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Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Dogs and the Myth of Hybrid Vigor
I'd like to tackle a common myth that anti-breeder zealots throw around to try and convince people mutts are better than purebreds: the notion that a mutt or crossbred dog has "hybrid vigor."
Hybrid vigor is a real thing, though. But like Inigo Montoya of Princess Bride, they keep using that phrase and it doesn't mean what they think it means.
Hybrid vigor, according to most reputable sources, is the tendency of a hybrid animal to suffer none of the common ailments of either parent species. This is why mules are renowned for having better health than your average horse OR donkey--the blend of the two different species (generally a donkey jack and a horse mare) produces an animal of superior utility. George Washington was a huge supporter of the donkey breed known as Mammoth Jacks, because when the jacks were put to horse mares, they produced the BEST mules.
THAT is goddamn hybrid vigor. Likewise, ligers (tiger-lion hybrids) tend to be HUGE, powerful, and scary compared to their parents.
However, anti-breeder/anti-purebred people tend to forget one key element: different breeds of dog are not considered different species. Think back to the mule, okay? Horse + horse = horse; donkey + donkey = donkey; donkey + horse = MULE.
In case you need it spelled the hell out, DOG + DOG = DOG. Same species. No hybrid vigor.
I get what they are trying to say, though. They are mistaking the term "hybrid vigor" for "heterosis," which simply means that some crossbred animals are superior in some way (health, utility, et cetera) than purebreds. And yes, it happens. I'm a huge fan of, say, grade horses crossed for a reason. Not the morons who put their shitty-conformed AQHA reject mare to an Andalusian in hopes of selling the "part Andalusian" foal for big bucks, but people who cross horses for a REAL PURPOSE.
Take, for example, the National Show Horse. It's now recognized as a breed unto itself. Back in 1981, people wanted the size and awesomeness of the Saddlebred, as well as some of the gaits (Saddlebreds can be three, four, or five gaited), and the flashy prettiness of the Arabian. After some crossing, they came up with a consistent (and consistently beautiful) horse with size and substance but grace and finesse. Now that is crossbreeding with heterosis in mind!!!!
So how does that translate into dogs? Well, if you have a real dandy of a Cattle Dog bitch, and want a superior herding dog but cannot locate another good Cattle Dog, you could do worse than an awesome herding-proven Border Collie or Aussie. I know someone who has blended Australian Shepherds, Cattle Dogs, and Border Collies into their own little slice of awesomeness. Her dogs are excellent for herding and farm guarding; many of her pups are used on livestock and their owners have found them to be ideal.
You can even reach a state of heterosis within a breed, if you try hard enough. Years ago, the gene pool for purebred Basenjis in the United States was pretty small. Breeders, concerned about the fate of their breed, went on a mission to Africa (where the dogs still live with indigenous peoples the way they have for countless generations) and selected a number of dogs to bring back, thus infusing the Basenji breed with much needed genetic diversity. Acquiring those new genes counts as heterosis.
So! What does this have to do with rescue/shelter mutts? SIMPLE. The zealots would have you believe that every crossbred mongrel has superior health/genetics than the parents.
While it CAN be true, it usually ISN'T. Let me explain with a hypothetical (but sadly common) story:
John Q. Asshole buys a shitty Labrador bitch puppy from some dude on Craigslist. Her breeder didn't hip or elbow test her, and she has hip dysplasia. Her owner, who is a shitty owner, lets her run loose all the time. He's also a stingy bastard and won't pay to get her spayed. The combination of having a uterus AND being allowed to run willy nilly all over the place means that eventually, some dog knocks her up. For this example, let's say it's the intact male German Shepherd a few blocks away. He is a shitty Craigslist acquisition too, and he also has hip dysplasia.
John Q. Asshole comes home one day to find a bunch of funky-looking newborn pups on his living room floor. After dealing with puppy shenanigans for a while, he dumps the whole litter at the local shelter.
Rescuers assure well-meaning, kind-hearted potential adopters that, because they are mixed-breed puppies, they have HYBRID VIGOR!!! Oh yes, they won't suffer ANY of the health problems that plague ALL PUREBRED DOGS. Sadly, they have probably bought the lie hook, line, and sinker, and so they are VERY convincing.
Jane Niceperson, wanting a pet and hoping to save a shelter dog, listens to the shelter people and decides to adopt one of the puppies.
A year later, her rambunctious puppy has to undergo invasive surgery to correct the hideously genetically deformed hips inherited from the shitty dogs who happened to pass that little doozy on.
