NL working to ban flat-nosed dogs, folded-ear cats to stop animal suffering
nltimes.nl
nltimes.nl
> The inherited cartilage defect causes other, more problematic deformities throughout the body, resulting in a condition called Osteochondrodysplasia. This is an incurable disease that causes painful, swollen joints for the Scottish Folds from as young as 7 weeks old and for the duration of their often short lives.
Didn't even know folded ear cats were a thing, strange.
I'd also like to bring up tailless breeds of both dogs and cats and the spinal and bowel issues associated with that. [1] I'm having trouble finding a good source for dogs specifically, but I know I've seen studies in the past that mirror the issues in Manx and other tailless cats. In my mind, it's an especially messed-up situation. The docking of dogs' tails has been a huge controversy for decades. So in some breeds, breeders got together to develop lines that are born without tails. Now they've got lifelong spine and intestinal issues instead of whatever short-term trauma is associated with docking the tail within the first week of birth.
The breeding of short-nosed (brachycephalic is the technical term) dogs is unethical and should be banned. You can't change my mind on that. Another search term for additional information is BOAS (Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome). It's kind of sort of like sleep apnea, but while awake and upright and much more severe. You see a ton of heat and exercise-induced symptoms in these dogs. They basically cannot safely do dog things. The Crufts Best in Show winner in 2003, AKA the dog the organization said was the best example of his breed, had to have surgery for an upper airway obstruction shortly after his win. [2] The dog that The Kennel Club designated as the best example of the breed standard, so much so that he beat other dogs of other breeds being judged against their own breed standards for best in show, was unable to breathe correctly before having corrective surgery.
There's a million other issues, but I don't have time to write about hemophilia in Dobermans or deafness (and eyelessness) in merle to merle breedings and more recently identified high rates of deafness in breedings between dogs with certain white spotting patterns (white head syndrome is the current term for this).
To summarize: Good. About time.
0 - https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/test/scottish-fold