:00:14. > :00:18.In August 2008, Pedigree Dogs Exposed explored the extent of
:00:19. > :00:23.health and welfare problems in pedigree dogs and called it the
:00:23. > :00:28.greatest animal welfare scandal of our time. The dogs are falling
:00:28. > :00:33.apart. The number of genetic problems are increasing at a
:00:33. > :00:38.frightening pace. Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Crufts Best
:00:38. > :00:42.in Show. We've become completely and utterly desense tiesed to the
:00:43. > :00:51.fact that breeding deformed, disabled, disease-prone animals is
:00:51. > :00:56.either shocking or abnormal. It's not normal. There is a universe of
:00:56. > :01:03.suffering waiting for many of these breeds and many, if not most of
:01:03. > :01:13.these breeds, will not survive. Pedigree Dogs Exposed turned me
:01:13. > :01:17.into a campaigner. Three years on, I want to see what's changed.
:01:17. > :01:21.incredibly grateful to the Kennel Club. If not for them, Fiona
:01:21. > :01:31.wouldn't be here now. What issues are still crying out for action.
:01:31. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :01:44.The shape of its face is such that I'm deeply saddened that an animal
:01:44. > :01:50.with so much unconditional love is suffering because of our playing
:01:50. > :01:54.God. Why doesn't the Kennel Club say it's unhealthy. Pedigree Dogs
:01:54. > :01:57.Exposed suddenly made everybody, not ordinary dog lovers, vets,
:01:58. > :02:02.scientists, sit up and go, my God, this is ridiculous. Something has
:02:02. > :02:05.to be done. The broadcast of Pedigree Dogs Exposed and the
:02:05. > :02:11.fallout that followed shook the world of pedigree dogs to its
:02:11. > :02:15.foundations. The film triggered three independent inquiries into
:02:15. > :02:23.dog breeding and the setting up of a Dog Advisory Council, chaired by
:02:23. > :02:25.Sheila Crispin. As far as some really reputable breeders went
:02:25. > :02:33.Pedigree Dogs Exposed hurt them. They felt they were being tarred
:02:33. > :02:37.with the same brush. Having said that, the positive, and it's a big
:02:37. > :02:41.positive, is that it stirred from inaction to action for all the
:02:41. > :02:48.things that have worried a lot of us for years. Although there was a
:02:48. > :02:54.lot of shock, horror, I think it did more good than harm. Film was
:02:54. > :03:00.welcomed by many. It's been a wake- up call to everybody involved in
:03:00. > :03:03.dog breeding. There is no question that the veterinary profession see
:03:03. > :03:11.the urgency in what needs to be done, see that they have a key role
:03:11. > :03:15.to play here. But the Kennel Club, the governing body of dogs, didn't
:03:15. > :03:20.agree. It made clear in a webcast posted eight days after the
:03:20. > :03:25.programme was shown. Confidence in the Kennel Club is probably at an
:03:25. > :03:30.all-time low. I think you'd acknowledge that. What can you say
:03:30. > :03:36.to people to restore that confidence? I think what we have to
:03:36. > :03:40.do is to recognise that this is a one-off programme. It was highly
:03:40. > :03:44.one sided. There are very, very many things that the Kennel Club is
:03:44. > :03:48.already doing and is working with breeds to do. I don't think that
:03:48. > :03:55.people actually, if they looked into the reality of it, would find
:03:55. > :03:59.that there was very much to worry about. They felt very wounded. I
:03:59. > :04:02.can't believe they, behind closed doors, afterwards, didn't say, you
:04:02. > :04:11.know what, they've got a point. But there's no way they were going to
:04:11. > :04:15.admit that. Pedigree Dogs Exposed focused on the two main issues
:04:15. > :04:19.while pedigree dogs suffer welfare problems. First we found the
:04:19. > :04:23.genetic pools from which dogs were bred had become so diminish today
:04:23. > :04:27.was putting the viability of entire breeds at risk. It was a shock to
:04:27. > :04:33.me that at the time, the Kennel Club saw nothing wrong in mother to
:04:33. > :04:36.son, father to daughter and sister to brother matings. And seemed
:04:36. > :04:41.oblivious to the scientific evidence that such close in-
:04:41. > :04:45.breeding was a problem. You could say we will no longer register
:04:45. > :04:49.mother son ratings because it's a level of breeding that's
:04:49. > :04:54.unacceptable. Yes, we could. And if that is the right thing to do, we
:04:54. > :04:57.ought to do it. I mean... there's a scientific basis that
:04:57. > :05:02.says that's going to produce healthier, long lived animals that
:05:02. > :05:06.make good pets, of course, we would go along with it. Why don't you
:05:06. > :05:10.know that. It's the basic principles of breeding: It depends
:05:10. > :05:15.on the mother son. If they're the last two. Have you got children?
:05:15. > :05:20.Have you got a daughter? Yes. you have a baby with her? Of course
:05:20. > :05:26.not. That's an entirely different issue. From the Toy Group the
:05:26. > :05:30.Pekingese. It's such a long walk for him. The second reason for
:05:30. > :05:35.problems was that breeding for looks and success in the show ring
:05:35. > :05:39.had led to some dogs being burdened with disabling physical
:05:39. > :05:45.exaggerations. Bless it's heart, the first dog for years that could
:05:45. > :05:50.fit into the cup. What I see in front of me is a parade of mutants,
:05:50. > :05:58.it's a freakish, garish beauty pageant that has nothing to do with
:05:58. > :06:03.health and welfare. The show world is about an obsession, about beauty.
:06:03. > :06:07.There is a ridiculous concept that is how we should judge dogs. Best
:06:07. > :06:11.in breed means you happen to be closest to this thing has been
:06:11. > :06:14.written on a piece of paper as what you should look like. Takes no
:06:14. > :06:21.account of your temperament, your fitness for purpose as a pet animal
:06:21. > :06:26.and that, to me, makes absolutely no sense at all. We also discovered
:06:26. > :06:31.that there were dire consequences for some puppies that didn't meet
:06:31. > :06:35.the stringent standards. One breeder of row deezian ridge backs
:06:35. > :06:41.referring openly to the culling of puppies born without the trade mark
:06:41. > :06:45.ridge. We do have trouble nowadays with the young vets who tend to see
:06:45. > :06:48.everything in black and white and won't put them down. It's a healthy,
:06:48. > :06:53.beautiful puppy, there's nothing wrong with it except it hasn't a
:06:53. > :06:57.ridge. You say well, they're meant to have ridges. It's not easy.
