Artifical selection has resulted in plants that are more disease-resistant, cows that produce more milk, and racehorses that run faster. One must wonder what will come next. Under what circumstances should humans be artificially selecting plants or animals, if any?
I have only ever had two types of pets, many different fish and I had a hamster for several years (R.I.P. Jim). I currently would do almost anything to get a dog, specifically a pug! When I got my other pets I had lots of different choices of what kind I wanted, this is the same with dogs. Man’s best friend comes in hundreds of different breeds! Thanks to evolution there are so many different breeds of dogs. Also, more recently thanks to artificial selection we have hundreds more breeds to choose from! For example, my best friend has a Puggle! Never heard of it? It’s a mix between a pug and a beagle!! This breed has become increasingly popular after its big break in the movie I Love You Man. Anyways, getting to the point...
Sure, this dog breeding seems cool, and it is. I don’t deny that it’s cool. There are even benefits having a cross-bread dog! But it is starting to cause lots of problems but the issue is not really getting the attention it needs by the media. Dog breeders are using artificial selection to change/modify the original characteristics of one breed of dog or even to combine these characteristics with another breed of dog. Let’s go back to my example of Bella, the Puggle, her face resembles a pug but she has the ears, colour and senses (she smells everything) of a beagle. All Puggles are generally very small and weigh no more than 30 pounds. There is a picture of Bella when she was about 8 weeks old, now she is about one and a half, I believe. It was ideal for my friend and her family to get a Puggle because they wanted a small dog that didn`t shed too much. Beagles can get quite big so thanks to the pug genes Bella is a pretty small dog. However, she still sheds because Pugs are terrible for that but it isn’t as bad as a pure-bred would be. My friend and her family are fans of Pugs but didn’t really care for them as much as my mom and I do so for their dog to be half pug was the perfect solution, right?! Sure... why not? Except to many animal enthusiasts this may seem like a very selfish thing to do.
First of all, there are thousands of dog breeders out there, many of which are not even fully educated on the subject. Most breeders are just in it for the money. They breed dogs much too often and sell the puppies at half the price of pet stores (thank goodness, because those prices are ridiculous, but that’s a whole other issue). By breeding dogs too often you make them very week and they become very needy. Also, it is quite possible to pass on diseases when breeding dogs! They can get sexually transmitted diseases and pass them on just like we can! Not to mention genetic diseases as well. Most breeders don’t do their full research just like we fail to do when we decide we want an artificially selected pet. Another reason it could be considered selfish to breed or to purchase a dog from a breeder is because there are thousands of homeless dogs in Toronto alone, not to mention other cities all over Ontario and even all of Canada!!
Artificial selection is giving us too many options that most people are happy to take advantage of. However, I’d say more than 90% of the human population is unaware of the damage it does on the dogs without homes and the dogs constantly being bread. Until this issue gets more attention from the media, or any similar issue, I do not think that humans will realise the slow and steady damage they are having on living things by artificially selecting them. Having said that, I do not think we will eliminate dog breeders but it would be great to at least eliminate the ones that are doing it immorally and unethically. So final answer: the only time humans should be able to artificially select anything (plants or animals) is when it is being done by professionals, someone with a long background in the field and preferably for scientific reasons! Another example of artificial selection is the one with racehorses and trying to produce the fastest one, this is completely immoral and should not be done!! But dog breeding I think I could let slide if it is done responsibly. After all, without artificial selection we would not have many things that we are so a costumed to today like, corn, broccoli, cabbage, kale etc. This is another acceptable example. On the other hand, an unacceptable example relating back to artificial selection in plants/food is above average sized fruits (oranges, apples etc) and different shaped fruits (square watermelon). There is no purpose for these things and it is just an example of humans abusing power and technology.
Let me know what you think! Dog breeding, do you agree or disagree? Or artificial selection in general, good or bad idea? I think it’s one of those things that, it’s too late to get rid of it because no one thinks it is a problem but, this could easily get out of hand in the near future!
