• Question: What are your views on selective breeding and is it a positive or a negative going forward into the future?

    Asked by Millie to Anna, Hayley, Iain, Rebecca on 16 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Rebecca Jones

      Rebecca Jones answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      I approve of selective breeding for livestock to increase things like milk yields etc., as long as it is done in a well managed way. However, i don’t believe with selective breeding in the world of dogs. This is normally done irrationally at home by certain breeders who care more about making money than the welfare of the animals. It has also lead to lots of dog breeds with very bad problems, such as bulldogs and pugs who struggle to breathe properly and alsations who end up with really bad hip dsyplasia (when their hips erode and the socket of the leg can no longer fit, leading to a sloping back end). I understand it is sometimes neccessary to remove certain ‘bad’ characteristics but this could be better managed.

      Therefore, going forward i think there needs to be more control on selective breeding, especially in the canine world but there are some good applications for it.

      Thanks for such an interesting question!

    • Photo: Anna Kutner

      Anna Kutner answered on 18 Jun 2015:

      Selective breeding has been used for a number of years, for example in breeding racing horses. I generally approve as long as it is done in an ethical and learned way. No experimenting for the sake of experimenting. You have to know what you are doing to avoid breeding species with abnormalities and health problems, like Becky said.

Comments