AS a persian breeder who gave up the biz becuase my ethics could not stomach what is done with the poor beasts; I can heartily AGREE..
with Hypo
Boy, you sure hit my "pet" peeve button with those remarks.
Healthy..
HA! You have nooo idea how many hidden deformities there are. Long life? A persian cat used to be the gnarly old threadbare matted 18+ year old animal grandma tells you to leave be..not the geriatric living on meds by age 13 animal! If it was pampered! Indoor/outdoor a newer Persian has about a 5-8 year lifespan depending on neutering. And that is the more vital pet quality animal they sell for 300 bucks at retail stores! Not delicat show animals. Sometimes while they are growing many die when the nose pulls up because the shreds of there nasal cartiliges slices the eye or even pierces the brain. Ear deformaties, liver diseases, bone malformtions. Many of those breed types in dog and cat have had eyes pop out for the sake of BOB! The original wide eyed short nose persian was considered lovely...and the european perisans still do have better health and longer faces. Though they are trying fast to catch to the american ideal so they too can sell the animals at inflated prices! But all of todays persians are from bloodlines with terrible mutations that cropped up mostly in Florida ,that they somehow squeezed into the standard and then made the standard. but even that wasn't enough..now there is excessive inbreeding to set these desirable "beauty traits".
You have to pull teeth while they grow, bind them to make sure that malformed soft bones stay straighter as they grow, and they can walk to keep muscle tone. Mine were top show out of Marhei lines. And nasal surgery, special diets. I had one bloodline that was dying out becuase they had bred in a Y chromosone heart. It took me 8 dead cats to breed it out (you keep em quiet and calm until you breed em..and they almost always die within the week). I usually had about 63 animals on the premise at any given time because I was trying to get my gene pool straightened out. Having concious and doing it right was expensive and time consuming.. I could have been a show winner in NY every year with just 5 of my animals..if I kept inbreeding them. the poor things were already their own brother, sister and mother!
I find making an animal defective for the sake of beauty is no laughing matter. As long as it's healthy? And what measuring stick is being used for that definition? Being able to stay alive?
You may bring up oriental animal breeds with their lionesque features..but those animals were CAREFULLY breed over
centuries too! And after all the careful work they did, there have been several shortcuts taken lately that nearly destroyed many of those breeds for a long time. You used to have to really screw up to kill your goldfish..they could suffer through all types of errors and still end up so big it was pond time. Betta imbellis used to be so disctintive as their own b.specie that you could keep over 20 in a 30 gallon. Ha , they are so intercrossed and released with betta splendens now you can't chance two in a tank!Sheperds..a dog that could run next to a galloping horse(Roy Rogers Bullit, Rinty) for a taping session and was the childrens guradian are now prone to hip dysplasia and other debilitating health defects. They are often untrustworthy, aggressive, ,nervous, and same with collies, another sheep dog. They stretched the faces out til the eyes slanted and made the animal fraglile and nervous. People are now working to reverse the damage done by the careless for the sake of a look and having it cheap.
Boy, you sure hit my button with those remarks.
TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE RIGHT. And never will!
One can say they find them lovely and that they do not care how they came to be..that is what floats your boat.
But don't try to justify it with the examples like how the inner circle of show breeders have set features so extreme in they destroy the animals whole breed with their dahm-med shortcuts and carelessness without even tipping a hat to the facts of biology. Or care for the fact they are a living thing. Inbreeding sets good with bad. Man made animals and sports should not be allowed to breed back into a natural population. And deciding to like a mutation and keep it and purposely making one are two different schools of thought.
Though I was originally popping in to just say I thought they were abad practice. ......with some of what I have read I will say my more personal view which is that I think the blood parrot is an abomination and ugly to boot. The colors are spectacular, but they look deformed and they are unnatural.
And my greatest beef against them is that they are opening a door into a terrible trend that once it winds its way into the fish fancy..most aquaurium bred species are doomed. Because what are the offspring marked as that look like one parent or the other? You think they destroy them all? or that they are creeping unknown into aquariums everywhere to muddy the species distinction of their parent donors. Knowing retail and the fact they are secretive on exactly how they got them; I say the latter!!
Thats "the harm in it..." And that attitude is why there are STILL "painted" fish available.
*wipes the foam flecks from lips* <rides high horse frorm the soap box it was balanced on and dismounts>
Okay, I am done barking now. And for your part MandM their colors
are striking. And they exhibit the pet behavior thgat makes cichlids popular
I feel strongly against overmanipulation of animals kept as our companions. And will always naysay against it. Fish even more because they have few legal protections. I need coffee now!