:06:57. > :07:01.Usually we end up having to go to an old vet that we've known for
:07:01. > :07:04.years just to quietly put them sleep. I would rather they were put
:07:05. > :07:11.down under my care than they landed in the hands of the fighting people,
:07:11. > :07:17.which is appalling. Three weeks after our programme was broadcast,
:07:17. > :07:21.the Kennel Club announced a new code of ethics that explicitly
:07:21. > :07:24.forbids breeders to cull puppies on purely cosmetic grounds. Despite
:07:24. > :07:29.the Kennel Club's initial insistence there was little wrong,
:07:29. > :07:33.two months after the programme, it committed to a review of every
:07:33. > :07:36.breed standard, removing clauses in them that could lead to the
:07:36. > :07:40.disturbing physical extremes we documented. A couple of months
:07:40. > :07:47.after that, it announced a ban on parent to offspring and brother to
:07:47. > :07:52.sister matings. Other measures followed, as we will see. They are
:07:52. > :07:56.all welcome and will help address some significant issues. I think
:07:56. > :08:05.there is a much more fundamental problem that inhibits progress,
:08:05. > :08:09.that is the way in which the dog world is run and regulated. While
:08:09. > :08:15.the Kennel Club's stated goal is to promote, in every way, the general
:08:15. > :08:18.improvement of dogs, at its core, the Kennel Club is a registry which
:08:18. > :08:24.records the lineage of pure bred dogs and runs most dog shows in the
:08:24. > :08:27.UK. It is the breeders who run the breed clubs who judge each others'
:08:27. > :08:34.dogs in the show ring and sit on the rule-making committees at the
:08:34. > :08:38.Kennel Club. Without a regulatory body, whose sole remit is to look
:08:38. > :08:45.out for the dogs, progress has been, at best, slow, and at worst,
:08:45. > :08:49.ineffective. A striking example of this is the Cavalier King Charles
:08:49. > :08:59.spaniel. A breed that we revealed in Pedigree Dogs Exposed to be
:08:59. > :08:59.
:08:59. > :09:03.suffering from a shocking neurological condition. It's called
:09:03. > :09:10.syringomyelia, it is the result of a mismatch between the size of
:09:10. > :09:16.their skull and brain. The brain is like a size ten foot that's been
:09:16. > :09:21.shoved into a size six shoe. It doesn't fit. The net result is
:09:21. > :09:26.neurological damage. The scratching started about 18 months ago. It's
:09:26. > :09:32.really, really sad. It's described in huemans as one of the most
:09:32. > :09:36.painful conditions that you could have, a burning pain, a piston-type
:09:36. > :09:42.headache, abnormal sensations so that even light touch, items of
:09:42. > :09:46.clothing, a collar for example, can induce discomfort for these animals.
:09:46. > :09:51.Some dogs show only mild or even no symptoms. But at its worse, the
:09:51. > :10:01.dogs are clearly in agony. This dog was in so much pain that he was put
:10:01. > :10:01.
:10:01. > :10:06.to sleep. As if that wasn't enough, calf leers suffer heart disease too.
:10:06. > :10:14.By the time they're five, about half of all calf leers will have a
:10:14. > :10:18.Murray and that -- murmur. By ten or 11 almost all have a heart
:10:18. > :10:22.murmur of some description. Pedigree Dogs Exposed showed that
:10:22. > :10:25.cavaliers were juggling two horrific inherited conditions.
:10:25. > :10:29.While my 2008 some measures were taken to tackle them, they were not
:10:29. > :10:34.enough given the scale of the suffering. There was a lot of work
:10:34. > :10:37.went on in the early days between the Kennel Club and cavalier clubs
:10:38. > :10:42.to establish the wherewithal for their heart screen prog Graeme.
:10:42. > :10:48.it's not worked. Well, this is a rather, but what might have
:10:48. > :10:52.happened if they'd done nothing? You answer that. If they'd done
:10:52. > :10:57.absolutely nothing, where would the breed be today, do you think?
:10:57. > :11:02.you're saying it could be worse? That's not good enough, is it?
:11:02. > :11:05.course not. It's progress though. Not in my book and with no-one in
:11:05. > :11:11.any official capacity enforcing change, it was left to a whistle-
:11:11. > :11:14.blower in the breed to raise the alarm. We were tipped off that the
:11:14. > :11:21.winning dog at this championship show had been diagnosed with
:11:21. > :11:26.syringomyelia. There are no rules to stop anyone showing a dog with
:11:26. > :11:32.an inherited disease, but it was an uncomfortable moment for owner
:11:32. > :11:35.Beverly Costello when challenged. It's been alleged to us that Rollo
:11:36. > :11:42.has syringomyelia, is that true? Right. I'm not going to comment on
:11:42. > :11:51.that. I know it to be the case because I have seen the MRI scans
:11:51. > :11:55.of this dog. His owner showed me the scans. Could there be any
:11:55. > :12:02.mistake about what you saw? You're not a vet. No, but I've seen
:12:02. > :12:07.a lot of scans. And you're on the health committee of course. Yes.
:12:07. > :12:13.The specialist who diagnosed champ dog Rollo tolled the owner that she
:12:13. > :12:19.should never breed from him. He's sired some litters but not many.
:12:19. > :12:27.Which was not actually true. At the time of filming, Rollo had fathered
:12:27. > :12:32.34 litters, 266 them since being diagnosed. When we bumped -- 26 of
:12:32. > :12:35.them since being diagnosed. Surprised to see you here.
:12:35. > :12:39.turned out that they're furious, not with Beverly Costello for
:12:39. > :12:43.breeding from a dog with syringomyelia but with us for
:12:43. > :12:49.ruining Beverley's big day. Could I ask you why you were so
:12:49. > :12:53.upset to see us this morning? Breed Club championship show,
:12:54. > :12:57.entering the ring and discussing with the Best in Show winner about
:12:57. > :13:03.syringomyelia was completely out of order. But do you think that a dog
:13:03. > :13:06.should win with syringomyelia? Do you think that's right? I do
:13:06. > :13:14.believe that if something's not done, it's going to be too late to
:13:14. > :13:21.do anything. If going public is the way to get people to stop and think
:13:21. > :13:26.what they're doing, then that's what I will do. But Margaret paid
:13:26. > :13:30.the price. Three weeks after the programme, the Cavalier Club called
:13:30. > :13:34.a special general meeting to decide Margaret's future. There was a
:13:34. > :13:40.gagging clause in the club's code of ethics, which prevented members
:13:40. > :13:44.saying anything detrimental about the breed. It was always said that
:13:44. > :13:49.talking about health ruined the breed, so as for as they were
:13:49. > :13:53.concerned, I had ruined the breed. We sent a photographer to the
:13:53. > :14:03.special general meeting, which didn't go down very well with one
:14:03. > :14:04.
:14:04. > :14:11.breeder. I knew that what I had done was right and yet, there were
:14:11. > :14:16.all these people determined to punish me. Margaret was voted off
:14:16. > :14:22.the committee by a majority of 204 to 31.
:14:22. > :14:30.For 30 years I was part of the show scene and it's like a sect, it's
:14:30. > :14:34.like a cult. Plain, common sense doesn't play any part in it.
