National vet debate in UK on pedigree dogs

The two speakers were introduced by BVA president elect Peter Jones.

“It’s been three years since Pedigree Dogs Exposed and the fall-out has been significant,” he said. “Rarely has a TV programme caused quite the amount of discussion and impassioned debate that this did.”

It also resulted in three enquiries into dog breeding and the formation of the advisory council.

Prof Crispin began by saying how easy it was to talk about how many problems there were but not so easy to come up with solutions.
“This is where the veterinary profession has to play a part in helping out,” she said. “What happened after Pedigree Dogs Exposed was screened shows the value of prime time TV and its shock value,” she said.

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Prof Crispin [...] discussed the advisory council’s work so far and the KC’s efforts to address the issue of canine health since Pedigree Dogs Exposed was broadcast in 2008.

However, Prof Crispin said she believed ‘showing had gone in a funny direction’ and that it was time that show dogs should return to being ‘fit to do what they are designed to do’.

She called on all welfare organisations to ensure they had a single, unified message, even if this meant compromise.

“I said at the first advisory council meeting that we were all there because we liked dogs, and that everything else must be set aside,” she said.

Prof Crispin listed the top seven clinical canine problems as compiled by the advisory council. These are: brachycephalic airway syndrome; limb defects; ocular disease, secondary to conformation problems; heart disease with a known or suspected hereditary basis; separation related behaviour problems; syringomyelia and epilepsy.

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