Bits and Bites > The Netherlands to Ban Pugs and other Designer Pets

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Dutch to ban unhealthy designer pets

Charlotte VAN OUWERKERK

Fri, January 20, 2023 at 7:55 AM PST

The Netherlands wants to ban pets such as flat-faced dogs and cats with folded ears, which look sweet but suffer "miserable" health problems, the government said on Friday.

Dutch Agriculture Minister Piet Adema said he would seek to outlaw the ownership of the designer breeds and to ban photos of them in advertising or on social media.

"We make life miserable for innocent animals, purely because we think they are 'beautiful' and 'cute'," Adema said in a statement.

"That is why today we are taking a big step towards a Netherlands where no pet has to suffer from his or her appearance."

Despite sought-after looks that have made them a favourite with celebrities and a fixture among social media influencers, such pets suffer from a range of health conditions.

The Dutch minister said that owners often "have the best of intentions but are often unaware of the dark side of their pets' appearance".

"This subject touches me as a minister but also as a human," added Adema.

The government would now work out a full list of affected breeds, he said, adding that it could take some time.

But the public broadcaster NOS said squish-faced pugs could be among those banned.

The Netherlands banned the breeding of pets that are affected by their appearance in 2014, but some animals were still being traded illegally or bought from abroad.

The proposed new rules are designed to close a loophole so that it will also be illegal to own them.

In 2019, the Dutch government updated the rules to specifically apply to dogs whose snout is less than half the length of their skull.

- 'Out of breath' -

"Dogs with snouts that are too short are constantly out of breath, making them gasp throughout their life," Adema said in a letter to parliament setting out the proposal.

"Dogs that have a deviant skull shape may suffer from a permanent headache.

"Cats with folding ears have deviated cartilage which can cause them a lot of pain."

The fold-eared felines would definitely qualify for a ban, as was already the case in the Flanders region of neighbouring Belgium, the agriculture ministry said.

Brains are Anti-evolutionary, Which is Good News for Some of Us

Don't shoot me if your sense of humor hasn't evolved enough to enjoy this

Nishinoshima - one of the world's newest islands

Nury Vittachi, Bangkok | Opinion 
Jakarta Post

A new island appeared off the coast of Japan — and scientists are watching it to see evolution at work.

So I was told. I was a bit dubious. Doesn’t evolution take a while? The reader who sent me the report, Sunita Chau, admitted that the only biological entity on the island of Nishinoshima so far was bird poop.

I suppose one can imagine bird poop evolving into extremely primitive live forms such as bacteria, single-celled micro-organisms and Fox News viewers, for example. She said she reckoned that nationalist politicians in some countries probably shared 99 percent of their DNA with bird poop. I think she was joking, but either way, no offence is intended to any bird poop that might be reading this.

A Wikipedia check showed that organic communities develop fast. Scientists observing Surtsey, an island that appeared suddenly in the sea near Iceland in 1963, noticed that by 1964 it had insects, by 1965 a plant and by 1998 a slug. In evolutionary terms, a slug is a long way from being a human, but in terms of intelligence, is perhaps not that far from nationalist politicians, supermodels, etc.

The pinnacle of evolution
To do my due diligence, I phoned a scientist, who castigated me for making the common assumption that human intelligence was the pinnacle of evolution. Intelligence is an ANTI-evolutionary trait, he said, quoting numerous studies. Stupidity improves efficiency (Journal of Management Studies), boosts productivity (University of Texas) and increases happiness (University of Edinburgh).

That makes sense, if you think about it. The most powerful people in human society are rock stars, builders, footballers, supermodels, stockbrokers, etc., folk whose intelligence levels are too often roughly level with that of an average novelist’s colonic microfloral bacteria.

Nishinoshima

In contrast, people who actually have big brains are writing novels or teaching math and not earning enough money to rub two coins together to keep warm, let alone marry and spread their DNA.

If humans are not evolution’s zenith, what is? One colleague nominated sharks. They do nothing at all except eat, sleep, reproduce and occasionally star in movies. (My dream schedule.)

A second said it was domestic dogs: “We feed them and clean up their poop in return for nothing but love and affection.” A third said cat-owners feed and clean up the poop of cats “in return for nothing but disdain and aloofness”. Cats win.

Whoops, wrong finger
Retreating to my inbox, I found a reader had sent a web link to a news report about a woman who accidentally shot herself when trying to take a “selfie” while holding a gun to her head. It was followed by a report about officials in India asking pet-owners to paint their dogs blue to differentiate them from wild dogs. A web-search led me to a New Scientist report that several studies showed that human intelligence was falling rather than rising.

All this could be good news for the long-term survival of the human race. So let’s all do our bit. Avoid the natural temptation to overthink things. Create balance by drastically underthinking every decision you make.

Step one is to stop worrying about what’s evolving on Nishinoshima and learn from cats. Feed me. Love me. In return, I promise disdain and aloofness.