:14:34. > :14:42.Margaret has since set up a Cavalier Club for pet owners and
:14:43. > :14:49.continues to campaign independently on breed health. Last time we met
:14:49. > :14:53.cavalier owner and campaigner Carol Fowler she was lobbying her MP. She
:14:53. > :14:56.was determined to see through the necessary reform for the breed.
:14:56. > :15:03.Having lost one cavalier to syringomyelia, Carole recognised
:15:03. > :15:09.the need for dogs to be scanned. Let's check Rosie over before the
:15:09. > :15:12.scan. Has she been painful recently? She did occasionally yelp.
:15:12. > :15:16.But she hasn't done that now for a couple of months at least. Three
:15:16. > :15:20.years on from the film, the British Veterinary Association and Kennel
:15:20. > :15:26.Club have just launched a new official MRI screening scheme for
:15:26. > :15:30.syringomyelia. The results will be published on the Kennel Club
:15:30. > :15:36.website allowing the public to check which cavaliers have been
:15:36. > :15:40.scanned before they buy a puppy. It's good news, but there's a hitch.
:15:40. > :15:43.Some influential breeders don't want their dogs' scan results being
:15:43. > :15:48.made public and are not supporting the official scheme. The Kennel
:15:48. > :15:52.Club isn't forcing them to test at the moment. It rarely makes a
:15:52. > :15:56.health test mandatory without the support of the Breed Club. One has
:15:56. > :16:01.the impression that some of the breeders simply have their heads in
:16:01. > :16:06.the sand and they're just not listening. These are unacceptable
:16:07. > :16:11.welfare problems being generated by the breeders. Unless they can
:16:11. > :16:16.actually produce cavaliers have don't have these problems, then
:16:16. > :16:20.they should stop breeding. Cavalier King Charles spaniel club
:16:20. > :16:25.says it has continued to support by its actions the health and well
:16:25. > :16:28.being of this much loved breed. And that it has worked with the Kennel
:16:28. > :16:36.Club and British Veterinary Association on its new scheme to
:16:36. > :16:42.tackle syringomyelia. But there has been some devastating news for the
:16:42. > :16:49.breed. New research now suggests that by the age of six up to 70% of
:16:49. > :16:55.the breed could have the condition. Not all show obvious symptoms, but
:16:55. > :16:59.that doesn't always prevent their pup yids being severely affected.
:17:00. > :17:03.Carol Fowler believes in the absence of support for change from
:17:03. > :17:07.every breeder and without strong leadership from the Kennel Club
:17:07. > :17:12.that it is no longer morally justifiable to continue breeding
:17:12. > :17:18.cavaliers. When people ring and say I want a cavalier puppy, what do
:17:18. > :17:27.you feel inside? My heart sinks. Why? Because I want to say to them,
:17:27. > :17:32.don't get one. Because the chances of having a dog that will develop
:17:32. > :17:38.height ral valve disease and/or syringomyelia is too high.
:17:39. > :17:44.-- mitral valve disease. Do we have the right to carry on for the sake
:17:44. > :17:54.of these cute little dog that's we love so much? It feels, to me, like
:17:54. > :18:04.it isn't right. Surprisingly, the modern cavalier wasn't founded
:18:04. > :18:05.
:18:05. > :18:14.until the 1920s. From creation to ruination in less than 100 years.
:18:14. > :18:20.But it may not be too late for Dalmations. Because in January 2011,
:18:20. > :18:25.the Kennel Club did something that I think was amazing. It recognised
:18:25. > :18:29.this dog as a Dalmation and that was quite something, because Fiona
:18:29. > :18:39.here and others like her, have been the subject of one of the most
:18:39. > :18:39.
:18:39. > :18:46.bitter fights in dogdom. That's because way back in Fiona's bed
:18:46. > :18:52.gree, there is one of these an English pointer. That makes Fiona,
:18:52. > :18:56.in some people's eyes, a mongrel. As we revealed in Pedigree Dogs
:18:56. > :19:02.Exposed, purity is everything to many Kennel Club breeders. Even
:19:02. > :19:07.when it flies in the face of common sense.
:19:07. > :19:11.In 1973 an American scientist and Dalmation breeder Bob Schaible
:19:11. > :19:17.mated a pointer to a Dalmation to reintroduce a vital gene to the
:19:17. > :19:20.breed, one that restored the ability to produce normal levels of
:19:20. > :19:26.uric acid, something the Dalmation had lost, probably through
:19:26. > :19:31.selective breeding for the breed's trade mark spots. The puppies
:19:31. > :19:37.didn't grow up to look much like a Dalmation, but by back crossing to
:19:37. > :19:42.normal Dalmations within a few generations Dr Schaible produced a
:19:42. > :19:46.dog indistinguishable from any other Dalmation but had normal uric
:19:46. > :19:48.acid levels and that was a revelation because high uric acid
:19:48. > :19:53.levels in Dalmations can be a big problem.
:19:53. > :20:00.It killed this dog, Armstrong and this extraordinary video reveals
:20:00. > :20:06.why. It is of the inside of his bladder. It shows how high uric
:20:06. > :20:09.acid levels can show stones in the urinary tract, which can cause
:20:09. > :20:14.life-threatening blockages. Once the stone forms the blockage, it
:20:14. > :20:19.then starts becoming incredibly painful. The dog cannot wee. It
:20:19. > :20:24.cannot empty its bladder. If the dog isn't immediately take ton a
:20:24. > :20:28.vet, the bladder will burst. That means certain death, absolute
:20:28. > :20:34.certain death for the dog. Breeders warn all new Dalmation owners that
:20:35. > :20:39.this is a danger. So it is usually caught in time. But many Dalmations
:20:39. > :20:46.are at risk. They have to be fed a special diet to help prevent stones
:20:46. > :20:53.forming. So what not to like about a line of Dalmations that doesn't
:20:53. > :20:57.suffer from this problem? But when UK breeder Julie Evans decided to
:20:57. > :21:02.import American-born Fiona into the UK, to introduce the healthy gene
:21:02. > :21:07.into Dalmations here, the British Dalmation Club tried to stop her.
:21:08. > :21:13.They insisted that the move was "inappropriate and irresponsible
:21:13. > :21:17."for reasons rejected by the Kennel Club. In January 2011, despite
:21:17. > :21:23.Breed Club opposition, the Kennel Club registered Fiona as a
:21:23. > :21:28.Dalmation. Two months later, she became the first mongrel ever to
:21:28. > :21:34.compete in a show class at Crufts, a milestone I captured on my camera
:21:34. > :21:37.phone. I am incredibly grateful to the Kennel Club. After all, if it
:21:37. > :21:42.wasn't for them, Fiona wouldn't be here now. We wouldn't be speaking
:21:42. > :21:46.now about Fiona and we wouldn't have the gene in this country.
