Animal Health & Welfare: Good Breeding
When it comes to the animals we want in our lives, breed selection is a personal choice. Breeds have characteristics that relate to their function, also known as ‘form to function’- Thoroughbreds are built to be racehorses, Drafts are built to be workhorses, Rottweilers provide protection and Australian Shepherds will herd your sheep.
Breeders use heredity, or the passing on of characteristics from parent to offspring. This study of heredity is called genetics. My major (at the University of Georgia) was Equine Reproduction…basically horse genetics. Being knowledgeable about animals’ genetics helps us to decrease the possibility of diseases, increase the possibility of strong conformational traits and helps us to maintain the specific traits that make a certain breed who they are- this means, for example, that cattle can be bred based upon milking abilities (for your Holsteins and Jerseys) or meat-producing capabilities (for your Angus and Herefords).
Breeds are classified by common characteristics that differentiate them from other breeds. Knowing an animal’s history and ancestors gives you knowledge as to the problems that could come up… I acquired my last horse, a Connemara/Irish Thoroughbred cross, at four months old from his breeder. I secured my adoption and he remained on the farm for a few months to be weaned and start ground-work training (being haltered, etc.). I was able to meet his mother (dam) and full brother, also on the farm. Additionally, his breeder was showing his father (sire) on the national circuit, and all of his information was available to me.
A good breeder should give you something of an investigative ‘hard time’ when adopting one of their animals- they need to make sure you are able to provide a safe and healthy home.
Good breeders use ‘selective breeding’- breeding two animals that possess certain desired/genetic characteristics to be passed on to the offspring. This involves outbreeding (mating unrelated individuals) as opposed to inbreeding (mating related individuals).
As a veterinary technician and trainer closely involved with endangered species (such as giraffe, zebra and antelope), maintaining breed integrity means no inbreeding… when numbers of individual animals are so low, there is a great risk when it comes to inbreeding.
Individual breeds have certain traits associated with them- Labradors and Retrievers are known to be super sweet as well as great hunting dogs, Australian Shepherds and Welsh Corgis are known for their herding abilities- these are personality and conformational characteristics we depend upon.
What if we just had “The Dog” or “The Horse”… a mix of an undeterminable amount of species?
