WSAVA issues position paper on extreme breeding
The position paper was released in response to the continued increase in the popularity of pets with exaggerated traits.
WSAVA has released a new position paper calling on vets and breeders to make use of advances in genetic testing, to reduce the suffering caused by extreme breeding.
The paper was released by the WSAVA Hereditary Disease Committee, in response to the continued increase in the popularity of pets with exaggerated traits.
It recommends a ‘health conscious’ approach to breeding and urges vets and breeders to ensure criteria used to select breeding animals include the ability to reproduce naturally and exclude extreme conformation, such as size, skin folds, brachycephaly and angulation.
Breeders are encouraged to use pre-breeding health screening to ensure only healthy animals are bred, while vets are urged to ensure they are up to date with advances in the available genetic tests.
Individual tests should also be validated for specific diseases and the breed being tested, the paper continues. It is also recommended that genetic counselling should be tailored to the animal and its circumstances, including the mode of inheritance, penetrance of mutation being tested for, the breed being tested and the frequency of mutation within the breed.
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
