borntosuffer.
Meanwhile they've taken a closer look at the 15 ‘high profile’ breeds identified by the Kennel Club and have produced a guide to some of the health and welfare problems these popular dogs endure:
www.rspca.org.uk/getinvolved/campaigns/companion/borntosuffer/health
• The Kennel Club has identified 15 ‘high profile’ breeds with visible conditions that may cause health or welfare concerns.
• Six dogs failed new vet checks at Crufts because they had visible health problems. As a result they didn't receive Best of Breed awards.
• A new Royal Veterinary College study has shown owners of short-nosed dogs dismiss breathing problems because they consider them to be normal for the breed. Fifty-eight per cent of surveyed owners said their dogs don’t have breathing problems, despite over two thirds showing difficulties during exercise.
The RSPCA do a lot of work fighting to improve dogs' and other animals' lives - you can read about their 42 Teeth campaign here, more than 4,000 people have responded to the consultation via the RSPCA website, which is great news.
Take care,
Julie xx