A Matter of Breeding should be required reading before the purchase of any pure-bred dog. After spending years as a dog walker in New York City, caring for breeds whose exaggerated anatomical features clearly reduced their quality of life, Michael Brandow--whose background includes journalism and community activism--decided to explore why so many dog owners embrace inbreeding despite the great cost to their canine companions. He begins with the wildly popular English Bulldog, which requires "rape stands" and Caesarean births to breed and is so compromised physically that a simple walk around the block is torture, and moves on to include many other favorite breeds like the Boston terrier (a descendent of today's "pitbull"), Labrador and Golden Retrievers, and German Shepherds.
Since studies confirm that inbreeding leads to higher rates of cancer, structural deformities, eye and ear infections, skin conditions and many more genetic afflictions, Brandow wondered where the desire for physical characteristics that impair quality of life first arose (Victorian England and Nazi Germany), and why so many "dog lovers" support an industry that perpetuates suffering. He concludes: "Dog breeding... is a favorite hiding place for values and beliefs we're no longer supposed to have... [including the] crackpot notion that officially 'recognized' dogs are racially superior to dogs that are not.... If we're going to impose human values and belief on non-humans, shouldn't we at least use the ones we profess to have?" Brandow argues our canine companions should no longer be sacrificed to outdated beliefs in eugenics, racial inequality and class distinctions. --Kristen Galles from Book Club Classics