Norway took the unprecedented decision to ban the breeding of two dog breeds, because of the suffering they experience due to the peculiarities that make them attractive, such as the small skull or the very flattened snout.
In a trial that gave much to talk about, the Oslo court prohibited the breeding of the English bulldog and the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel because they experience suffering incompatible with the animal protection law.
By dint of inbreeding and consanguinity, the two breeds developed hereditary diseases in almost all individuals, or in all. The list is long.
The verdict, greeted by activists for the animal cause and criticized by breeders, has as a background a debate that is growing in the world about the search for attractiveness in animal husbandry that affects their well-being.
“Many of the breeding breeds are very inbred and carry many diseases,” Åshild Roaldset, president of the Norwegian Animal Welfare Society, who filed the lawsuit against dog companies and private breeders, told AFP.
“We have to change the ways we breed dogs. The way we do it was maybe acceptable 50 years ago, but not now,” he adds.
Dog with a patibularia image, but sweet, especially popularized in the cartoon Titi and Grosminet and associated with the spirit of English resistance during the Second World War, the bulldog accumulates respiratory difficulties due to the flattened snout, and also due to dermatological, reproductive problems and orthopedics.
More than half of those dogs born in the last ten years in Norway came into the world by caesarean section.
“The genetic inability of the breed to give birth naturally is one of the reasons why the bulldog can no longer be used for breeding,” the judges said.
As for the Cavalier King Charles – who won the hearts of many famous people in history, including Louis XIV, Ronald Reagan and Sylvester Stallone – their build makes them often prone to headaches because their skulls are too small. , heart failure and eye problems.
For Roaldset, the insufficiency of genetic diversity on a global scale leads these races towards extinction. “And that will be very painful for the animals, because they will have more and more diseases,” he says.
Dogs without papers
Because there was an appeal, the verdict released on January 31 does not yet have the force of law, but it caused surprise among professionals.
“They say that dogs are born with headaches. I can’t believe it,” says Lise Gran-Henriksen, a breeder for 25 years, as she watches Cavalier King Charless race on the ice around her Oslo home.
“If that were the case, they would not be so happy. They are happy dogs that walk around and appear to be in good health, because they enjoy it,” he says.
Professionals do not question the “challenges” that both breeds face, but believe that they can be overcome by practicing selective breeding with well-controlled animals through various tests.
They then point out that the verdict does not prohibit the possession, sale or import of bulldogs and Cavaliers, only their breeding.
While walking her bulldog Oscar in a park in Oslo, Anne Grethe Holen fears that the flow of “undocumented dogs” from “dog factories” abroad will increase.
“The demand is not going to stop, but the dogs sold will have many more diseases,” he says. “Neither veterinary control will be required and their lineage will not be known,” she adds.
For the Humane Society, the destiny of both breeds goes through crossing with other species to reduce their genetic weaknesses.
“If the Cavalier dog managed to have a bigger skull to house his brain, he would still be the most charming dog in the world,” Roaldset said.
“And if the bulldog becomes less wrinkled, with a longer snout and a more robust skeleton, it will not be uglier and will remain a bulldog,” he added.