:21:46. > :21:53.November 2011, Fiona gave birth to nine puppies hopefully ensuring
:21:53. > :21:57.that the new gene is here to stay. But there is still resistance from
:21:57. > :22:01.some Dalmation breeders. The British Dalmation Club makes no
:22:01. > :22:09.mention of this healthier alternative Dalmation on its
:22:09. > :22:13.website and it has declined our offer to take part in this film.
:22:13. > :22:17.saddens me beyond words, it really does, when I first did this. I knew
:22:17. > :22:22.the clubs weren't happy about the situation, but I have to say that
:22:22. > :22:26.in my heart of hearts, I really did think they would come round and see
:22:26. > :22:33.the science and the logic. I really, really hoped and thought they would.
:22:33. > :22:38.It hasn't happened yet. God didn't come along and say, there's a
:22:38. > :22:41.Dalmation, there's a labrador, there's a boxer. Dogs breeds are
:22:41. > :22:51.man made. If you make a breed healthier, you take it to the
:22:51. > :22:54.
:22:54. > :22:58.future. It's a beautiful animal. It can be beautiful on the inside.
:22:58. > :23:02.Julie Evans is everything I think a breeder should be, smart enough to
:23:02. > :23:07.embrace the science, brave enough to swim against the tide.
:23:07. > :23:13.And there are others out there, but often too few to make enough of a
:23:13. > :23:19.difference. As we've seen, those that call for
:23:19. > :23:23.change can be marginalised by the powerful Breed Club hierarchy.
:23:23. > :23:26.Because the Kennel Club is inskrikyaebl linked with the breed
:23:26. > :23:29.clubs it can be very hard for individuals to make themselves
:23:29. > :23:33.heard. Even when there is concern that the
:23:33. > :23:40.actions of those in charge of the Breed Club could be putting some
:23:40. > :23:45.dogs at risk. I'd wanted a boxer since I was tiny,
:23:45. > :23:55.because of the personalities. They're just ridiculous. They make
:23:55. > :24:00.you laugh, all the time. Rona Bond and her partner Martin bought their
:24:00. > :24:04.first boxer Pie in April 2007. They knew that boxers could suffer from
:24:04. > :24:10.heart disease, so made sure that Pie was from heart-tested parents.
:24:10. > :24:15.But it wasn't Pie's heart that was the problem. When he was just 18
:24:15. > :24:20.weeks old, a scan revealed that her kidneys were abnormal and she was
:24:20. > :24:25.diagnosed with juvenile kidney disease. Unable to filter dangerous
:24:25. > :24:34.toxins from her body, she would slowly poison herself to death. She
:24:34. > :24:39.was given just a year to live. Go and give daddy kiss. Thanks to
:24:39. > :24:44.the early diagnosis and Rhonea's devoted care, Pie defied the odds,
:24:44. > :24:53.at least for a while. The only obvious signs were that she was
:24:53. > :25:00.slight for a boxer. And she drank and -- a lot.
:25:00. > :25:04.The end, when it came was sudden and traumatic.
:25:04. > :25:08.Just horrific. She was trying to be sick, but she'd stopped eating, so
:25:08. > :25:12.she was just screaming. It was, that was how I kind of described it.
:25:12. > :25:19.She was screaming because she opened her mouth really wide and
:25:19. > :25:24.just nothing. It was awful. This is Pie shortly before she was put to
:25:24. > :25:32.sleep. She'd lost a third of her body weight. She was just two years
:25:32. > :25:35.old. It looked like an unlucky one off.
:25:36. > :25:41.Juvenile kidney disease does occur occasionally in all breeds. But
:25:41. > :25:50.then the unthinkable happened. Before Pie died Rhonea had added
:25:50. > :25:56.two more boxers to her family. Yogi Bear and Pie's half sister Roxie.
:25:56. > :25:59.To Rhonea's horror in 2010, Roxie too was diagnosed with juvenile
:25:59. > :26:05.kidney disease. She is not as badly affected as her half sister Pie,
:26:05. > :26:10.but it will shorten her life. really, really angry at that point.
:26:10. > :26:14.I thought there had to be a link to this. You couldn't have two dogs
:26:14. > :26:20.related and have the same problem and it be a fluke. Roxie and Pie
:26:20. > :26:26.have different mothers, but share the same champion father. It's a
:26:26. > :26:30.dog called Designer Game at Glenauld, Gucci for short. It
:26:30. > :26:40.turned out he had sired other litters affected by the disease.
:26:40. > :26:46.Three of them bred by breeder Shannon McCurdy who had lost her
:26:46. > :26:51.own dog Madge to the disease. day before we had to get her put to
:26:51. > :26:55.sleep, she was so desperate for fluid that she would try and, as
:26:55. > :27:01.soon as she's weed, you know the wee was coming out, she was trying
:27:01. > :27:06.to turn around to drink it, this excessive thirst. It was horrible,
:27:06. > :27:11.it was horrible. Like Rhonea, Sharon believed that it could be
:27:12. > :27:15.genetic and that the problem might lie in Gucci's family line. If they
:27:15. > :27:23.were right, the implications for the breed were serious. Gucci is a
:27:23. > :27:25.popular stud dog and he has sired 894 puppies.
:27:25. > :27:30.Sharon contacted geneticist and boxer breeder Dr Bruce Cattanach
:27:31. > :27:35.for help. Dr Cattanach is an eminent
:27:35. > :27:40.scientist, whose career at the Medical Research Council involved
:27:40. > :27:47.tracking genetic mutations. He has been genetics advisor to the boxer
:27:48. > :27:52.breed for over 30 years. From Past experience I've found most cases of
:27:52. > :27:59.kidney disease were not inherited. But I said I would have a look and
:27:59. > :28:03.see what I could find. It was very worrying. Because these were all
:28:03. > :28:09.occurring in a tight family group. It just hit you straight away here,
:28:09. > :28:12.you're dealing with inherited problems. The pedigree information
:28:12. > :28:18.doctor Cattanach examined suggested strongly that juvenile kidney
:28:18. > :28:22.disease in boxers is a recessive condition. Puppies are at risk only
:28:22. > :28:26.if both parents carry the faulty gene. And the closer the in-
:28:26. > :28:32.breeding, the higher the risk of something like this coming out. In
:28:32. > :28:38.this case, one saw pretty well extreme, the closest possible
:28:38. > :28:43.inbreeding really. Roxie's pedigree reveals that Gucci is both her
:28:43. > :28:53.father and on her mother's side also her grandfather. Gucci was
:28:53. > :29:00.mated to his own daughter from a previous litter to produce Roxie.
:29:00. > :29:05.This was before the ban in 2009. Dr Cattanach quickly found over 30
:29:05. > :29:10.cases of young boxers that had been diagnosed with juvenile kidney
:29:10. > :29:15.disease between 2007 and 2010, most now dead and all closely related.