See, here's the thing: most shelter mutts are crossbreds of common breeds, and the people who tend to be irresponsible enough to let their dogs indiscriminately breed tend to also be unlikely to buy their dogs from good/reputable breeders who test for common defects, and many breeds share similar common defects. This is why I hate it when people who own Doodles claim their dogs have superior genetics (more on Doodles in a future blog post).
Now, let's look at another hypothetical scenario:
John B. Goodbreeder has been involved in Earthdog trials for years. He loves his purebred West Highland Whites, and while his focus is on their utility as earthdogs, he also tries very hard to ensure his dogs conform to the breed standard conformationally. His favorite bitch is the best dog he's ever owned, and he feels she is ready to pass on her superior work ethic, conformation, and instincts. First, he has her tested for all possible genetic defects--after all, if she could pass on a terrible defect, she shouldn't be bred! To his relief, she comes back clean as a whistle. Next, he begins looking at potential sires. Several are turned down because they aren't health tested. Another for not having a good enough record. Finally, he finds the right sire: the dog has been titled in both conformation showing AND Earthdog Trials, as well as being health tested and clear of defects!
The (supervised) breeding takes place, while John B. Goodbreeder begins screening people who have displayed interest in reserving a puppy. The puppies are born. They are amazing!!!
Joan Niceperson, Jane's sister, has had three Westies. Recently, her beloved old Westie died of old age. She misses having a dog, and dearly loves the wonderful West Highland White breed. Her friend (who attends Earthdog trials with a pair of Jack Russels) tells her about John's litter. Joan calls him and after discussing her needs in a dog and such, he puts her down for a reserved puppy.
Puppies get born, raised, and (when old enough) sent home to their new owners. Joan is thrilled with her new pet!!! And her little Westie puppy is totally free of inheritable health problems, as well as guaranteed healthy via a contract with the breeder.
So! Which dog would YOU claim has "superior genetics?!" The shitty-hipped mutt who will endure pain and arthritis all it's miserable life (while also costing a veritable fortune to it's owner) thanks to inherited defects? Or the puppy carefully planned and bred from sound, health-screened parents?
Are there cases of crossbreds having better genetics than their parents? Sure! Are they the vast minority of crossbreedings? YES! Are there purebreds with inherited problems? Of course!!! Can that be avoided by purchasing puppies from breeders who health-test the parents before breeding? FUCK YES.
Here's my personal anecdote: I have never had a dysplastic purebred. In all the dogs I've owned, not ONE purebred has had shitty hips. Most were German Wirehairs from Jagersbo Kennel (they no longer breed GWPs though, sadly) and they were sound, healthy, perfect. However, I've also had a purebred German Wirehair, a purebred Golden Retriever, and a purebred Cocker Spaniel. All with awesome hips (though the Cocker had a crappy conformed back end, aesthetically; c'est la vie when getting a pet-quality dog!) and no genetic problems or defects.
I also own a little rescue dog. She's a little mutt; she's a cross between Chihuahua and Dachshund. She has bilateral luxating patellas as well as a form of hip dysplasia. Among a litany of other health problems and defects.
SO MUCH FOR HYBRID VIGOR, eh?
This blog entry was originally posted on Jan 22, 2014 @ 20:35. It has been re-posted here for posterity
Monday, October 13, 2014
I Visited A Different Shelter. I Defy You To Tell Me This Isn't Perfect.
I was shocked beyond belief recently when I visited an animal shelter in town here. It was the shelter tied to the local Animal/Vector Control, and an official 501c3 charitable organization.
It was also a nightmarish hellhole of filth, cruelty, disease, and neglect.
Almost immediately after I posted a scathing account of my visit, I was accosted by people claiming that the cruelty and filth I witnessed is acceptable because insert-excuses-here. For example, that it is okay to keep dogs in tiny wire cages in the halls day in day out, living in their own shit and on pee-soaked towels, because there's no more kennels available. It isn't and should NEVER be okay to keep dogs in such inhumane conditions.
I was also made aware that they are NOT the only shelter in town, just the most horrid. I found out there's a shelter (also a 501c3 charity, but privately run and not affiliated with the Animal Control or police) literally less than five minutes drive away. I looked up the address, and lo, it is the same shelter that about four years ago, I got my cat Ember from.
Back then they had major issues with flea outbreaks, sanitation, and were quick to lie to potential adopters to try and move animals.
