This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. ‘For the Good of the Breed’ Care, Ethics, and Responsibility in Pedigree Dog Breeding Chrissie Wanner PhD in Social Anthropology University of Edinburgh 2017 1 Declaration I declare that this thesis has been composed solely by myself and that it has not been submitted, in whole or in part, in any previous application for a degree. Except where states otherwise by reference or acknowledgment, the work presented is entirely my own. Signed: Date: 2 3 Abstract This thesis examines how the ethics of caring for pedigree dogs differ in the contexts of dog showing and veterinary practice. By highlighting conflicts around the shared use of ‘ordinary language’, I show how tensions between show‐world and veterinary perspectives relate to divergent understandings of ‘health’. Canine bodies speak to vets and breeders in conceptually different ways, so much so that breed‐specific features can be considered ‘perfect’ in the show‐ring yet ‘pathological’ in the veterinary clinic. Developing the emergent anthropological perspective that care is both a moral and an embodied practice, I argue that the qualities of moral virtue and aesthetic virtu are inextricably linked in the care practices by which breeders aim to produce and sustain canine bodies in their idealised forms. Also fundamental to show‐world notions of care is the understanding that care for dog and care for breed are one and the same. In sharp contrast, veterinary practice attends to dogs as individuals rather than members of breeds. Here, I examine how breeders and vets respond to the multiple and conflicting demands of caring for pedigree dogs in the course of encounters often fraught with unresolved tension. Asking how seemingly irreconcilable notions of what counts as good health play out in these negotiations, I argue that care can depend on the ability to transcend – or at least overlook – different ethical orientations. In practice, I argue that negotiations between breeders and vets are often non‐verbal and based on a mutual understanding that the ability to work together in performing care relies not only on clear communication but, at times, on a knowing silence. Under ever‐increasing pressure to engage with veterinary notions of health, many show‐breeders now deem ignorance of veterinary knowledge – and silence in the face of disease – ethically virtuous. I therefore conclude that deliberate silence and selective ignorance enable breeders and vets to temporarily reconcile their different understandings of what is good, thus allowing both parties to meet their respective responsibilities of care. 4 Lay Summary This thesis examines how the ethics of caring for pedigree dogs differ in the contexts of dog‐showing and veterinary practice. It focuses on how differently breeders and vets understand their responsibilities of care. In 2012, following a series of public scandals over pedigree‐dog health, veterinary surgeons were for the first time invited into the show‐ring to give their professional opinions on the wellbeing of some of the world’s most successful show‐dogs. My research follows events before, during, and after these veterinary health checks were introduced, examining what counts as health and disease in the show ring and in the veterinary clinic. Central to my thesis is the claim that, although breeders and vets both use the terms ‘health’, ‘fitness’, and ‘dog’, these terms often mean very different things in the context of their respective practices. Yet my argument goes beyond the claim that breeders and vets are simply at odds over divergent use of shared language. In both cases, practice‐specific concepts of health and fitness come with particular understandings of what counts as disease, why disease occurs in pedigree dogs and – crucially – who is at fault. Yet while veterinary concepts of responsibility and care clash with breeders’ views, vets and breeders are nonetheless mutually reliant and must find ways to work together in daily practice. Hence, I argue that in both the clinic and the show‐ring, silence and the willingness to make ethical compromises are key to providing ‘good’ care for pedigree dogs. Key Terms: Ethics, Care, Responsibility, Pedigree Dogs, Dog Showing, Breeding, Nature, Veterinary Medicine, Human‐Animal Relations, Health. 5 Table of Contents Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 10 A History of Tensions ............................................................................................................... 20 The Show‐World ........................................................................................................................ 27 Pedigree Dogs: Responsibility, ethics, and care ........................................................... 33 The Ethics of Care across Species Lines ........................................................................... 43 Methodology ................................................................................................................................ 45 Field Site ................................................................................................................ 51 Ethics ..................................................................................................................... 52 Terminology .......................................................................................................... 54 Chapter Summaries .................................................................................................................. 56 Chapter One ‐ Setting the Standard: What is a Good Dog? ........................................... 62 The Importance of the Pedigree .......................................................................................... 67 Standard‐Fitting Show Dogs ................................................................................................. 74 Breed Histories ........................................................................................................................... 81 The Image of a Breed ................................................................................................................ 91 Fit for Function ........................................................................................................................... 92 Dogs, or members of breeds? .............................................................................. 94 The ‘Problem’ of Unregistered Dogs .................................................................................. 97 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 100 Chapter Two – Good Breeders: Maintaining the Standard ........................................ 104 6 Good Breeders – The Virtue of Sacrifice ....................................................................... 113 The Virtue of Skilled Practice ............................................................................. 116 Judging – Maintaining the Standard ................................................................................ 120 Cultivating a Judge’s Vision ................................................................................ 122 Cultivating Distance ............................................................................................................... 126 Relations in the Show‐Ring ................................................................................. 129 Relations in the Kennel ....................................................................................... 132 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 135 Appendix ............................................................................................................. 139 Chapter Three – The Art of Breeding .................................................................................. 142 Rules and Regulations ........................................................................................................... 148 The Art of Skilled Breeding ................................................................................................. 152 The Limits of Inbreeding ..................................................................................................... 161 Culling as a Practice of Care ................................................................................................ 165 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................