:29:15. > :29:19.He thought the likelihood of this happening by chance was remote. In
:29:19. > :29:23.almost half of the cases, Gucci is either the puppy's father or
:29:23. > :29:30.grandfather. That was, to me, very worrying
:29:31. > :29:35.because this dog had been used so many times as stud. It meant the
:29:35. > :29:38.gene was possible, it could be all over the country. If it's proven
:29:38. > :29:44.that an inherited gene is responsible, it would be more than
:29:44. > :29:50.worrying. Gucci is owned by one of the most powerful people in the
:29:50. > :29:54.breed today, Janice Mair of Glenauld Boxers. Mair is a top
:29:54. > :30:02.breeder and Kennel Club judge, who judged the breed at Crufts in 2008,
:30:02. > :30:11.the highest honour. She is also chair of the boxer breed Council. A
:30:11. > :30:14.body set up to among other things "improve and protect" the boxer. In
:30:14. > :30:19.November 2010, doctor Cattanach wrote to Janice Mair to tell her
:30:19. > :30:26.that he thought Gucci might be carrying a deadly gene. I thought
:30:26. > :30:30.she would be the best person to help out and you know lead the way,
:30:30. > :30:36.away. But she didn't believe it. Worse was to come. It looked to Dr
:30:36. > :30:44.Cattanach as if it wasn't just Gucci. As the picture got clearer,
:30:44. > :30:51.I realised it was a bigger family group. This really did hit right to
:30:51. > :30:56.the heart of the current boxer, show boxer population. Dr Cattanach
:30:56. > :31:02.concluded that if Gucci does carry a faulty gene, it's most likely he
:31:02. > :31:09.inherited it through dogs from another famous kennel, Walkon
:31:09. > :31:16.Boxers run by Yvonne Miller and her veterinary surgeon husband Walker
:31:16. > :31:21.Miller. There is a champion walkon dog in all but 30 cases that have
:31:21. > :31:26.been identified so far. Other walkon dogs have produced puppies
:31:26. > :31:31.with juvenile kidney disease. There was no difintive proof that
:31:31. > :31:34.Dr Cattanach was right. What was needed as a gene test to identify
:31:34. > :31:38.dogs that appear to be perfectly healthy, but were silently carrying
:31:39. > :31:45.the condition and for that, Dr Cattanach needed blood samples from
:31:45. > :31:50.as many boxers as possible. In February 2011, at a meeting of
:31:50. > :31:56.the boxer breed Council held at this hotel in Warwickshire, Dr
:31:56. > :32:04.Cattanach presented his findings to, among others, Janice Mair and
:32:04. > :32:08.Walker Miller. What was the reaction? Silence almost.
:32:08. > :32:11.Cattanach appeared to have been heard. After the meeting, the breed
:32:11. > :32:16.council issued a press release that recognised the seriousness of the
:32:16. > :32:19.situation and it made several recommendations. It offered Dr
:32:19. > :32:26.Cattanach the full support of the breed Council in his efforts to
:32:26. > :32:30.find a genetic test for juvenile kidney disease. It encouraged boxer
:32:30. > :32:36.owners to donate blood to help with the research, including those who
:32:36. > :32:40.owned the parents of affected dogs. And it advised breeders to avoid
:32:40. > :32:47.in-breeding to minimise the chances of a puppy inheriting two cop yids
:32:47. > :32:51.of the faulty gene. If you're breeding dogs, cats, any
:32:51. > :32:57.animal, any livestock, you can be sure you're going to find something.
:32:57. > :33:02.It always happens, because mutations occur all the time. The
:33:02. > :33:09.problem is how you deal with them when you find it. This is where
:33:09. > :33:14.it's gone badly wrong here. A year on from the meeting, the boxer
:33:14. > :33:19.breed Council website contains no information or advice on the threat
:33:19. > :33:25.from juvenile kidney disease. While some owners and breeders have
:33:25. > :33:27.provided blood samples for the DNA research, Walkon Boxers have not,
:33:27. > :33:35.despite Walker Miller being on the health committee and being a vet
:33:35. > :33:40.himself. In a statement, contested by Dr Cattanach, Yvonne Miller
:33:40. > :33:45.insists that she offered blood samples for the DNA research which
:33:45. > :33:51.she says were dismissed of being of no interest.
:33:51. > :33:55.In addition, no blood samples have yet been provided by Janice Mair of
:33:55. > :34:03.Glenauld Boxers. You know, she believed, genuinely believes that
:34:03. > :34:06.her dog is not implicated in any way, then why not give blood? Why
:34:07. > :34:11.not help? In a statement, Janice Mair says that she would be willing
:34:11. > :34:15.to give a sample from Gucci, but understood that Dr Cattanach had
:34:15. > :34:19.already obtained a sufficient number of samples. She also states
:34:19. > :34:25.that to date, there have been no cases involving dogs living in our
:34:25. > :34:29.own kennel and the research initially focused on affected dogs.
:34:29. > :34:35.Notwithstanding the bomber breed Council's advice to avoid close
:34:35. > :34:39.inbreeding, both Glenn auld and Walkon Boxers have registered
:34:39. > :34:44.litters in the past year much more inbreed than the average boxer.
:34:44. > :34:49.Both kennels have mated dogs that an independent geneticist says
:34:49. > :34:51.could be cariers of juvenile kidney disease, unwittingly, perhaps,
:34:51. > :34:55.putting puppies at risk of the condition. Janice Mair says that
:34:55. > :35:03.she has followed advice to avoid mating possible carriers with close
:35:03. > :35:08.relatives. Yvonne Miller says she would never breed from dogs she has
:35:08. > :35:12.reason to believe was spreading juvenile kidney disease.
:35:12. > :35:16.Both breeders say they take genetic diversity into account when
:35:16. > :35:22.breeding and that the health and welfare of their dogs is and always
:35:22. > :35:27.has been of paramount importance. They should have seen this, they
:35:27. > :35:31.would have seen it, they may have seen it, but they have not
:35:31. > :35:35.recognised it, understand it and done something about it.
:35:35. > :35:40.The extent of the genetic threat from juvenile kidney disease in
:35:40. > :35:44.boxers is not yet known. A preliminary gene scan has not
:35:44. > :35:50.thrown up any useful results, but finding genetic mutations can take
:35:50. > :35:54.a long time. In the meantime, what's needed are more cases to
:35:54. > :35:58.come forward, more blood samples and more people willing to stand up
:35:58. > :36:07.a -- for the health of their breed. This has got to stop. This has to
:36:07. > :36:11.stop. People come to us to buy dogs in good faith. They buy a pet
:36:11. > :36:15.that's -- that soon becomes somebody's best friend. We don't
:36:15. > :36:22.breed dogs, knowing they're going to die. You don't do that. You know,
:36:22. > :36:28.this breed is at risk. I have decided to speak out because,
:36:28. > :36:33.knowing what I know, and to, you know, I feel as if I have a duty
:36:34. > :36:40.and responsibility to those people that bought puppies from me. I mean
:36:40. > :36:48.I lost my wee girl. She was my everything and I promised her that
:36:48. > :36:58.we would see this through, that we would find, you know, and I will. I
:36:58. > :37:00.
