page_title: Pedigree Dogs Exposed
section_title: Drastic change
hierarchical_section_title: Pedigree Dogs Exposed / Content / Drastic change
caption_attribution_description: Basset Hound nl:Categorie:Afbeelding hond
context_page_description: Pedigree Dogs Exposed is a BBC One investigative documentary, produced by Jemima Harrison, which looks into health and welfare issues facing pedigree dogs in the United Kingdom. It was originally broadcast on 19 August 2008.
  The Kennel Club, the governing body of pedigree dogs in the UK which runs the prestigious dog breed show Crufts, was criticised for allowing breed standards, judging standards and breeding practices to compromise the health of pedigree dogs.
  The programme generated much criticism of the Kennel Club. It also caused various sponsors and trade exhibitors to withdraw their participation from Crufts and other Kennel Club events. The BBC—which has broadcast Crufts for 42 years—withdrew its coverage of Crufts for 2009, and chose not to renew it for 2010.
  The Kennel Club initially denied the filmmakers' assertion that many dogs suffer from diseases and stated that the vast majority of dog breeds are healthy. It also lodged a complaint with broadcasting regulator Ofcom, claiming unfair treatment and editing. Due to strong public opinion, it later rolled out new health plans and reviewed breed standards for every breed.
context_section_description: Old photos of the Dachshund, Basset Hound, Bull Terrier, Bulldog, Pug and German Shepherd Dog were shown to illustrate how much the breeds have changed over the past century. The German Shepherd Dog used in the show ring was contrasted with the working German Shepherd Dog, which still looks much like the German Shepherd Dog of old.
  Crufts Judge Terry Hannan insisted that the working German Shepherd Dogs are anatomically incorrect, and that it is the show dog that conforms to the breed standard. When it was put to the Chairman of the Basset Hound Club that they were breeding deformed congenital dwarfs, he rejected that accusation, claiming that current Basset Hounds look very much like those of the 1800s. When shown a photo of a Basset Hound from 60 years ago, he was less than impressed.
  Countering Bulldog breeders' claims that the breed's extreme traits, such as a severe underbite and facial wrinkles, are for historical fighting purposes, historian David Hancock pointed out that "the way in which breeders try to justify the short face, the excessive wrinkling and the physique it now depicts as being traditional is just simply untrue." The programme stated that Bulldog heads have become so large that the majority are unable to give birth naturally and puppies must be born by Caesarian section.
  The boxer breed was presented as suffering from heart diseases and high rate of cancer; one Boxer was shown having an epileptic seizure.
  According to the programme, dogs were initially bred for practical functions such as hunting and guarding, but in the middle of the 19th century they became a status symbol and dog breeding became a sport. The function of the dog then became secondary to appearance. RSPCA Chief Vet Mark Evans called the Crufts show "a parade of mutants" and "a freakish, garish beauty pageant that has frankly nothing to do with health and welfare." He pointed out that breed standards take no account of temperament and fitness for purpose.
caption: The Basset Hound was called a "deformed congenital dwarf."
exif: {}