Overboard by Chip Dunham for May 18, 2012

Ah, the AKC is indeed evil. They judge dogs principally on their aesthetics, and thereby encourage people to overbreed dogs with select characteristics, even if those characteristics are bad for the dog’s well-being (pugs’ and bulldog’s snouts that are too short for proper breathing, G. shepherds’ rear taper which causes hip displacia, etc., etc.). They also promote the purchase of dogs from breeders instead of taking potluck at a shelter, and by encouraging breeding they’re increasing the supply of dogs far more than they increase the demand, thereby causing more dogs to be put to death. (Anybody who allows their dog to have puppies causes an increase in the number of dogs that are put to death unless they create new demand for dogs that is proportional to the increased supply that they have produced.)