The pedigree problem: Here’s how the fixation with purebred pets harms animals

"The premise of buying an animal itself is completely wrong. Especially in a country like ours, where there are so many beautiful Indies waiting to be homed. People buy breed animals because of their ignorance about the pros and cons of buying versus adopting an animal," says Dr Charu Khosla, chairperson at The Feline Foundation, a low-cost community clinic for stray animals and co-founder of Cat Café Studio in Andheri, which facilitates easy adoption of cats.

Recently, an animal welfare documentary ‘The Tails of Boo-Boo & Cuddly Poo' mentioned at the Dadasaheb Phalke Film Festival 2022, encouraged people to ‘adopt, don't shop'. The documentary produced by Salil Jason Fernandez and Vandana Sethhi features Khosla who along with other animal welfare experts and activists bring to light the lack of awareness that has led people to buy animals based on their personal preferences, while "most of the times they are clueless about the kind of nutritional needs, medical care and enrichment their pet requires."

According to a survey published in statista.com, the population of pet dogs in India stood at around 19.5 million in the year 2018 and is forecast to reach over 31 million by the end of 2023. The Covid-19 pandemic further boosted the profits in the Indian pet industry, according to several news reports, which further hiked the prices of exotic breeds of dogs and cats during the pandemic.

Foreign cats including the Persian, Maine coon and Himalayan varieties and breed dogs such as the German shepherd, labrador, great Dane, bull dog, pug, beagle, golden retriever, pit bull terrier and Siberian husky, among others, are popular pets in India. Myths about local street animals also means many Indians are more inclined towards buying, rather than adopting.

How does the animal suffer?

The demand for pets of a certain kind, having peculiar features and behaviour characteristics, has encouraged breeders to run factory-like entities, which reproduce dogs and cats tailored to the humans' needs at the cost of the animal's health and life. When purebred pets are brought home, while the animal survives, they are exposed to internal and external conditions which make their everyday survival difficult and greatly affect their quality of living. This is irrespective of the fact whether the owner has sufficient resources to take care of the pet and cater to its needs or not.

According to Chavan, conditions such as heat stress, variable climatic conditions, unsuitable diet, high maintenance factors and obesity due to genetic factors often pose greater risks to imported breed dogs. Additionally, low immunity and genetic issues such as hip dysplasia - commonly seen in large dogs such as the German shepherd and labrador retriever, environmental allergies and immune mediated issues such as atopy and cherry eye seen in bulldogs, cocker spaniel and Boston terrier among others, end up severing the dog's health condition.

Khosla, who has two adopted pets--Baron, an indie cat and Kulfi who is a specially-abled indie dog brought from a shelter in Dharamshala, informs that in breed cats and kittens too, most of the medical problems arise out of genetic conditions. According to Khosla, brachycephalic airway syndrome in flat-faced cats -- where their extremely narrow and small nostrils restrict airflow -- which makes breathing difficult for them.

"Many long-haired cats also suffer from heatstroke as the Indian weather isn't optimal for their body type. We have often come across owners who are unable to deal with their high maintenance coats which leads to hairballs, faecal matter stuck to their rear ends, matting and eventually infections, or them abandoning the cats after a month to a year of having them," she explains.

Khosla has been rescuing and rehabilitating stray cats since 2012 and presents a picture of what breeding looks like. The mama cat, who is made to reproduce the breed cats, is forced to live inside a cage for the majority of her life, where she has to go through every cycle of pregnancy, which can be up to five times a year, and is often provided with inadequate nutrition and medical care. "Healthy babies are then selected and are put up for sale. The sick ones are either left to pass or abandoned on the streets. Once the mama cat is old and unable to give birth, she is discarded with no second thought for her life and future."

In the absence of laws, it becomes tougher for rescuers to take stringent action against perpetrators.

People's approach to pets

Experts reiterate the lack of knowledge about the consequences of breeding, its legality, myths about pedigrees and the desire or urge to associate pets with status in the society are some of the major factors which boost breeding businesses.

According to Fernandez, who wanted to create awareness about animal welfare in India through action and education models such as his documentary, the media also plays a major role in reinforcing the myths about pedigrees and street animals, further encouraging people to buy animals. Whereas, he still believes, "If the horrid puppy mills were exposed, then people would automatically look down upon shopping for pedigrees."

It is also important to note that, while owners bring in a purebred pet, most of the time they are unaware of how to take care of these pets, which have specific medical and dietary needs. This also leads to cases of more purebred pets getting abandoned, irresponsible pet parenting, negligence and lesser attention of the parents towards the pet adding to the pet's behavioural problems and mental health challenges.

In Khosla's experience, people are initially ready to spend a hefty amount to purchase the animal, but are unable to afford the expenses of medical treatment and nutritional needs in the long run. This weakens the pets' health and such sick and injured animals are often abandoned or left at an over-crowded and overworked NGO's doorstep.

Why is adopting an indie a sound decision?

The experts, Khosla and Chavan, who champion the cause of adopting stray or indie animals or indie dogs and cats, say local dogs and cats are better adapted to the climate conditions here, have better immunity and have lesser genetic risks, which are commonly seen in purebred animals. Moreover, while local cats are extremely intelligent, agile and loving, dogs make up for more alert and attentive pets.

Contrary to popular perceptions about indie dogs that they often fall sick and are more prone to rabies, Chavan says they have a stronger immune system and thrive on basic combination of nutritious food and exercise with regular vet check-ups. Additionally, Chavan busts myths such as that they run back to the streets and are difficult to train. In fact, in her experience, local dogs are extremely loyal and gentle and easier to train because of their quick adapting abilities and intelligence.

Most importantly, adoption helps in encouraging people to embrace local stray animals, who often suffer in harsh living conditions on the streets in the absence of a shelter. This discourages people from choosing exotic breeds over the local ones, which in turn will help in breaking the chain of cruelty where animals are forcibly bred, reproduced and sold as a commodity.

"Every adoption helps to bring a decline in the demand for breeding animals. Adoptions help raise awareness about the conditions in which pedigree animals are brought into the world by their breeders and are not treated as living beings," says Khosla.

In order to make adoption-related information accessible, the documentary ‘The Tails of Boo-Boo & Cuddly Poo', which will soon have a worldwide release, spotlights organisations in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Thane that facilitate the process. "The universal message of the documentary is about embracing stray dogs and cats - where we are saying that they are like any other pets and that they too need a home. Ultimately we are hoping that this documentary sensitises the public towards their neighbourhood strays wherein they start calling cats ‘Boo-Boos' and dogs ‘Cuddly Poos' versus more aggressively toned ‘saala kutta ya billi'," Fernandez says.