My vet say the 'invention' of pedigree dogs was one of the 'best' thing to happen to his profession (he was being ironic) - so many of them have health problems which need expensive treatment that are directly related to being inbred. My mother Cav had the usual things - heart murmur, Kidney failure, back problems. Cav's were started in the 1920's (there was a craze for all things restoration) from a microscopic pool of starter dogs (I think no more that 4 or 5 animals) - a recipe for disaster. The situation with pug, bulldogs and shar pei's is even worse. Who is to blame for this? The Kennel club & their breed standards thats who! I'm very glad we don't have a tortoise equivalent of Crufts (not that any of mine would be in with a chance)
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