Question:
Humans have been breeding animals for a countless number of years. We have changed species so drastically that some breeds do not even remotely resemble their wild ancestors. Some of these changes were so the animal could serve a purpose, but others have been purely for the sake of beauty.
Look at white dobermans. Despite the claims of breeders, white dobermans are very prone to skin cancer, sunburn, light sensetivity (to the point that many do not even want to go outside!), and often have shorter lives than other colours.
Pug dogs and persian cats were always just an ornamental breed. Their short faces cause breathing problems, and breeders just keep breeding them even shorter.
Munchkin cats sicken me. They are likely to have the same back problems as a doxie, as well as mobility problems, and unlike the doxie, they were not even bred that way for a purpose other than looks.
Even in rabbits you can see the result of selecting purely for looks. Netherland Dwarfs have two genes that cause problems. The dwarfing gene causes some babies to die within a few days if they have two dwarfing genes. Since the breed standard basically requires that a showable rabbit have one dwarfing gene, breeding two showable rabbits together results in double dwarfed babies that die. At least with this gene, breeders can choose to keep non dwarfed rabbits to breed to the dwarfed rabbits, resulting in no double dwarf babies.
However, there is another gene called the max factor gene. This causes severe deformities in kits including twisted limbs, extra toes or nails, eyes open at birth, and often death. Max factor carriers often have better coats and heads, so some breeders actually try to keep it in their herd. Thankfully it is not prevelant in other breeds.
I can understand that some breeds already have set standards, and those standards were written many, many years ago. However, breeders do not need to keep pushing the limits to see just how mutated they can make a species. New mutations that are harmful should not be perpetuated. I do not even mind mutations that just make the owner have to provide special care, like lopped ears or long hair, as long as the animal can still remain in comfort with the special care.
Please, if anyone else has comments on this, let me know! I am always willing to hear both sides, and though I may not agree, I promise to keep disagreement to polite debating. No arguing.


Answer:
no arguement here dione!!! working in a vet clinic i see this on a regular basis. we had a valley bull dog pup brought into work that his nose was so pushed in that he had to open mouth breath. then they were talking about breeding him!!! i just about fell through the floor when they said that.
people forget that that cute dumbo blazed rex rat is just a genetic mutation of the old sewer rat outside. people are obcessed with cuteness.


Answer:
Totally 100% agree with ya...and I am in vet school and have worked in a vet office i know exactly what you mean....they do not care about what the animal goes through as long as it looks the way they want it too....sickening!


Answer:
Even in my mini rex, which have the dwarfing gene, I like to keep the non-dwarf does for breeding. Not only do they give me larger litters, but they also do not produce peanuts (double dwarfs that die shortly after birth). I do still get some peanuts in my breedings, but I avoid them as much as possible. Even from a breeding standpoint, if you did not care about the animals at all, it makes sense to get more in a litter and not loose babies. I even have some non-dwarf mini rex that are small enough to show, which I am really proud of. That way I do not worry about peanuts OR show size.
I hate seeing those poor animals suffer just because of "fashion." They do not have the choice of being healthy or not because humans choose to make them the way they are.


Answer:
Peanuts are a major downfall of some of the smaller breeds....we get some in breeding our Fuzzy's and I can only hope they die quickly because for me it is worse to actually have them live 2 or 3 weeks then die, and I have had a few do that....it is so heartbreaking.....
People who raise Australian Shepards face a similar thing as rabbit breeders with peanuts only they can avoid it so much easier....if two Merles (which are colors for those who don't know) are mated they have the potential to throw pure white Aussies...the only downfall is they are almost always deaf and blind.....The breeder then has to make the decision to end the puppies life right after birth or raise it and hope for the best....when it can be avoided by simply not breeding 2 merles together.....some breeders still do this however because merle x merle crossings have very pretty colored pups and they don't care about those lil' white pups that may show up......grow a heart people!


Answer:
No argument here. I think that humans have taken breeding too far in some cases.


Answer:
I would rather have a "less pretty" animal than dead or deformed babies! Besides, what defines "pretty?" It is different for each person. Most people think ruby eyed white (albino) rabbits are either too plain or even creepy, but I think they are GORGEOUS!


Answer:
I myself like REW also....when I raised Netherlands that was what the main portion of my herd was....I just loved them....for Aussies, Merles are just gorgeous in my opinion and in most other people's opinions so that is why greedy breeders would chance breeding merle to merle for that awesome coloring.....they just don't seem to care about those few that come out pure white....it is beyond me how people can put prices on animals like that....i guess we will never know.............


Answer:
my himi dwarf has red eyes and i love them!!
its the same in the rat world right now too, people wanting cuteness i mean. having problems keeping my rattery open because there are a few newer ones that are pumping out the damnedess cute rats you ever seen but she is a little less then ethical because she sells them to petstores among other things. and she can have babies to just have babies so that they are always available too. but sometimes the most ordinary colored rats are just fantastic personality wise.


Answer:
SweetComfort: Oh! I know! The poor white puppies. Blind and/or deaf. Grr. Personally, I do not even like the merle pattern in ANY species of animal. For the most part, I like clear, even colour with much distinction if there is more than one colour. That is why I am rather picky about broken coloured rabbits, and most of the time I prefer solids.
I do not like fur mutations in rats, or dumbo rats. Other than colour, I like rats that are just plain.As far as colours go, I like champagnes, platinum, amber, lynx, himalayan, blue point siamese, and hooded (THERE is a common one!). Other than masked and the himalayan/blue point siames, I do not really like marked rats.
In mice my tastes go a little more exotic. Beige, blue, champagne, dove, lilac, pretty much all the tans, himalayan, blue point siamese, siamese sable, and probably my favourite being reverse siamese. I do also like the pink eyed whites. They are cute.
I agree that the ordinary coloured rats are often the best as far as personality goes. A hooded black is very cute, yet very common. They are one of the "typical" pet rat colours, and I just love them!