Documentary That Was Not Very True

Late last night, there was a documentary on TV about breeding of dogs, on the TV show Insider. The documentary addressed the issue that some dog breeds have inherited illnesses, their examples were of some of the breeds with the biggest problems. Then they tried to prove the point that all breeding of pure races lead to unhealthy dogs. This is, of course, not true. The Shiba Inu breed is but one example that could refute their story.

In the documentary, they also interviewed a woman who was involved with a club for human owning mix bred dogs. She claimed that the focus on pure breeds in the Swedish Kennel Club is racism. She is wrong. Pure breeding of dogs cannot be compared to racism among humans. Dog breeders have no prejudices against other breeds, they don't consider other breeds to be worth less. It is just that different dog breeds are good at different things and fit different people. Among humans, there are so small differences among the breeds that you cannot say any human is better than the other at anything because of his or her race. Many biologists even say it is unscientific to talk about human races, because the differences are so small and often don't follow the borders between what you would often say was one race.

The breeding of pure breeds is about preserving a heritage and knowing what you will get. You never know what a mix bred dog will be like. The documentary did not explain this at all. In short, it was really bad.