Modern dogs suffer in silence. This review sheds light on the psychological and structural roots of today’s breeding crisis – and offers a way forward.
How did man’s best friend become man’s silent victim?
In her 2024 review, Claire Diederich doesn’t romanticize the dog. She confronts the uncomfortable truth: today’s breeding practices often betray the very welfare they claim to protect.
From exaggerated morphology to behavioural abnormalities, extreme breeding has reshaped the canine body to fit human ideals, not canine needs. The result? A generation of dogs genetically tailored for aesthetics – yet neurologically primed for stress.
Diederich explores how dysfunctional human psychology feeds into this cycle: the projection of control, the manipulation of traits for symbolic capital, and the ignorance of real-world canine needs. Breeding has become, in her words, “a theatre of human insecurity.”
But this isn’t a call for despair. The article presents evidence-based proposals to restore animal welfare – not in abstract ethics, but in breeding standards, legislative reform, and human education.
At its core, the review asks a single question: If the dog was created to save man, who will now save the dog?
The beauty of the beast: Suggestions to curb the excesses of dog breeding and restore animal welfare – Invited review.
Veterinární Medicína, Volume 69, Pages 369–380.
