Animal testing...Is it just? Is it necessary? NO!
1. Animals suffer horribly in labs and lab experiments.
2. Alternative testing methods exist while animal experiments waste billions of tax dollars a year.
3. The overwhelming majority of experiments don't even address the nation's worst diseases.
4. Regulation is poor and record keeping is misleading.
From bulldogsworld.com:
How many times have we heard this? Anywhere from breeders of other breeds who don't quite understand some of the issues we go through, to the media who question our "true motives" for perpetuating the suffering inflicted by our stubborn adherence to the Standard, to a few enterprising breeders here and abroad who have strived to "make this breed better" or to bring it "back to its former glory" by crossing existing bulldogs with breeds such as Mastiffs, bullmastiff, American Bulldogs, Olde English, you name it.
Scariest of all is the Weiss Kennel Club's backing of a scheme of a former Bulldog breeder to make the breed "as it was meant to be" by cross breeding pure Bulldogs with Old English and/or American Bulldogs (not sure which one, either way, it is appalling to me and should be to everyone who loves this breed as it is now). Strangely enough, these people are not at all recreating the Rose and Crib style dog of old, but have merely created nothing more than a generic bull-breed mix. (If they read their history, they would know that in order to get back to the Bulldogs of the pre-1860's they would have to downsize quite a bit, but that probably wouldn't appeal to those interested as much as the dogs advertised as weighing well over 100 pounds.)
In these days of "cock-apoos, peke-a-poos, "Labradoodles" and even Miniature Bulldogs, what's another man made breed? That's really all these new bull-breeds are. It's another way to profit off a public hungry for something "new," or to benefit from our breed's wild popularity. Many of these breeders advertise their dogs as "healthier versions of the broken down modern English Bulldog."
So, back to the above question. The answer is quite simple. "What have we done to our breed?" Not much. Oh, we have improved it quite a bit, but we certainly have done nothing to this breed maintenance of a breed that has remained virtually unchanged since the type we see today was "stamped" in the late 1800's.
Certainly, we can look at things such as modern nutrition and techniques for better conditioning and 100 more years of breeding selection to make up for the subtle difference in style and substance between then and now, but when we look back over the last century, we see dogs that were first visualized and then realized by a very dedicated group of fanciers.
The bottom line: The dogs we all love today are pretty much what the early club members had in mind. (I'm sure those fanciers would have something to say about the over all lack of some absolute necessitates for type such as true top line, front ends, tail set and the troubling lack of any massive jaw size, length and sweep which is rampant these days in America and the general over all lack of truly grand head type, but they dealt with these issue back then, too, and I am referencing show dogs. Pet quality has and always will run the gambit between truly poor to very good.)
The biggest complaint of the "anti-bulldog" movement is that we (modern breeders) have created a breed of dog which is on the edge of extinction, either by the breeding/whelping difficulties, the exaggerated conformation, the breathing difficulties, the aggravating immune-related disorders, and so on and so on....
A brief history of our breed is that it was once a fierce little fighting dog that almost went extinct after the 1835 "Act" which banned the dog-baiting sports until a group of men gathered together to save it. The Bulldog Club was formed in good part to preserve the type as they knew it, to maintain purity from that point forward. The Pug crosses of a decade or so prior had been quietly swept under the rug and some early ardent fanciers denied it all together. While some strains remained pure, the strains with the cross ultimately influenced the final product, the "Missing Link" as it were between the Crib/Rosa types and the modern type. Likely the most important goal was to prevent the importation and cross-breeding of Spanish-breed bulldogs that weighed well over 100 pounds. This was a breed that was totally English and they were bound and determined to keep the breed pure.
From Farman's "Monograph" of 1899: "It was in the fitness of things, therefore, that The Bulldog Club should have come into existence in a public house, the Blue Post, Newman Street, Oxford Street, London. At this place, it was that one night in 1874 a few very hardened admirers of the breed met together, earnest in their intention to save the "pot-house dog" from gradual extinction, as well as the threatened invasion of the Spanish Bulldog under the generalship of Mr. Frank Adcock. It is interesting to note that the very fact of the dog's association saved the breed from becoming a basatard race and preserved it from the impending introduction into its veins of blood of the Spanish Milk-cart dogs.
"The present club was started on the 13th of April, 1975, at a time when a determined attempt was being made by the gentleman already named (Adcock) and Mr. Dawes to "enlarge" the Bulldog from its average size to one of a weight of 100-120 lbs. Although the dog was mainly in the hands of certain class, still its patrons were true fanciers and as jealous of the preservation of the purity of its blood as the patrons of any more fashionable breed. As to the suggested crossbreeding, they would have none of it, it was a case of English for England, and sheer self-defiance the few ardent fanciers banded themselves together and reconstituted the old Bulldog Club, which existed some years earlier, but for a very short time only.