:37:00. > :37:03.don't need to show dogs, but I need to have a healthy boxer. So...
:37:03. > :37:09.Inbreeding and the prolific use of popular stud dogs is an issue that
:37:09. > :37:13.reaches far beyond boxers. Both practices have contributed to a
:37:13. > :37:17.loss of genetic diversity that is a serious threat to the long-term
:37:17. > :37:20.survival of many breeds, as top geneticist Steve Jones warned us
:37:20. > :37:25.three years ago. If the dog breeders insist on going further
:37:25. > :37:30.down that road, I can say with confidence really that there is a
:37:30. > :37:34.universe of suffering waiting for many of these breeds and many, if
:37:35. > :37:39.not most of these breeds, will not survive. They will be so inbred,
:37:39. > :37:43.they will not be able to reproduce and their genes will come to a dead
:37:43. > :37:47.end. There was startling evidence fd this 2008. A report from
:37:47. > :37:50.Imperial College London looked at ten different dog breeds and found
:37:50. > :37:54.that many were in real trouble genetically, in fact in Germany, if
:37:54. > :38:03.they were a farm animal, they would have had a conservation order
:38:03. > :38:06.slapped on them. Professor Sir Patrick Bateson
:38:06. > :38:08.author of one of the key reports into dog breeding that followed
:38:09. > :38:17.Pedigree Dogs Exposed also highlighted inbreeding as a serious
:38:17. > :38:20.concern. What I can reveal is something which is very well known,
:38:20. > :38:24.inbreeding has bad consequences. It's not just the inheritance of
:38:24. > :38:28.diseases which is a cause of problem. It's also that they're
:38:28. > :38:30.more likely to get things like cancer. There has been a change in
:38:31. > :38:34.public mood. People didn't really know what was going on. I didn't
:38:34. > :38:41.know what was going on, I must say. It was astonishing what is
:38:41. > :38:44.happening. I was involved in a report 20 years beforehand where we
:38:44. > :38:47.highlighted some of things which you highlight in your film. Of
:38:47. > :38:53.course, nothing happened. It was ignored. After Pedigree Dogs
:38:53. > :38:57.Exposed, the Kennel Club committed �1.2 million to a new Kennel Club
:38:57. > :39:01.genetics centre at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket. The work
:39:01. > :39:07.there focused on the development of new DNA tests to help breeders
:39:07. > :39:11.breed away from genetic health problems. They've also developed a
:39:12. > :39:15.genuinely useful new online tool called mate select. This allows you
:39:15. > :39:22.to look up health test results and how inbred an individual dog is
:39:22. > :39:28.compared to the breed average. Mate select allows breeders to work out
:39:28. > :39:32.something called the co-firbgt of inbreeding, COI for short, of
:39:32. > :39:37.individual matings. A father daughter mating for example would
:39:38. > :39:43.produce puppies with a COI of 25%. That's now banned, so how come the
:39:43. > :39:50.Kennel Club registers dog was higher COI's than this? This Cesky
:39:50. > :39:53.Terrier has a co-efficient of 45.7%. It happens because inbreeding is
:39:53. > :39:57.cumulative and dog breeders have been keeping it in the family for
:39:57. > :40:01.decades. You can reduce the damage by saying, OK, you can't mate with
:40:01. > :40:05.your daughter or brothers and sisters, but actually, if you're
:40:05. > :40:12.mating with your cousins, that is almost as bad F that goes on for a
:40:12. > :40:17.long time, that just builds up. all breeds are this inbred. Some
:40:17. > :40:20.breeders go to considerable lengths to make the most of the available
:40:20. > :40:23.genetic diversity in their breeds. While the Kennel Club allows this
:40:24. > :40:29.degree of inbreeding, dogs will suffer.
:40:29. > :40:33.I think the measures taken so far, have been tentative, very reluctant
:40:33. > :40:38.and to a degree, cosmetic. I think we have to stand back from the
:40:38. > :40:42.problem and ask, again, why are you doing this? If you like dogs, if
:40:42. > :40:47.you want a companion, intelligent animal with a decent lifespan and a
:40:48. > :40:52.decent way of life, you must stop this kind of inbreeding. The Kennel
:40:52. > :40:58.Club says it prefers education to regulation. But I believe the
:40:58. > :41:02.situation is now so urgent that it must be do more. It doesn't even
:41:02. > :41:07.suggest a maximum level of inbreeding. Unlike the Swedish
:41:07. > :41:12.Kennel Club, and there it works. In the a kingle boxer born in Sweden
:41:12. > :41:18.in the past two years has had a co- efficient of inbreeding higher than
:41:18. > :41:23.6.25%. The same is true in most breeds. Many Sweden breed clubs
:41:23. > :41:27.have introduced limits to prevent top sires swamping the gene pool.
:41:27. > :41:30.The boxer case is an example of how rapidly you can cause damage. They
:41:30. > :41:38.need it stand back and look at the bigger problem, why are you doing
:41:38. > :41:42.this? If you love dogs, why would you want to have an animal that
:41:42. > :41:45.suffers to titivate your vanity, which is what it is? Which brings
:41:45. > :41:49.us to the second part of the problem, the way in which the show
:41:49. > :41:54.ring has changed the shape of some of our best loved breeds. As we saw
:41:54. > :41:58.in Pedigree Dogs Exposed, rarely for the better.
:41:58. > :42:04.This is what 100 years of the show ring has done to the dachshund,
:42:05. > :42:09.today's dogs have much shorter legs. The original bull terrier on the
:42:09. > :42:13.left had a normal shaped head, markedly different to today's dog
:42:13. > :42:19.on the right. And then, there's the bulldog. The subject of fierce
:42:19. > :42:24.debate. Bull dogs were once used for bull baiting. And breeders are
:42:24. > :42:30.fond of explaining that the skin folds on the dog's face are there
:42:30. > :42:34.to channel the bulls blood from the dogs' eyes and that the shape of
:42:34. > :42:39.the head would allow it to breathe while allowing it to hang onto a
:42:39. > :42:42.bull's nose. Today's bulldog looks nothing like the dog in the baiting
:42:42. > :42:52.rings of old. Here's what we've done to the breed in less than 100
:42:52. > :42:56.
