Introduction: For generations there has been an appeal for purebred dogs, with people choosing them over mixed breeds. There are a number of reasons for this, with one including people using them to show their social status. “Consumption can function to establish and bolster a sense of identity and to express differences between social groups” (Tesfom, Birch 2013). Despite this, the main reason is because there is a belief that purebred dogs are ‘better’, both because of their physical appearance, and because they are supposedly healthier and better trained, among other things. This essay will claim that the appeal behind purebred dogs is mostly false. It will look into the history of both purebred and mixed breed dog’s and prove that the …show more content…
The vast majority of the myths, mainly surrounds purebreds; myths that are making purebreds sound better and more appealing than they actually are. However, there isn’t a large amount of myths concerning mixed breeds, but the few that there are, generally are more negative. So the main focus will be to discuss and disprove the ones concerning purebreds. Purebreds are often thought to be healthier than mixed breeds. Part of this assumption comes straight from the name itself, ‘purebred’. People will automatically assume that because they are called ‘pure’, they therefore must be pure and as a result cannot have any faults or problems. However, this is an entirely false assumption in general, as no species if free from faults. Yet, people continue to believe this, or at least believe that purebreds have far less faults than mixed breeds. More specifically, there is a belief that mixed breeds have more, or at least have a greater risk, of getting diseases, and that in some way, purebred dogs are supposedly immune to such diseases. But this belief is also false. While yes, mixed breeds may have a greater risk of contracting certain diseases, this is not because of their heritage. It is instead only because of these myths that fewer people adopt them, and as a consequence, they end up on the streets and in shelters. During 2012 in the United States of America, only one quarter of the dogs in shelters were purebred (The Humane Society of the United States, 2013). Yet, in shelters, any dog of any heritage has a chance of contracting these diseases. In fact, purebred dogs are open to risk from a wide range of genetic diseases that are passed on through their apparent ‘pure’ lineage. “Those from similar lineages appeared to be more susceptible to certain disorders that affect all closely related purebred dogs”(Bellumori, Famula,