And from an earlier book, the Cynographia Britannia of 1800: "The Bulldog is in height about 18 inches and weighs about thirty-six pounds...."
The old Bulldog of England was not a large dog an it is important to remember that in discussing the purity of "our" Bulldogs compared to the newer created bull breeds, or even the older American Bulldog whose breeders claim it to be purely descended from the old English Bulldogs.
The Standards were written, with Philo Kuon's coming in 1865, Jacob Lamphier's "Properties and Points" coming out in Vero show's Book of the Dog in 1879 and The Bulldog Club's (England) official version in 1875.
That is a condensed history, but it is important to know it as a Bulldog lover of any type.
So, back to the old questions at the beginning of this article. Well, what is interesting to me and is the point of this article in the first place, is that the health woes we experience today were just as common 100+ years ago.
It really flies in the face of those who claim we are going to destroy the breed if we don't crossbreed them and fast!
I found the following passages in some of my favorite old books and thought them to be of interest.
"....Recently (for the last 2 or 3 years) in the Manchester District, fanciers have collectively found that a practical and skillful Veterinary Surgeon has amazingly reduced the mortality in whelping by the Caesarian operation. the percentage of loss, both of puppies and their dams, is exceedingly small, and I feel, that in the interests of the breed, I should put it on record."
Sam book has another passage under "Blister on Feet":
"Those red bulging between the toes of many Bulldogs are extremely painful to the dog and very often the cause of bitter disappointment to the owner."
From Bulldogs and ALL About Them by Henry St. John Cooper (around 1910):
"For follicular mange I can offer no suggestions for treatment, except the foregoing, which may or may not be effective, but at any rate is well worth the trial" (he had previously described treatment for sarcoptic mange). "Eczema if often mistaken by the novice for mange."
"I remember at a certain show, a lady gave a special prize to the Bulldog with clean ears. The prize was not awarded, for out of the twelve dogs exhibited not one had clean ears. Canker is very often caused in the first place by neglect. The wax and dirt are apt to stop the hearing and make the dog appear deaf."
There are many more excepts in the old dog books to the Bulldog health concerns. Even the tail issue was a hot topic at the turn of the century. Funny how the breed had the same conditions it has now and is surprisingly still around and thriving in numbers (which in reality is not at all a good thing).
For the anti-Bulldog movement, this should be food for thought. The breed is still around after all this time. And we didn't have to crossbreed them to do it. Our breed (like so many others) has its own particular health issues. Some are quite unique to them alone, some are common among similar bracecephalic breeds and some are just going to happen, regardless of the type of dog it is. And, most important, not every Bulldog suffers these issues. That should always be remembered.
We should be on guard, however. There already seems to be one Kennel Club in the world out to change the breed. And the sponsor claims to be making the breed healthier by crossbreeding it. We need to be aware of the health problems in our breed and we really need to correct them. It's very possible.
And thanks to the efforts of the BCA and others involved in the breed, ignorance is no longer an excuse (not that is ever should have been). There are many Bulldogs that enjoy healthy, normal and lengthy lives, by any breed's standards, and many of them are the finest show dogs.
It must be the goal of every breeder to add health to their overall breeding goals. After all, the mix bull-breed breeders are catering to those who want a Bulldog, but don't want the health problems. It has been going on for too long that people accept the preventable problems as "normal for the breed." There is nothing NORMAL about a dog that struggles to breath through tight nostrils and narrow trachea.
In this day of anti-dog legislation and anti-dog breeder in general, it would behoove us all, not to mention the dogs themselves, to make a very aggressive stand against the Bulldog heal issues that seem shadow our breed at every turn.
Elizabeth Hugo
You aren't interested in making others bend to your will or in always dishing out criticism. You're not a pushy person, and you like it that way.
You're not compelled to win every contest nor to be right all the time.
You are not always ready to talk at the drop of a hat. Whether you're in the office or at a party, you're not likely to be found gabbing away in the middle of a group of people.
You don't enjoy talking for the sake of talking, and you have no desire to be the center of attention.
You are not the kind of person who abandons a project before finishing it, or slacks off when you've lost interest.
You are not good at resisting temptation and avoiding overindulgence; you are not the kind of person who doesn't regret anything you said or did.
You don't see the need to keep your thoughts to yourself, or to have a zone of privacy that encompasses only yourself and a small circle of friends and relatives.