:42:56. > :43:01.In fact, our national dog has been disordered into such an unnatural
:43:01. > :43:10.shape that the breed often needs assistance to mate and Caesarean
:43:10. > :43:14.sections to give birth (. We've become completely and utterly
:43:14. > :43:19.desense tiesed to the fact that breeding these mutants, these
:43:19. > :43:24.deformed, disabled, disease prone animals is either shocking or
:43:24. > :43:29.abnormal. It's not normal. After Pedigree Dogs Exposed the Kennel
:43:29. > :43:37.Club beefed up training for judges. It made changes to the breed
:43:37. > :43:41.standards of 78 breeds in an effort to tackle physical exaggerations.
:43:41. > :43:46.If you see a dog that is a little taller on its legs, is less
:43:46. > :43:52.exaggerated in all its form, less skin wrinkling and so on. Is there
:43:52. > :43:58.there were howls of protest. Absolutely devastated. To the point
:43:58. > :44:02.of tears. It would be the worst thing imaginable to the genuine
:44:02. > :44:07.bulldog lover exhibitor and breeder. It is not the first time the Kennel
:44:07. > :44:12.Club has revised breed standards in response to criticism. As this
:44:12. > :44:17.telling archive from 1986 reveals. Bill, what is the Kennel Club's
:44:17. > :44:21.role? The Kennel Club is the governing body of pedigree dogs. We
:44:21. > :44:26.are coming to the end of the moment of a review of the breed standards,
:44:26. > :44:31.where we are removing clauses in those standards that require
:44:31. > :44:37.exaggeration. But it didn't work then and it hasn't worked this time
:44:37. > :44:43.either. At least in terms of what's winning in the show ring.
:44:43. > :44:50.Should we be breeding dogs that look like this? The very simple
:44:50. > :44:54.answer is no. The shape of its face is such that this dog cannot
:44:54. > :45:02.breathe normally. It won that day, the photograph was taken. It won
:45:02. > :45:10.its class, best of breed and it then went on to win the group. It's
:45:10. > :45:13.one of the top bull dogs of 2011. I've spoken to the owner. He
:45:13. > :45:19.doesn't think there's anything wrong with the dog. How do you deal
:45:19. > :45:24.with that? You keep on trying to educate them, but most importantly,
:45:24. > :45:28.if that is a show dog, you make absolutely certain that no judge
:45:28. > :45:31.ever thinks of placing a dog with this morphology and shape. That's
:45:31. > :45:34.the other part of the equation. This dog has been shown and
:45:34. > :45:40.somebody has placed it. They shouldn't have done. I'm very
:45:40. > :45:45.disappointed, yes. I think that's a great shame, after everything
:45:45. > :45:49.that's been done, three years since your programme, 25 years since
:45:49. > :45:56.other people have reported, in a similar vain, about bulldogs, that
:45:56. > :45:59.this should still be going on is very disappointing, yeah.
:46:00. > :46:03.Starting at this year's Crufts, winning bulldogs and 14 other
:46:03. > :46:10.breeds will have to pass a simple vet check before they can progress
:46:10. > :46:13.further in the competition. It will help, but much more is needed.
:46:13. > :46:18.feel that the breed standards need to be looked at again. A radical
:46:18. > :46:21.look at the breed standards, so that you are reversing this, so
:46:22. > :46:26.that really the bull dogs people should be going for are the ones
:46:26. > :46:29.with the long snouts, not short snouts. But they're out there, why
:46:29. > :46:36.not embrace this alternative bulldog, which isn't currently
:46:36. > :46:39.recognised by the Kennel Club and dump the current show dog? Or how
:46:39. > :46:46.about this working basset hound, compared to the overdone show
:46:46. > :46:49.version? Same with the original Chinese shar pei, completely free
:46:49. > :46:54.of the wrinkling that often burdens the Westernised version of the
:46:54. > :47:01.breed. Then there is this working Neapolitan mastiff, a revelation
:47:01. > :47:05.compared to this winning show dog. I think trying to tinker with
:47:05. > :47:09.beauty pageants to somehow make them better is simply the canine
:47:09. > :47:13.equivalent of trying to polish a turd. It simply isn't going to
:47:13. > :47:20.happen. As for as I'm concerned, they have no place in terms of
:47:20. > :47:23.improving the welfare of dogs. Creating some kind of dog show that
:47:23. > :47:28.actually focuses in an entirely different way on health and welfare,
:47:28. > :47:33.absolutely, I believe fundamentally could make a massive difference to
:47:33. > :47:36.dog welfare, but you wouldn't start with the kind of shows we have now
:47:36. > :47:46.and try to change them. You throw it away and you start from a blank
:47:46. > :47:50.sheet of paper. In Pedigree Dogs Exposed we met George the pug. The
:47:50. > :47:55.son of a Crufts champion and loved dearly by his owners Joanne and
:47:55. > :48:00.Graham. We revealed that George himself had qualified for Crufts.
:48:00. > :48:08.Despite having a wholey host of health problems typical of his
:48:08. > :48:14.breed. As his vet explained. At the back here we have problems with
:48:14. > :48:19.both legs with his knee caps out of join. When you bend like that, the
:48:19. > :48:25.cap slips out of join to the other side of the leg. His stomach has a
:48:25. > :48:33.problem with where it is protruding into his chest cavity. It's even
:48:33. > :48:39.into his throat we have a partial collapsed larynx and elongated soft
:48:39. > :48:46.palate. His squashed up nose has caused breathing problems. With his
:48:46. > :48:51.eyes he has a roll-in of the lower eye lids. Finally he has curvature
:48:51. > :48:58.of the spine. This is his head up here. The spine comes down here and
:48:58. > :49:02.a sharp bend there and another sharp bend there.
:49:02. > :49:05.It's breeding for a screw tail that the standard insists on that is
:49:05. > :49:12.thought to be the reason why George's spine is so deformed.
:49:13. > :49:18.get a twisted tail you need to have an unusual shape, so when they fit
:49:18. > :49:21.together they can form a corkscrew. It may look very desirable, but
:49:22. > :49:27.you're likely to have an increased instance of abnormalities elsewhere
:49:27. > :49:33.in the spine. Three years on from Pedigree Dogs Exposed, there is now
:49:33. > :49:37.a Breed Club screening programme for pug spines. Little other
:49:37. > :49:41.progress though. The Kennel Club breed standard still insists this a
:49:41. > :49:47.double curl in the tail is highly desirable and although the
:49:47. > :49:50.description of the pug's muzzle has been changed from muzzle short, to
:49:50. > :49:58.muzzle relatively short, faces in the show ring are still so flat
:49:58. > :50:03.that it recently prompted an RSPCA campaign to highlight the issue.
:50:03. > :50:08.The pug and the bulldog are among a number of what are known as
:50:08. > :50:12.brachiocephalic breeds, with short, broad skulls and short faces. There
:50:12. > :50:22.is increasingly compelling evidence that when taken to extremes, it is
:50:22. > :50:27.