Let me explain a little. Just a little, for context.
When I first saw Ember, I knew she was my cat. I don't care to discuss the sudden, instant bond we shared here; just suffice to say it was an immediate feeling of adoration and the need to protect and care for her, and she responded with such overwhelming affection I knew she felt an instant bond, too.
In other words, I didn't care what issues (health OR behavior) she might have had, I was taking her home. No need to lie to me, because there would be NOTHING they could have said that would be a deal-breaker.
Yet, they still lied.
The biggest lies were her age, and her health. They insisted she was two years old, because she was an adult when she arrived at the shelter, and she'd been there at the shelter for a solid year. Now...I'm a professional pet groomer, I'm pretty good at telling an old or even geriatric pet apart from a young thang. Ember had "old cat" feel. She was very mature, had some tartar on her teeth, and had a bunch of benign fatty tumors, also known as lipomas. That is primarily an age-related thing. One was larger than a golf ball.
I told them that I don't care if she's two or TWENTY, she's my cat now, I just wanted to know the truth because senior cat care is light years apart from young cat or kitten care. They insisted she's just two.
My vet later confirmed she was in her TEENS when she arrived at that shelter. We estimate she's 17-ish now.
They also told me she had NO health problems. None whatsoever. She smelled awful, had hunks of fur missing, and scabs all over. No health problems MY ASS!!! They insisted she was healthy and that they had the records of her whole year-long stay to prove it.
When I took her to the vet, the vet looked in her ears and found she had SEVERE ear infections, both yeast-based AND bacteria-based, and that she'd had ear infections so long and without treatment that her ear canals are totally messed up with scars and BOTH HER EARDRUMS RUPTURED SOME TIME AGO, due to infection. Because of the damage to her ears, she's almost totally deaf.
The vet said part of the problem, and the cause of her patchy/scabby coat, is because of a flea allergy. The shelter did grudgingly admit they had flea infestations on a regular basis.
It was such a negative experience, I would have cancelled the adoption EXCEPT...I was totally bonded to this cat, and vice versa. But I vowed never to return to that shelter.
After years had gone by, I changed my mind and decided to go have a look, yesterday. It was a different world.
First, the people who run it are all new, and have all new volunteers. They have a really gorgeous new building; no cramped cages in hallways, it's all spacious dog kennels and cat towers. Everything smelled fantastic, it was well organized, and all but one of the animals looked SO HAPPY. They all had soft beds to lie on, toys to play with, fresh water, and clean living spaces. The one dog that was scared was new and huddled in the back of her huge kennel, clutching a soft plush in her mouth as she lay curled up on a soft bed. The kennels were much more than TWICE as large as the city shelter!!!! The city-shelter dogs had no toys or beds to lie on...by contrast, this private shelter animals were so content and calm.
The cat rooms were so pleasant!!! Some cats are allowed to roam the room for extra exercise and socialization. I kept getting accosted by an overly friendly tabby and a pair of normally-shy torties as I looked at the cats taking a break from "floor time." The volunteers, instead of acting like I'm some kind of criminal, were eager to chat with and engage with me, talking about their favorite shelter pets and the pluses as well as minuses of each of their charges.
In short, it is the shelter that every shelter wishes they could be.
Clean. Spacious. Comforting to the animals. Well-lit. Well-maintained. Good sanitation and drainage.
The flea problem is a thing of the past, as is the previous staff and their lying. It's beautiful.
Each pet had a little card describing them, some with photos of the day they arrived. It was this, combined with my keen groomer's eye, that showed me that if a pet arrived in rough shape, they'd be vetted, fed, and groomed as needed. The descriptions of personalities and favorite things, as well as the volunteers telling me about the pets in their charge, speaks volumes about how much attention each animal receives.
I am still leery of taking on shelter pets ever again, but I think I'd like to start volunteering and fostering for this shelter after I graduate. Right now I just don't have TIME, what with being a health-sciences major, but later on when my life is less hectic and I have a place of my own? Yeah, I might try fostering for sure. I saw no less than THREE dogs that seemed promising who simply had a lack of training and manners. A little work polishing their behavior and putting some training on 'em and they would be very ideal companion pets.
It is within the scope of my abilities, so I think I'd like to try.
But Afghan Hound, I hear some say, you hate shelters! Uhm, that is bullshit. I hate BAD shelters. The fact is there's more and more bad shelters out there (over 6,000 shelters were raided for animal cruelty and neglect last year, comprising about a third of all hoarding cruelty cases...so don't try and tell me the bad ones don't exist!) and it has become difficult to find a good one. Indeed, the local Vector/Animal Control affiliated shelter is a sight worthy of nightmares!!!
