Animals as We Like Them

By Aislinn Ambrose-Rossow

Throughout history, humans have meddled with the appearance of animals to make them more appealing to the human eye. Breeding animals to display certain visual characteristics is often detrimental to the wellbeing of the animals themselves. To obtain what a human desires in an animal, an animal may have to be bred artificially, incestually, or unnaturally - sometimes suffering from major health issues as a result.

It is uncertain when and how humans domesticated the wolf into what we now know as the dog. In 13th century to 18th century England, humans bred dogs to display certain traits, such as having muscular builds and aggression (Robitzki, 2017). A large reason behind this was the popular betting sport of bull and bear baiting. In bull baiting, a chained bull has a pack of dogs set on it with the goal to take down the animal. Bulldogs are said to have been so tenacious in their fighting of the bull that they would continue their attacks even with their entrails hanging from their sides. One dog was even documented to have all four paws cut off and still relentlessly attack the bull (“The history of bulldogs and bull baiting,” n.d.). 

Bull baiting was finally banned and enforced in England in 1835. However, while the cruelty associated with bull baiting came to an end, there were still long lasting consequences for the bulldogs. These dogs often suffer from elongated soft palates due to their unnaturally short muzzles, which can cause them to have great difficulty breathing (“Brachycephalic syndrome,” n.d.). The wrinkles in their face are also the perfect environment for bacteria to grow and fester, causing inflammation and infection. Bulldogs also must give birth through caesarean section as the dogs’ heads and shoulders are too big to be birthed naturally (“Five common problems in pedigree dogs,” n.d.).

​German Shepherds are another breed that has suffered due to selective breeding. German Shepherds were developed in the early 1900s as a herding animal, are a very popular breed today. These dogs have an unusual build in which their haunches are significantly lower than their chest. This ultimately results in a large number of these dogs developing hip dysplasia. This can cause dogs great pain throughout the entire course of their life and eventually lead to osteoarthritis. Up to 49% of German shepherds may be afflicted with hip dysplasia (“Genetic welfare problems of companion animals,” n.d.). This number is much higher and nowhere near that of other breeds that are also considered to have high rates of hip dysplasia such as labradors and rottweilers. It is possible to assess a dog’s risk for hip dysplasia using what is known as the PennHIP scheme, but it is not utilized nearly enough. It is the responsibility of breeders to ensure the health of the offspring their dogs, and the fact that the PennHIP scheme exists but is not being utilized is disgraceful.

Humans meddle not only in the development of domestic animals, but also in that of wild animals. White tigers, for example, are the result of breeding two Bengal tigers with the recessive trait that makes their coats appear white. To pass the gene down, breeders often mate father with daughter or brother with sister. It is even speculated that all captive white tigers today are descendants of a single white tiger. This inbreeding causes major health issues for the tigers, including mental difficulties, scoliosis and crossed eyes (“The truth about white tigers,” 2016). Many white tiger cubs are born deformed and are either disposed of or die soon after birth.

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Kenny was a white tiger famous for his facial distortions as a result of inbreeding. His muzzle was very short, and his teeth and tongue hung out in an unnatural manner – not unlike the average bulldog. Kenny died in 2008 at age 10, only half the average age for captive tigers. His brother, Willie, suffered from a pair of visibly crossed eyes. The optic nerves are always crossed in white tigers, but this often isn’t obvious to the outside observer. Willie, however, really brings this defect to light (Schelling, 2015).This inbreeding causes harm not only for the white tigers being bred but for the species as a whole, adding undesirable and unhealthy genes into the Bengal tiger gene pool. 

Bengal tiger populations are currently dwindling at only just above 2,500individuals. Rather than focusing on white tigers, captive tiger breeding programs should focus on generating healthy cubs that may one day be able to be introduced to the wild. Any increase in tiger populations due to white tiger breeding is more than offset by the continued input of poor genetics, further harming the species as a whole. For all these reasons, white tiger breeding must be stopped.
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Another way that humans are creating issues for wildlife conservation efforts is through the breeding of ligers and tigons. A liger is the result of a male tiger mating with a female lion and a tigon is the result of the mating of a female tiger with a male lion. These hybrids are mainly bred, as are white tigers, to bring in paying visitors to a facility. Lions and tigers rarely overlap in the wild, and have never been documented to have bred in the wild. The offspring of lion and tiger hybrids often die prematurely and suffer with health issues throughout their brief lives. (Actman, 2017) The only reason to breed lions and tigers together is for profit, and this is completely immoral. Like breeding white tigers, the breeding of ligers and tigons only takes away from conservation efforts by mating healthy animals to produce non-viable offspring.
While human intervention in non-human animal species can occasionally be beneficial, the unhealthy breeding of these animals needs to stop immediately. Breeding of non-human animals must be closely monitored to ensure only the healthiest offspring, and this means assessing breeding animals’ risk for passing on unhealthy genes and to stop incestual breeding. Humans concerned about the issues addressed in this post should choose to only support trustworthy breeders and should avoid any zoos that promote a white tiger or liger breeding program.
 

​References
Bengal Tiger. (2018). Retrieved October 11, 2018, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/bengal-tiger
Five common problems in pedigree dogs. (n.d.). Retrieved October 6, 2018, from https://www.rspca.org.au/campaigns/pedigree-dogs/five-common-problems-pedigree-dogs
Genetic welfare problems of companion animals. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2018, from https://www.ufaw.org.uk/dogs/german-shepherd---hip-dysplasia
PennHIP | Antech Imaging Services. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2018, from https://info.antechimagingservices.com/pennhip/
Robitzki, D. (2017, September 25). The (de-)evolution of the bulldog. Retrieved October 9, 2018, from https://scienceline.org/2017/09/de-evolution-bulldog/
Schelling, A. (2015, December 05). This Is Why No One Should Ever Breed White Tigers. Retrieved October 10, 2018, from https://www.thedodo.com/truth-about-white-tiger-breeding-1492535969.html
Brachycephalic syndrome. (n.d.). Retrieved October 8, 2018, from https://www.acvs.org/small-animal/brachycephalic-syndrome
The history of bulldogs and bull baiting. (n.d.). Retrieved October 6, 2018, from http://englishbulldog.net/the-history-of-bulldogs-and-bull-baiting.html
The truth about white tigers. (2016, December 29). Retrieved October 6, 2018, from https://www.wildcatsanctuary.org/the-truth-about-white-tigers/
Actman, J. (2017, July 11). Cat Experts: Ligers and Other Designer Hybrids Pointless and Unethical. Retrieved October 11, 2018, from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/wildlife-watch-liger-tigon-big-cat-hybrid/

Author Bio

Aislinn Ambrose-Rossow is a full-time student at Minnesota State University, Mankato. She has grown up surrounded by animals her entire life, and has greatly enjoyed her many years spent in the Minnesota countryside. She has a great interest in the welfare of animals and the environment’s impact on animals.