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July 12, 2024: PDF file of this release here
INTERNATIONAL WELFARE GROUP CALLS FOR WORLDWIDE END TO THE USE OF IMAGES OF DOGS WITH EXTREME BODY SHAPES IN ADVERTISING
Embargoed until 1am CET Friday July 12th, 2024
Summary
The ICECDogs is now formally calling on all advertisers and other users of public/social media worldwide to stop using images of dogs with extreme conformations in all forms of public communications that are not directly aimed at protecting the health and wellbeing of dogs and to instead focus on using images that promote physically healthy conformations in dogs.
Full information
The International Collective on Extreme Conformations in Dogs (ICECDogs) is a multinational group formed to address the escalating global welfare issues and suffering caused by extreme conformations (body shapes) in dogs.
ICECDogs defines extreme conformation in dogs as:
A physical appearance that has been so significantly altered through selection by humankind away from the ancestral natural canine appearance that affected dogs commonly suffer from poor health and welfare, with negative impacts on their quality and quantity of life.
Increasingly over the past decade, owners have been choosing to acquire dogs with extreme conformations such as very flat faces, no or deformed twisted tails, shortened twisted legs and deep skin folds. These and other extreme conformations are all linked with high risk of serious health and welfare problems for these dogs that often last for the lifetime of the dog and severely reduce their quality of life.
Much of this increased public demand for dogs with extreme conformation that causes so much suffering is believed to result from the commonplace use of images of dogs with extreme conformations as promotional aids in advertising and social media that has now resulted in normalisation of these harmful body shapes.
With the goal of reducing the unnecessary suffering of dogs internationally that results from the unintended promotion of canine extreme body shapes in advertising and social media, ICECDogs hereby calls on all advertisers and public/social media users worldwide to stop using images of dogs with extreme conformation unless such use is directly aimed at animal health and welfare protection.
In support of this worldwide call to end the inappropriate use of images of dogs with extreme conformation in advertising and social media, ICECDogs has produced detailed guidance to assist advertisers and social media users to understand and apply the new guidelines. In their new guidance document, International Guidelines on the Use of Imagery of Dogs with Extreme Conformations in Advertising, ICECDogs outlines the basic physical attributes and abilities that any dog must have to ensure their capacity to enjoy a full canine life experience without limitation from health and welfare issues linked to extreme conformations. Common examples of such health and welfare issues linked to extreme conformation include chronic pain (e.g., eye ulcers because of protruding eyes) or physical incapacity (e.g., unable to sleep or exercise fully due to breathing difficulties from being flat-faced).
Dr Dan O’Neill, Chair of the UK Brachycephalic Working Group said “Millions of dogs continue to suffer worldwide every year from extreme and unnecessary body shapes. This new ICECDogs message calls on advertisers to play their part in ending the normalisation of suffering from extreme body shapes and will hopefully contribute to the ongoing worldwide movement to instead celebrate healthy body shapes in dogs.”
Members of the general public who identify advertisements contravening this ICECDogs welfare guidance are advised to report this to the relevant advertising standards agency in their country and also to contact the advertisers directly. Many advertisers are simply unaware of the harms that their actions are causing for dogs and those who care about animal welfare will immediately withdraw inappropriate imagery.
The general ICECDogs advice to advertisers is to err on the side of welfare caution and to avoid using any images of dogs where there are any concerns about extreme conformation. With ready access to images from so many other dog types without extreme conformations, there is simply no justification for not using alternative images of physically healthy dogs that can instead help promote positive welfare in dogs.
Notes to editors
About ICECDogs:
Further information is available at https://www.icecdogs.com/
The International Collective on Extreme Conformations in Dogs (ICECDogs) is a global multi-stakeholder group that works together to minimize welfare issues resulting from extreme conformations in dogs by seeking out and applying evidence-based canine and human approaches.
The current focus of the ICECDogs is to support national/regional multi-stakeholder groups engaged in the issues raised by extreme conformation in dogs, and to act as a leader in the development and dissemination of policy and guidance on minimizing extremes of conformation and promoting moderate, healthy conformation in dogs.
ICECDogs collaborates with (multi-)stakeholder groups in the following countries:
1. Australia
2. Canada
3. Denmark
4. Germany
5. Ireland
6. New Zealand
7. Sweden
8. United Kingdom
Position statement Infographic (click the image for downloadable version)
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April 9, 2024: PDF file of this release here
FIRST EVER INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT ON WHAT ARE NATURALLY HEALTHY BODYSHAPES FOR DOGS
Embargoed until Tuesday the 9th April 2024 at 01:00 CET
The International Collaborative on Extreme Conformations in Dogs (ICECDogs) has released a position paper that helps owners to recognise good innate health (i.e., healthy natural physical characteristics) in dogs. The innate health concept, which has emerged from a decade of research at the Royal Veterinary College, aims to assist animal caregivers and the wider public to objectively predict and assess potential dog health and welfare based on the body shape of the dog. This new position paper from ICECDogs can help owners to determine how likely the dog is to suffer from negative impacts resulting from extreme conformations. Click here to check out the full version.