I am a staunch breeder ally and advocate. But a part of supporting good breeders is to support ethical breed rescue. I would be comfortable offering my services to this particular shelter in the not-too-distant future.
Furthermore, it paints the other, cruel/neglectful/disgusting shelter in even a more disparaging light, since this haven of love and care is literally about a mile or two away from the shithole. It's like heaven and hell on earth for stray or lost animals. Except the actions or inactions of innocent animals don't decide to which place they go, it's simply luck-- or lack thereof.
By the way...I'm still trying to get the rotten shelter reported. I'm holding back a little until an attorney can find more information. Hopefully that shithole can be shut down soon.
It was also a nightmarish hellhole of filth, cruelty, disease, and neglect.
Almost immediately after I posted a scathing account of my visit, I was accosted by people claiming that the cruelty and filth I witnessed is acceptable because insert-excuses-here. For example, that it is okay to keep dogs in tiny wire cages in the halls day in day out, living in their own shit and on pee-soaked towels, because there's no more kennels available. It isn't and should NEVER be okay to keep dogs in such inhumane conditions.
I was also made aware that they are NOT the only shelter in town, just the most horrid. I found out there's a shelter (also a 501c3 charity, but privately run and not affiliated with the Animal Control or police) literally less than five minutes drive away. I looked up the address, and lo, it is the same shelter that about four years ago, I got my cat Ember from.
Back then they had major issues with flea outbreaks, sanitation, and were quick to lie to potential adopters to try and move animals.
Let me explain a little. Just a little, for context.
When I first saw Ember, I knew she was my cat. I don't care to discuss the sudden, instant bond we shared here; just suffice to say it was an immediate feeling of adoration and the need to protect and care for her, and she responded with such overwhelming affection I knew she felt an instant bond, too.
In other words, I didn't care what issues (health OR behavior) she might have had, I was taking her home. No need to lie to me, because there would be NOTHING they could have said that would be a deal-breaker.
Yet, they still lied.
The biggest lies were her age, and her health. They insisted she was two years old, because she was an adult when she arrived at the shelter, and she'd been there at the shelter for a solid year. Now...I'm a professional pet groomer, I'm pretty good at telling an old or even geriatric pet apart from a young thang. Ember had "old cat" feel. She was very mature, had some tartar on her teeth, and had a bunch of benign fatty tumors, also known as lipomas. That is primarily an age-related thing. One was larger than a golf ball.
I told them that I don't care if she's two or TWENTY, she's my cat now, I just wanted to know the truth because senior cat care is light years apart from young cat or kitten care. They insisted she's just two.
My vet later confirmed she was in her TEENS when she arrived at that shelter. We estimate she's 17-ish now.
They also told me she had NO health problems. None whatsoever. She smelled awful, had hunks of fur missing, and scabs all over. No health problems MY ASS!!! They insisted she was healthy and that they had the records of her whole year-long stay to prove it.
When I took her to the vet, the vet looked in her ears and found she had SEVERE ear infections, both yeast-based AND bacteria-based, and that she'd had ear infections so long and without treatment that her ear canals are totally messed up with scars and BOTH HER EARDRUMS RUPTURED SOME TIME AGO, due to infection. Because of the damage to her ears, she's almost totally deaf.
The vet said part of the problem, and the cause of her patchy/scabby coat, is because of a flea allergy. The shelter did grudgingly admit they had flea infestations on a regular basis.
It was such a negative experience, I would have cancelled the adoption EXCEPT...I was totally bonded to this cat, and vice versa. But I vowed never to return to that shelter.
After years had gone by, I changed my mind and decided to go have a look, yesterday. It was a different world.
First, the people who run it are all new, and have all new volunteers. They have a really gorgeous new building; no cramped cages in hallways, it's all spacious dog kennels and cat towers. Everything smelled fantastic, it was well organized, and all but one of the animals looked SO HAPPY. They all had soft beds to lie on, toys to play with, fresh water, and clean living spaces. The one dog that was scared was new and huddled in the back of her huge kennel, clutching a soft plush in her mouth as she lay curled up on a soft bed. The kennels were much more than TWICE as large as the city shelter!!!! The city-shelter dogs had no toys or beds to lie on...by contrast, this private shelter animals were so content and calm.