:50:27. > :50:35.The struggling for air is one of the most frightening feelings man
:50:35. > :50:41.or animals can have. For some pugs like Cissy here, life is a constant
:50:41. > :50:47.battle to breathe. Her quality of life is now so poor, that Cissy's
:50:47. > :50:57.German owner has driven 600 kilometres to the University of
:50:57. > :51:08.
:51:08. > :51:12.liepzeek -- lip zeek in the -- leap zeek -- for surgery.
:51:12. > :51:17.There are dozens of video on YouTube of pugs falling asleep
:51:17. > :51:23.sitting or standing up.?. Like this one, they are presented as a bit a
:51:23. > :51:26.joke. But there's nothing funny about it.
:51:26. > :51:30.Some pugs do this because their airways block when they drop their
:51:30. > :51:35.heads. But like many pugs, Cissy's
:51:35. > :51:40.problems are much more than just blocked airways. Her tongue is too
:51:40. > :51:43.big for her mouth. Her eye sockets are so shallow that under stress
:51:43. > :51:48.her eyes could pop out and she still has the same number of teeth
:51:48. > :51:55.as a normal dog, but no room for them to grow properly.
:51:55. > :51:59.I think many owners do not realise how much their dog is suffering.
:51:59. > :52:02.This is one of the world's leading experts in the treatment of what is
:52:02. > :52:05.known as brachiocephalic airway disease.
:52:05. > :52:13.A very common consequence of breeding a dog with a face as flat
:52:13. > :52:19.as a human baby's. His research has highlighted the importance of a
:52:19. > :52:24.part of the dog's nose critical in controlling body temperature.
:52:24. > :52:31.In a German shepherd this area comprises a huge part of the muzzle,
:52:31. > :52:36.bigger even than the area dedicated to smell. In the pub, it has almost
:52:36. > :52:39.disappeared. Worse, what little remains now blocks the airways.
:52:39. > :52:46.This is why pugs are in danger of collapse from heatstroke on even a
:52:46. > :52:55.palmy day. Inbreeding for a flat face, we've robbed them of the
:52:55. > :52:59.ability to cool themselves. Cissy cannot get back her lost nose,
:52:59. > :53:09.but he can remove some of the excess tissue blocking her airways.
:53:09. > :53:12.
:53:12. > :53:22.First though, he reveals just what going on in the skin folds.
:53:22. > :53:24.
:53:24. > :53:30.So what we see this is the nose and huge mass of redundant skin that is
:53:30. > :53:37.too much and loose causes this fold here and the bacteria are growing
:53:37. > :53:42.in this fold. For many owners it is difficult to clean this day by day
:53:43. > :53:50.because it hurts a bit and the dog doesn't want it. I'm lacking of
:53:50. > :53:54.words to describe this. It's awful and it causes pain. An endoscope
:53:54. > :54:03.passes through Cissy's nostrils reveals how blocked her airways are.
:54:03. > :54:12.We should wide and open black gaps for the air streaming. And it's
:54:12. > :54:17.more orless severely obstructed. There are tiny holes. The Professor
:54:17. > :54:22.uses a laser to remove the abnormal tissue blocking Cissy's nasal
:54:22. > :54:31.passages. That's it. In a procedure that take twoz hours
:54:31. > :54:35.in total, he also widens Cissy's nostrils.
:54:35. > :54:43.Finally, a lot of excess tissue in her throat is removed and the
:54:43. > :54:50.remaining structures are secured. It is unbelievable that we need
:54:50. > :54:59.such an invasive surgery just to repair the basic needs of the dog,
:54:59. > :55:06.breeding is the most basic need and this is in no way acceptable from
:55:06. > :55:12.any ethical point we have today. Pet Plan Insurance revealed
:55:12. > :55:19.recently that in 2010 it had paid out claims worth �1.5 million for
:55:19. > :55:24.surgery just to help pets breathe. A 25% increase since Pedigree Dogs
:55:24. > :55:27.Exposed aired in 2008. The vast majority of these
:55:27. > :55:32.procedures are for the brachiocephalic breeds of dog,
:55:32. > :55:36.those with very flat faces. The Professor believes it is no longer
:55:36. > :55:43.acceptable to breed the most extreme of these, the pug and
:55:43. > :55:49.bulldog. The whole veterinary profession is faced more and more
:55:49. > :55:56.with a situation that we are becoming a repair troupe for small
:55:56. > :55:59.animal breeders. We can say today that today one should stop, totally
:55:59. > :56:04.stop breeding brachiocephalic dogs. Breeders proved not only in your
:56:04. > :56:11.country, in our country, in the whole world, the same in the States,
:56:11. > :56:16.breeders of brachiocephalic breeds proved that they are not able to
:56:16. > :56:25.breed healthy animals. They proved that they created one disease after
:56:25. > :56:29.the other. It is time it call a halt to the suffering and recognise
:56:29. > :56:35.that it will never change while the Kennel Club tolerates the human
:56:35. > :56:39.whim that has led to dog that's cannot run, breathe or see freely.
:56:39. > :56:43.The Kennel Club has refused to take part in this film. If it had, I'm
:56:43. > :56:50.sure it would be to say, that it is doing what it can, while keeping
:56:50. > :56:53.breeders on board. And therein lies the problem. The Kennel Club's
:56:53. > :56:58.massive conflict of interest in juggling its commitment to breeders
:56:59. > :57:03.and its commitment to dogs. It should be one and the same, but too
:57:03. > :57:06.often, it isn't and when it isn't, the dogs lose.
:57:06. > :57:10.Is the Kennel Club fit for function in terms of protecting the welfare
:57:11. > :57:14.of dogs? Absolutely not. I think we can all stand up and say now, there
:57:14. > :57:17.is no way, if left to the Kennel Club, this problem is going to
:57:17. > :57:22.resolve. And while the Dog Advisory Council
:57:22. > :57:27.that was set up after Pedigree Dogs Exposed is populated with good
:57:27. > :57:31.people and good intentions, it is under funded and has no real teeth.
:57:31. > :57:35.There's nothing we can use to beat people over the head. We're there
:57:35. > :57:38.to examine evidence and make recommendations based on evidence.
:57:38. > :57:43.I hope people will regard our recommendations as important. We
:57:43. > :57:49.can't get tough. We don't have any legislative powers. I'd love to get
:57:49. > :57:54.tough. Buff we can't. Three years on from Pedigree Dogs
:57:54. > :57:57.Exposed, I believe we need a new, independent, regulatory body to
:57:57. > :58:01.drive through meaningful reform for dogs.
:58:01. > :58:06.Backed by Government, the new authority could be funded by a new
:58:06. > :58:12.national registration extreme for all dogs, not just pedigree,
:58:12. > :58:18.enabling a joined up strategy to deal with other pressing issues,
:58:18. > :58:23.stray dogs, dangerous dogs and puppy farms.
:58:23. > :58:26.We, as consumers, also have a responsibility, to examine our
:58:26. > :58:30.attraction to dog that's would not look out of place in a Victorian