Gone too soon? Enough already.

By Carol Beuchat PhD

Minutes ago, my friend lost her beloved dog to cancer. At 7 years old. That is only half a life for a dog.

It's heartbreaking. Even worse, for this breed it has become predictable. Every owner of this breed knows there is a good chance that there's a time bomb in the family dog. 

I had surgery on my right wrist last week and it's difficult for me to type, or I would no doubt pound out another rant like the one I had about Dobermans dropping dead a few weeks ago. I can't do that today. But I still have something to say.

Breeders will probably declare that they are determined to defeat this cancer. They will pay for more research on treatments, they will fund searches for the offending genes, they will support studies that hope to identify environmental factors that might be involved. So far, we have learned nothing at all that will reduce the probability of a dog being diagnosed with cancer in its prime, in this breed or in any other. The problem is simple. Inbreeding and loss of the genetic diversity necessary to produce healthy dogs. We have broken the dog.

Here's the truth. We don't need more research about cancer. We would like cancer to be one of those things we never have to worry about, like catching a skin disease from a camel. You shouldn't need to know anything at all about cancer if you want to add a dog to your family and indeed, the average pet owner doesn't. But the breeders sure do. It "comes with the breed".

When will we declare enough already? Inbreeding is killing our beloved purebred dogs, in dozens of breed-specific ways. How can the effort to solve this problem be worse than the pain from hundreds of broken hearts? How can we profess to be "responsible" breeders yet not be horrified by the fact that we can predict the untimely deaths of the dogs we create? 

Something is very, very wrong. What we need to do is so obvious - but it won't happen.  Why? Because "breeders will never do it".

Dogs chose to join us tens of thousands of years ago in a most remarkable partnership. Dogs truly are God's gift to mankind. If not for them, the trajectory of civilization would be very different. And what would we be without dogs as our best friends? What would your life be like without dogs?

I'm really, really sad. And really, really mad. Everyone offers condolences. "They're never with us long enough", and "I feel your pain", and "Remember the wonderful memories". And I too, am so, so sorry. But damn it, THIS IS NOT OKAY.

Only the breeders can fix this. Enough already. Get it done.
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Rest in peace, sweet Fabes. We MUST do better. THIS IS NOT OKAY. I won't let them forget you.