A high score on the "accessible" trait suggests that you have a lot of friends, socialize often, and enjoy rap/hip-hop music.
You are not one of those people who ignore the details, and you don't understand how anyone can get anything accomplished without thoughtful planning ahead of time.
You do not feel that people with sad stories are just looking for attention, or have brought their problems upon themselves.
You don't always say exactly what you're thinking; you don't like the idea of causing anyone pain because of your criticism.
Scoring high on the "warm" trait suggests that you are among those who enjoy domestic activities — doing things around the house — and are enthusiastic about charitable work, helping others, and making the world a better place.
Someone once asked why we don’t write more about food issues. This post is for you.
Prompted by Seattle’s proposed twenty-cent charge on grocery bags, Sightline has once again highlighted their study of the environmental impact of paper vs. plastic. Check out the handy graph on the right.
The vertical axis is “embedded energy,” meaning the amount of energy required to produce and transport the associated goods. Embedded energy equates roughly to climate change impact.
As you can plainly see, the stuff in the bag matters a lot more than the bag itself. In fact, it matters about 186 times as much. The analysis compared “four servings of two different diets: the first, a meat-based diet that included beef, potatoes, tropical fruit, and drinks such as soda; the second a vegetable-based diet composed of produce grown within the country where is was consumed and a soy-based protein source.”
The moral, obviously, is not that we should waste bags. But if you’re looking to lower your environmental impact, paper vs. plastic is maybe not the only question to be pondering.
If I weren't such an English bulldog fan, I'd have a Pekingese: they crack me up!
Survey: 80 percent of Biloxians satisfied with city direction, progress
More than 80 percent of Biloxians think the city is on the right track, and just as many people say they are satisfied with ongoing progress of the city’s recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
The results are from a poll of 500 Biloxi residents made by Market Research Insight, a company that has conducted more than 5,000 public opinion surveys over 30 years.
Dr. Verne Kennedy, who conducted the survey, says it has a 4.5 percent error factor, meaning it has a more than 95 percent accuracy rate compared to a survey of every single resident of the city.
“Biloxi citizens were very responsive,” Kennedy said, “and only 54 people who listened long enough to learn what the survey was about declined to participate.”
Mayor A. J. Holloway said he was pleased that Biloxians felt the city was headed in the right direction, but he noted the survey also pointed out areas of continuing concern.
For instance, the ongoing debate over new residential development was reflected in the survey:
50 percent of the respondents felt satisfied with the quality of new residential developments in Biloxi, while 32 percent were dissatisfied and nearly 19 percent were uncertain.Top issues with Biloxians: more affordable housing (15 percent), improving traffic flow (12 percent), and more business development and jobs (8 percent). Notably, 12 percent were uncertain about the most important issue.
62 percent favored rebuilding using “scattered site” low-income homes, with 30 percent in opposition and 8 percent uncertain.
60 percent of respondents were satisfied with the quality of commercial developments in Biloxi; 33 percent were dissatisfied and 7 percent were uncertain.
Of the 33 percent dissatisfied: 17 percent said there was too much commercial development, 16 percent said too many condominiums were being built, and 15 percent felt there were too many casinos and “didn’t like gambling.”
20 percent of the respondents said the friendly people and Southern hospitality were the things they liked best about Biloxi, while 13 percent said they like the proximity to the water and another 13 percent said they were “born in Biloxi or it feels like home.”
Among the biggest concerns about Biloxi’s rebuilding: affordable housing (10 percent), the slow pace of recovery and lack of rebuilding along the beach front (8 percent), affordable homeowner’s insurance (8 percent).and three issues at 7 percent each: too many casinos, too many condos, and poor roads and traffic congestion. Of note, 9 percent were uncertain of their biggest concern about Biloxi’s rebuilding.
73 percent of the respondents favored mixed residential and commercial development for east Biloxi, while 19 percent thought resorts should dominate east Biloxi.
65 percent of those surveyed favored relocating the CSX railway.
Three-quarters of those surveyed felt Back Bay Boulevard should be extended to U.S. 90 on Point Cadet.
I need to remember this, because I think Matilda began overheating on a walk across campus yesterday:
Overheating:
Hot weather can be fatal to a Bulldog: they don’t even need to be moving about in it. It is essential that we prevent problems from too much sun or heat. Do not leave your dog in an enclosed car in the summertime. Provide shade at all times. The best idea is to keep them inside the house for the most part during the hot summer months. Exercise should be kept at the dog's pace, not necessarily your own. There are several ways of keeping down heat with Bulldogs: wet towel under your dog's toes, ice cubes in the drinking water, sponging off your dog, lemon juice. All short-nosed breeds should be constantly watched to see that they are breathing easily and that they are taking in enough water to prevent dehydration. Far too many dogs are lost from dehydration, heat or sun stroke, and suffocation, when a few precautions could have been taken to prevent death.
