Kennel Clubs, Stop Awarding Dogs Who Can’t Breathe Properly, Says PETA

Westminster and American Kennel Clubs Admonished to Follow U.K.’s Lead and Banish Dogs With Health Problems Caused by Inbreeding

For Immediate Release:
March 15, 2018

Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382

This morning, PETA sent letters calling on the New York–based Westminster Kennel Club and American Kennel Club to each follow the lead of the U.K.’s Kennel Club, which has taken steps—including just this month and as far back as 2016—to ensure that dogs suffering from health problems caused by being bred specifically for show aren’t given awards, including telling judges of Sunday’s Crufts dog show not to award dogs bred to have exaggerated features. Noting that the aesthetic standards of the American Kennel Club can leave dogs crippled from hip dysplasia and in near-constant pain, PETA is urging the clubs to adopt the same mandate.

“Breeding dogs to have debilitating physical traits glorifies the obsession that ‘show people’ have with making money from so-called ‘purebreds’ while subjecting animals to a lifetime of suffering,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling on the Westminster and American kennel clubs to adopt policies whereby animals with painful distorted features, such as flat-faced dogs with obstructed airways, aren’t given prizes.”

PETA’s motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to use for entertainment.” For more information, please visit PETA.org.