The increase of extreme conformations and the impact on dog health and welfare
Flat faces, miniature and giant sizes, bulging eyes, deep skin folds, twisted legs, taillessness and other extreme features: have you ever wondered if your currently preferred type of dog is likely to suffer because of their extreme conformations (i.e., body shapes) that we as humans chose to breed into these dogs just because we find them so appealing. Sadly, there is growing evidence that many dogs with extreme conformations endure lifetimes of potential or real suffering from poor innate (i.e. natural) health which can significantly reduce their overall quality of life.
Innate health refers to a dog’s capacity to enjoy the full canine life experience without limitation from health issues linked to extreme conformations. Common examples of such issues include chronic pain (e.g., eye ulcers because of protruding eyes) or physical incapacity (e.g., unable to sleep or exercise fully due to breathing difficulties from being flat-faced).
“The animal health and welfare problems linked to breeding for the brachycephalic (flat-faced) conformation are one of the UK’s leading canine welfare priorities. We all share a societal ethical obligation to promote a good life for dogs under human stewardship.” Dr Dan O’Neill, Chair of the UK Brachycephalic Working Group.
“The escalation of extreme conformations in animals and the serious harms resulting from them are a priority issue for the CVMA. There is an urgent need for the public to be made aware of the severity of the current situation and to learn how they can contribute to a solution”. Dr Michelle Groleau, Director Animal Welfare, Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA).
How can I tell that my dog has good innate health?
Extreme conformation in dogs describes a physical appearance that has been so significantly altered by humankind away from the ancestral natural canine appearance that affected dogs commonly suffer from poor health and welfare, with negative impacts on their quality and quantity of life.
The ICECDogs has developed an internationally agreed-upon overview of innate health that can help us all to avoid extreme conformations in dogs and contribute to reversing ownership trends for dogs with extreme conformations that have led to so much suffering in dogs. The ICECDogs position paper will help the general public understand what a generally healthy conformation in dogs looks like so that every dog can start life with a body that does not predispose them to health issues. Owners now have a reference guide to help them avoid acquiring a dog with extreme conformations so that both the dog and their owners can enjoy longer, happier, and healthier lives together.
“I have spent the past decade researching and developing the innate health concept at the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) in London (UK). No owner actively wants their dog to be unhealthy but the huge popularity of dogs with extreme conformations suggests that many owners have not fully grasped the link between their dog’s body shape and the dog’s likely quality of life.
The new ICECDogs position on innate health can help owners understand that extreme conformations are not natural, normal, healthy or desirable for dogs. Innately healthy body shapes can now be the new normal for dogs that we can all celebrate” said Dr. Dan O’Neill, Associate Professor for Companion Animal Epidemiology, RVC.
The new position paper from ICECDogs is intuitively straightforward and helps owners to understand basic innate health functions that all dogs should be able to enjoy without an extreme body shape interfering with this function. These basic innate health functions include the ability to:
· Breathe freely and oxygenate effectively.
· Maintain their body temperature within a normal physiological range.
· Move freely without effort or discomfort.
· Eat and drink effectively.
· Hear, smell, see, self-groom, eliminate, and sleep effectively.
· Breeding animals reproduce without assistance.
· Reproduce naturally.
· Communicate effectively with other dogs.
Who among all those who love and care about dogs would not wish for every dog to have a body shape that allows all these basic innate health function.
ICECDogs calls on everyone with an interest in improving the welfare of dogs to play their part in protecting dog welfare by not promoting, breeding, selling, or acquiring dogs with extreme conformations.
ICECDogs encourages everyone who cares about canine welfare to consider the issues relating to extreme conformations before taking a final decision on what type of dog to acquire.
By understanding the criteria for good innate health and insisting that every dog must meet these innate canine norms, the ICECDogs believe we can each play our part to foster the best possible life for all dogs.
Notes to editors
About ICECDogs:
Further information is available at https://www.icecdogs.com/
The International Collective on Extreme Conformations in Dogs (ICECDogs) is a global multi-stakeholder group that works together to minimize welfare issues resulting from extreme conformations in dogs by seeking out and applying evidence-based canine and human approaches.
The current focus of the ICECDogs is to support national/regional multi-stakeholder groups engaged in the issues raised by extreme conformation in dogs, and to act as a leader in the development and dissemination of policy and guidance on minimizing extremes of conformation and promoting moderate, healthy conformation in dogs.
ICECDogs collaborates with (multi-)stakeholder groups in the following countries:
1. Australia
2. Canada
3. Denmark
4. Germany
5. Ireland
6. New Zealand
7. Sweden
8. United Kingdom
Position statement Infographic (click the image for downloadable version)
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