The cat rooms were so pleasant!!! Some cats are allowed to roam the room for extra exercise and socialization. I kept getting accosted by an overly friendly tabby and a pair of normally-shy torties as I looked at the cats taking a break from "floor time." The volunteers, instead of acting like I'm some kind of criminal, were eager to chat with and engage with me, talking about their favorite shelter pets and the pluses as well as minuses of each of their charges.
In short, it is the shelter that every shelter wishes they could be.
Clean. Spacious. Comforting to the animals. Well-lit. Well-maintained. Good sanitation and drainage.
The flea problem is a thing of the past, as is the previous staff and their lying. It's beautiful.
Each pet had a little card describing them, some with photos of the day they arrived. It was this, combined with my keen groomer's eye, that showed me that if a pet arrived in rough shape, they'd be vetted, fed, and groomed as needed. The descriptions of personalities and favorite things, as well as the volunteers telling me about the pets in their charge, speaks volumes about how much attention each animal receives.
I am still leery of taking on shelter pets ever again, but I think I'd like to start volunteering and fostering for this shelter after I graduate. Right now I just don't have TIME, what with being a health-sciences major, but later on when my life is less hectic and I have a place of my own? Yeah, I might try fostering for sure. I saw no less than THREE dogs that seemed promising who simply had a lack of training and manners. A little work polishing their behavior and putting some training on 'em and they would be very ideal companion pets.
It is within the scope of my abilities, so I think I'd like to try.
But Afghan Hound, I hear some say, you hate shelters! Uhm, that is bullshit. I hate BAD shelters. The fact is there's more and more bad shelters out there (over 6,000 shelters were raided for animal cruelty and neglect last year, comprising about a third of all hoarding cruelty cases...so don't try and tell me the bad ones don't exist!) and it has become difficult to find a good one. Indeed, the local Vector/Animal Control affiliated shelter is a sight worthy of nightmares!!!
I am a staunch breeder ally and advocate. But a part of supporting good breeders is to support ethical breed rescue. I would be comfortable offering my services to this particular shelter in the not-too-distant future.
Furthermore, it paints the other, cruel/neglectful/disgusting shelter in even a more disparaging light, since this haven of love and care is literally about a mile or two away from the shithole. It's like heaven and hell on earth for stray or lost animals. Except the actions or inactions of innocent animals don't decide to which place they go, it's simply luck-- or lack thereof.
By the way...I'm still trying to get the rotten shelter reported. I'm holding back a little until an attorney can find more information. Hopefully that shithole can be shut down soon.
Sunday, October 12, 2014
New Location, Same Old Snark
Very short entry because this is mostly just an update. The previous website I was blogging on? It keeps blipping in and out, and claiming a "502 Bad Gateway." Several times in a discussion, I have tried to link people to my blog, only to find that they get stuck with that message, unable to read it. Enough is enough.
To be perfectly honest, I chose that site because it has the bonus of being FREE. Clearly, I've been getting what I paid for...i.e., jack shit.
This "Blogger" tool is tied to Google, so hopefully it won't suck and fail as much as the last one. I will be slowly, slooowly converting many of my older entries onto this new blog. Plus I have several new entries cooking.
Here's a tiny preview of my next blog entry: So I had previously visited the local animal shelter tied to the Animal/Vector control and police, and found it to be a cesspool, a house of horrors, and full of cruelty and neglect. Less than FIVE MINUTES drive away is another shelter...so yesterday I visited the other shelter. This one is privately run, and here's the heart of the matter: it was BEAUTIFUL.
Proof that a no-kill shelter, done RIGHT, doesn't have to be a house of cruelty and filth.
Until then, my friends!!!!
To be perfectly honest, I chose that site because it has the bonus of being FREE. Clearly, I've been getting what I paid for...i.e., jack shit.
This "Blogger" tool is tied to Google, so hopefully it won't suck and fail as much as the last one. I will be slowly, slooowly converting many of my older entries onto this new blog. Plus I have several new entries cooking.
Here's a tiny preview of my next blog entry: So I had previously visited the local animal shelter tied to the Animal/Vector control and police, and found it to be a cesspool, a house of horrors, and full of cruelty and neglect. Less than FIVE MINUTES drive away is another shelter...so yesterday I visited the other shelter. This one is privately run, and here's the heart of the matter: it was BEAUTIFUL.
Proof that a no-kill shelter, done RIGHT, doesn't have to be a house of cruelty and filth.
Until then, my friends!!!!
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