Bulldogs overheat quickly because of the shape of their throats--their soft palates are almost always too long and when they get very hot they cannot pant sufficiently to keep their body temperature down. Their attempts to pant quickly cause the production of foam which in turn blocks the throat and causes labored breathing; eventually they will begin to roar as they try to breathe through the blockage. Lemon juice squeezed directly into the back of the mouth is helpful in cutting it, or use your fingers to scoop it out. Always keep the throat clear. Brain damage or death may result if a Bulldog is stricken, so watch your Bulldog.
Stages of overheating:
How to prevent overheating:
How to deal with overheating:
From NationStates:
 | The Confederacy of Tchoutacabouffa"Go Biloxi!" |
| Category: Democratic Socialists | ||
| Civil Rights: Very Good | Economy: Developing | Political Freedoms: Excellent |
Location: Absolution | Regional Influence: Minnow |
The Confederacy of Tchoutacabouffa is a large, socially progressive nation, renowned for its devotion to social welfare. Its compassionate, intelligent population of 29 million are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.
The large government devotes most of its attentions to Social Welfare, with areas such as Commerce and Defence receiving almost no funds by comparison. The average income tax rate is 25%, but much higher for the wealthy. A substantial private sector is led by the Retail industry, followed by Trout Farming and Soda Sales.
A National Academy regulates grammar and usage, the government pours millions of Biloxians into rehabilitation programs annually, roads are often attended by round-the-clock construction crews, and every product goes through extensive safety-testing by the government. Crime is totally unknown. Tchoutacabouffa's national animal is the English bulldog, which frolics freely in the nation's many lush forests, and its currency is the Biloxian.
Tchoutacabouffa is ranked 46,351st in the world for Largest Information Technology Sector.
Tchoutacabouffa relocated from Mississippi to Absolution.Tchoutacabouffa was reclassified from "Inoffensive Centrist Democracy" to "Democratic Socialists".Tchoutacabouffa, every product goes through extensive safety-testing by the government.Tchoutacabouffa, roads are often attended by round-the-clock construction crews.Tchoutacabouffa, the government pours millions of Biloxians into rehabilitation programs annually.Tchoutacabouffa, a National Academy regulates grammar and usage.Tchoutacabouffa was reclassified from "Left-Leaning College State" to "Inoffensive Centrist Democracy".Tchoutacabouffa, trespassers often find themselves impaled by crossbow bolts.Tchoutacabouffa, armed police units patrol the roads late at night.Tchoutacabouffa was reclassified from "Capitalizt" to "Left-Leaning College State".My current Facebook "Nations" status:
The Confederation of Tchoutacabouffa is governed by President Carroll Atlee Hardin Cadden. In Tchoutacabouffa, each citizen has one vote, but only the votes of wealthy land owners are actually counted. Personal computers are given to each citizen and children are taught to type at the age of 12 months. Health care is available to any citizen whose personal insurance is accepted by the medical community.Norfolk Islands flag, which I chose because of the pine tree, common in Tchoutacabouffa
Public safety is a growing concern and many citizens have taken to only traveling in packs and try to tread softly. Military techniques have finally been upgraded in Tchoutacabouffa and soldiers are taught to fight with sticks and stones. Any citizen may practice any religion, but no public policy may be passed solely on the moral obligations of any one religion. Education in Tchoutacabouffa is of great importance and vouchers are given to any student who cannot afford schooling.
Conservation issues drive this nation's production of vehicles that run completely on human waste. Privatization of corporations and free market are new concepts developing in this country, and many feminist movements have butted heads with masculine movements, spurring this nation's first 'Peoplist Movement'.
Recent News in Tchoutacabouffa
The government has replaced traffic lights with police officers, which has greatly improved the commute for those who have enough to bribe themselves through intersections.
Terrorists in Tchoutacabouffa have been thwarted, and Carroll Atlee Hardin Cadden has handed them over to the judicial system so that a fair trial can be arranged.
This government has enacted minimum wage laws, forcing corporations to pay more to their employees and thus preventing the unionization of the nation's work force.
I played a game of "Trivial Pursuit" once and got the question, "Which season extends from X month to Y month?" I thought long and hard, and seriously, before giving the answer, "hockey." The correct answer was one of the world's seasons, like fall, not a sports season!
