467- Cute Little Monstrosities of Nature

99% Invisible

• Episode: 467- Cute Little Monstrosities of Nature
• Website: 99% Invisible
• Feed URL: http://feeds.99percentinvisible.org/99percentinvisible
• Duration: 00:26:29
• Published: 2021-11-23 20:21

The French bulldog is now the second most popular breed in America. Their cute features, portable size, and physical features make for a dog that can easily travel and doesn't require a lot of exercise. But these characteristics sometimes have a detrimental effect on the dog's health. Tove K. Danovich writes "Rather than requiring human owners to change their lives to accommodate a new dog, the French bulldog is a breed that’s been broken to accommodate us."

Historically, dogs were bred for functional reasons, not aesthetics. But evaluating a breed based on how they accomplish a task is tricky, leading to the rise of visual standards more easily judged. As breed standards were formalized, purebred dogs grew in popularity and became a luxury of sorts; but with a limited genetic pool, this popularity naturally led to a lot of inbreeding to maintain breed consistency.

Cute Little Monstrosities of Nature