(September 17, 2015 at 10:40 am)vorlon13 Wrote: Would the Amish interbreeding and their resulting explosion in genetic health concerns be comparable to, for instance, hip dysplasia in German shepherds ?
In a very real sense, yes. Although the reasons are different there is a conscious decision to limit breeding to a select pool and this does result in problems in the long term.
I actually lost Simba, who is the big blond boy in the photo to a genetic cancer back in June. It's called hemangiosarcoma and the other breed which is highly susceptible to it is the German Shepherd. Over 60% of Goldens die of some form of cancer and all Goldens in the US can be traced back to a single male. I don't know about Shepherds except that they are also a fairly modern breed.
Whether the decision is made based on religion and/or xenophobia or because some breeder wants a particular "look" when you fuck around with evolution you generally get piss poor results. "Intelligent" Design, my ass!
BTW, I have now adopted "Fred" to be "Tango's" new buddy... some day Fred may sit down next to Tango long enough to get a photo. Bundle of energy that one. He was just neutered and goes back to the vet for his follow-up today so we're hopeful he'll be cleared to swim which will give us a chance to tire him out a bit.
