Today's dogs come in all shapes and sizes. There are now over 400 dog breeds. They still all belong to the same species, which means that all breeds can be crossbred and still have fertile offspring.

All of them have been bred by humans. This means that we decide which dog breeds with which dog, depending on which characteristics are desirable. Man is playing God, as it were: "A slightly smaller head, shorter legs and cute floppy ears". There is now a true dog-industry that occupies itself with breeding dogs, and that alters dogs to suit people's requirements and wishes.

The consequences of irresponsible breeding for dogs are considerable.

Links outside Animal Freedom

• Dog breeds (Dutch)

Animals suffer for food manufacturers

For nearly 10 months in 2002 and early 2003, a PETA investigator went undercover at an Iams contract testing laboratory and discovered a dark and sordid secret beneath the wholesome image of the dog- and cat-food manufacturer: dogs gone crazy from intense confinement to barren steel cages and cement cells, dogs left piled on a filthy paint-chipped floor after having chunks of muscle hacked from their thighs; dogs surgically debarked; horribly sick dogs and cats languishing in their cages, neglected and left to suffer with no veterinary care. Read More