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The ethics of cuteness: A closer look at 12 trendy cat mutations
Topic Started: May 19 2016, 03:40 AM (133 Views)
Darcie
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Skeptic
Quote:
 
From Grumpy Cat to Lil Bub, it seems like every day there's a new Internet "It Cat" that steals our hearts with its unbearably adorable looks or personality. While many of these charismatic kitties rise to fame from humble beginnings as rescue animals, countless others are purposefully bred for their unique, squee-worthy characteristics.

At its root, there is nothing new about this practice. Selective breeding has been going on for thousands of years — it's how all domesticated animals were developed. When a mutated trait is appealing or useful to humans, these individuals are intentionally bred to produce more offspring that exhibit the trait.

That said, while many mutations can be quite benign, serious ethical concerns arise when animals are specifically bred for aesthetic traits that are painful or debilitating.


http://www.mnn.com/family/pets/blogs/ethics-cuteness-closer-look-12-trendy-cat-mutations

Maybe I am different but I find this extremely sad and abusive when done on purpose, and it leaves me angry at what people do to animals for their entertainment.
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angora
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WWS Book Club Coordinator
I find it sad and abusive too. I dont look at these cats but that doesnt stop the practice. I dont like the videos where cats (and dogs) are dressed up and/or made to perform in unnatural ways - dancing on 2 feet etc.
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FuzzyO
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I agree. I don't feel that animals are here for our entertainment. The Persian cat of today is deformed compared to the Persian cat of 4o years ago. If you punch in the nose of course you will be creating respiratory problems. Why do we feel we have the right to interfere? I suppose there would be an argument for breeding out a malformation, but to deliberately create one? Eveil.
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Trotsky
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Big City Boy
I often think of an article long ago in the Village Voice where I first heard the term hip dysplasia and how it was virtually bred into large dogs by being ignored. To the point of almost being inevitable in certain breeds.
The title of the article brought the problem home:
"AKITAS OF EXTINCTION"(It was a play on words of a major local breeder: "Akitas of Distinction.")
After just a few years MOST akitas can no longer walk but breeders just keep churning them out. (You can see how long ago this was given the Akita craze, that seems no longer to exist.)

And then there is the case of purposeful breeding of killers: Pit Bulls and Rottweilers.

That kind of crap is precisely why so many of us are skeptical of "new breakthroughs" like genetic modification. Man is too stupid and greedy to do these kinds of things right.

Edited by Trotsky, May 20 2016, 05:02 AM.
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Darcie
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Skeptic
Trotsky
May 20 2016, 01:23 AM
I often think of an article long ago in the Village Voice where I first heard the term hip dysplasia and how it was virtually bred into large dogs by being ignored. To the point of almost being inevitable in certain breeds.
The title of the article brought the problem home:
"AKITAS OF EXTINCTION." After just a few years MOST akitas can no longer walk but breeders just keep churning them out. (You can see how long ago this was given the Akita craze, that seems no longer to exist.)

And then there is the case of purposeful breeding of killers: Pit Bulls and Rottweilers.

That kind of crap is precisely why so many of us are skeptical of "new breakthroughs" like genetic modification. Man is too stupid and greedy to do these kinds of things right.

Can't agree with you more, and then there are the selfish ones who use animals for entertainment - like rodeos etc. What floors me is that they really all think it is OK and that we who oppose this use and abuse are just bleeding hearts.
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