Why a win-win situation is really lose-lose
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There's simply for no excuse for breeding an animal with a genetic defect, no matter how slight
With my poodle pup Wan-Wan, there’s good news and bad news. She’s back home after having surgery on the knee of one of her back legs, and the surgeon is quite happy with the result.
The operation was quite easy, at least from his point of view. Since her knee still has the groove where the ligaments should fit, he didn’t have to do any bone surgery, but he did need to sew the ligaments into position so that they wouldn’t slip in and out.
As a result, the pain and danger of infection aren’t as great as when the bone needs to be cut, but she is still in distress, even with painkillers.
She’s quite happy to be home after a night at the clinic, and to show her appreciation, she immediately pulls off her bandage and begins licking the wound.
I replace the mangled bandage with a much larger one, which also keeps her leg fairly stiff so that she won’t walk on it.
At one point, I thought I’d have to keep Wan in a cage for at least seven days, but the surgeon understands my little dog.
“This dog is too active to keep her in a cage,” he says. “Just put her in a small room, and don’t let her chase the cats.”
In fact, Wan doesn’t want to do much except eat and sleep, thank goodness, at least for right now.
I am, however, dealing with a reader who is quite angry that I feel it’s a good idea to neuter dogs who carry the gene that causes these bad knees.
“You’re the problem, not the dog,” he tells me. "A dog that’s otherwise perfect can have the operation when it’s a puppy. It will heal more quickly than when it’s older, the pain is reduced, and you have a dog that can produce puppies who also can be operated on when they’re young.”
He calls it a win-win situation. For me, it’s completely lose-lose. I don’t understand how someone would knowingly participate in creating puppies that, if allowed to breed as adults, will continue this genetic defect forever.
Good breeders work hard to ensure that their dogs are as healthy as possible, without the need for surgery. They follow the puppies they sell for years, since a number of genetic deformities, such as hip dysplasia, might not show up until the dog is two or three years old.
Idiot breeders don’t care. They think that if you, the customer, buy a puppy with a genetic problem, then it’s your problem, not theirs.
Of course, my dog is perfect. I love her personality, her spirit, her heart. There would be no assurance that her puppies would have the same loving character – just the guarantee that they would inherit a gene that would cause them unnecessary pain.