I'll leave you with this short video about why many breeders are giving their pups away to adoption centres:
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7 comments:
Hey Olivia ! :D
Your bio blog was very fascinating to read because like the procrastinator I am, I haven't started my blog yet, so reading about artificial selection was very new. You did an excellent job in the beginning talking about how evolution has revolutionized our lives and now instead of having one type of dog, we can have many. Its good to relate topics to you personal relations because it is a blog and it is based on your opinion. Its good to know that your friend got the exact dog she wanted because now a days you can get anything in the world if you have the money. In my opinion, i think everything in the world is good, if its UNDER CONTROL! Artificial breeding should be done only to a certain extent and if it has a positive and reasonable outcome. I find it hard to believe that dogs are being modified for dog shows. You have to love your pet, not show it off! Its never good to have too much of anything.
Overall you did an excellent job on your Bio Blog! :D
Hello Olivia,
First of all great job on your blog! Nicely written and a great use of exclamation marks!!! You gave a few really good points that everyone should really take into consideration. I agree with you that if we over breed, bad things can happen, but a set limitation is needed. Puppy mills should be illegal because of their unethical amounts of artificial selection experiments. They only do it for the money. Also, i'm glad you touched on the point about stray and homeless dogs and how if we continue buying new puppies, the ones in adoption centres will become unwanted. In conclusion, i think dog breeding is a great thing because you get to choose specific traits in your dog. It basically alows us to make them the closest best friend we've ever had!
Great blog olivia, keep it up!
Olivia,
Your blog was very interesting and fun to read. I completely agree with you that humans are abusing the power we have over plants and animals. Certainly having the ability to choose a specific dog is good, but how do we know when to stop? I hope that in the near future there will be more awareness on the topic and people will be more conscience of what they purchasing and supporting by doing so. Overall I do not think that selective breeding will ever completely be eliminated but I do think it will be better controlled.
Annie Passmore :)
Hi there Olivia!
Nice work on the third blog. I liked how you brought up an issue that people can relate to, breeding puppies. It always helps to engage the reader when you have a topic that people can connect to.
With that in mind, just a few suggestions. You had a nice picture of a cute puppy, but I think it would've helped to add a few more pictures, just to break up the text a little bit. Also, headings work wonders for organizing your blog into different ideas and sections.
And for the most part, I agree with your conclusion. I think that as long as there are regulations preventing people from treating animals unethically, artificial selection can be a good thing. In most cases, artificial selection and selective breeding is beneficial to both humans AND the animals/plants being selected, because humans are choosing traits that would probably be chosen in nature anyway. As long as there are rules, I agree with it.
Keep up the good work champ!
Hey OG Ballin! :)
Great work on this one. I really liked how you related it to your life with the whole dog breeding thing; it really made it easier to process, and much more interesting to read. It really helps to make connections!
I also liked how you addressed the issue of over-breeding, and the negative impacts it can have on the lives of strays.
The only criticism I have is that a few more pictures would have been nice (although I enjoyed that you had a video). Visual imagery always makes things more interesting. I almost didn't read your blog because when I saw it I was a little bit deterred by the amount of reading it looked like I would have to do.
Overall, great job, I really enjoyed it!
Hey Olivia!
I love how easy to read your blog is. I enjoyed reading facts about breeding and artificial selection. I don't think that breeding is a bad idea like you said, when its done morally. I saw recently on the news how a breeder kills all the dogs that aren't going to bring any profit to her business. Those who cannot reproduce or have some dis-functions she would get rid of them. that's plain cruel and inhumane. All dog breeders should be monitored by the government.
overall, your blog covered all the necessary points, great job!
Hey Olivia!
Great blog, and RIP Jim!
I'm not much of a dog person, but man are puggles so cute!
Anyways, you pointed out some really good points, such as over breeding, diseases that can be sexually transmitted or genetically.
People these days are so crazed for money, or creating the "new breed" that they're not really thinking of the consequences.
I also agree with what you were saying about humans abusing power and technology, it's getting crazy.
I really enjoyed reading your blog, I learned a lot. Great job!
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