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Why Do We Find Ugly Dogs Cute. BBC News 23/6/23


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I find them deformed, and I find the people who call them cute ignorant and cruel. There are far many animals called cute who should be called unhealthy and suffering.

It is no longer acceptable to have zoos or freak shows with humans exhibited. I hope freak shows with animals go the same way when people grow up, but I despair I'll be waiting a long time for both those things.

I wish artist Patricia Piccinini would make sculptures of the human equivalent of these poor creatures. They would have concave faces.

Edited by Mairead
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Two of those dogs are clearly senior.

I don't like the term ugly used for the imperfect.

 

Ok yes, we're often carelessly breeding some dogs who are wrong and need to be dialled way back in terms of exaggerated features. But people need to lay off the 'ugly' headlines and stupid competitions. It's not funny. 

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I'm sort of straddling this now. After nearly 20 years of having British Shorthairs (who are beautiful and perfect) , I now have a Lykoi as well. (called the werewolf cat)   Since I got Landis I keep getting comments from people saying "ew!"  "gross!" "what's wrong with it?" "I hope it has a nice personality"   

 

Landis is a bit different from what you expect in a cat. One characteristic of his breed is less hair around his tummy, paws, ears and "mask" (eyes and muzzle/do cat's have a muzzle?)

His breed has a mutation that means he doesn't have an undercoat.  So he is patchy. But he is healthy and happy and his genetic background does not result in eye or teeth problems.  

 

Landis's breeder also breeds sphynx I always thought sphynx hilarious and ugly. Since getting Landis I joined a "nakey cat" group that has hairless cats and Lykois. I've come round. They are just cats with their own thing :D 

 

The baby photo of Landis from his breeder..  and Landis today (with his big brother Linnell the Brit) 

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Edited by cannibalgoldfish
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Each to their own but glorifying deformities is problematic.
 

On TikTok I keep seeing videos of cats with some kind of neurological disorder which prevents them from walking in a straight line. I’m not sure what it is and I’ve never investigated. I just feel the cat would be better of euthanised. There seems to be a lot of them and maybe it doesn’t show until later in life and that’s why they’re kept??  
 

I also see a lot of videos of kittens and puppies which have major irreversible  deformities but the ‘rescuer’ is looked at as a god because they’ve kept it alive in order to find some other equally stupid person to care for it for life. 
 

Then we have our purposely bred deformed breeds including the Basset, Bulldog, Daschund and others. Yes, the Pug too.
 

Back in the day, when this forum was in its heyday, I was in a long term battle with many members on the issues in the pug. I recall once putting up a link of a German breeder with an established program of many generations of a longer nosed, slightly taller dog and I was crucified and put into the same category as dog abusers and profit focussed bybs. :laugh:
 

ALL Pugs, regardless of how ‘well’ bred, have respiratory deformities and issues just by the very nature of the brachycephalic features. No one can argue that - but they did and they still do. 

Edited by ~Anne~
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12 minutes ago, Mairead said:

Yes I found those German Pugs when researching my Pug question. Apparently known as Retro Pugs. Also found Shar Pei x Pug known as Ori Pei.

Marketing is the work of the Devil.

No, they weren’t called retro pugs and it wasn’t a marketing gimic. The name was German and it was a genuine attempt to alleviate the negative physical attributes of the breed while maintaining low prey drive and the affable temperament. 

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Poorly worded. 

When I was researching Pugs, I found Retro Pugs info that referred to German breeders. 

The marketing was referring to the way animals are promoted presently. 

 

Saw a clip of a kitten with hydrocephalus and other problems that was "rescued". Kittens called dwarf often have problems as do dwarf ponies. Comments often (sigh) say "adorable". This sort of thing has a name "cruelty porn".

 

Edited by Mairead
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4 minutes ago, Powerlegs said:

That's Cerebellar Hypoplasia, they have it from birth. It's not painful but some can be so wobbly they can't stand up and have to be euthed.  

Thanks. That sounds like it could be it.
 

The ones I’ve seen can barely walk, let alone make their way to the feed bowl to try and eat. It seems it’s encouraged to film them trying to do these basic things. I don’t get it. And some families seem of have multiple like this. 

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Yes, unfortunately years ago I had to have a dear little neonate kitten euthanised with this condition. I'd never seen it before.

He had a severe 'intention tremor'  - the harder he tried to do something the worse the shakes and wobbles got. So he couldn't even walk in a straight line to the food bowl without toppling over. Poor little one. :(  

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As someone who has fallen in love with shar pei I've had plenty of people call my dogs and the breed ugly. Even more common is people not knowing what breed it is and me having to remind them of the toilet paper ad.

 

I'm a bit on the fence about animals with disabilities and disfigurations. I follow quite a few with physical disabilities and find it inspiring and a reminder of the inner strength of some animals. But there is also a very well known rescue here in Australia that takes in a lot of popular breed neonates from breeders with conditions that other breeders would probably just euth (serious clefties). Every pup costs multiple thousands to raise and I've become turned off the constant trawl for cash because of how much it equates to for each pup. A small rescue could run their entire group for a year and help multiple animals for the same amount. It also gives some breeders an out for poorly bred pups. Not really seeing much educational value from the process either. The number of these pups is rising each year. I don't know how big the adoptive market for these pets is.  But then I look at one the disability doggos I follow and I think well if they weren't give a chance they wouldn't be here living their best life now.

 

Here is one pei boy I adore. Nuggy was born with chicken wings. He has a cart, he has an owner who converted her entire house suit Nuggy and other dogs with disabilities. He has enough personality for about 3 dogs and little holds him back -

 

https://www.facebook.com/rubytwosdayandcheyenne/videos/786469769342543

 

 

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8 hours ago, Little Gifts said:

As someone who has fallen in love with shar pei I've had plenty of people call my dogs and the breed ugly. Even more common is people not knowing what breed it is and me having to remind them of the toilet paper ad.

 

I'm a bit on the fence about animals with disabilities and disfigurations.

 

 

I totally believe the disabled and unique have every chance of a great life if their owners or rescue carers simply put the lifetime care and expense in. :heart: 

It's about quality of life in general, for all the species of animals we as humans have chosen to live with even if they are not perfect. Hurdles yes, but not long years of suffering. Unfortunately (?) every living thing has a driving force to live regardless of circumstance, and just because they are alive doesn't mean living. If you know what I mean? Rambling a bit.  :laugh:  

Unsure which rescue you mean but I'm honestly not of the belief I could deal with rescuing one disabled/special needs after the other. It would take a very strong person.  

Some animals are simply not born to survive or you find yourself having the make the call to end what is basically half of a life. :( Pretty sure it would wear me down eventually. 

Edited by Powerlegs
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