Genetic Analysis and Breeding of the Animals

About the Study

Breeding stock is a group of animals used for the purpose of planned breeding. When individuals are looking to breed animals, they look for certain valuable traits in purebred animals, or may intend to use some type of crossbreeding to produce a new type of stock with different, and presumably super abilities in a given area of endeavour. For example, when breeding swine for meat, the "breeding stock should be sound, fast growing, muscular, lean, and reproductively efficient." The "subjective selection of breeding stock" in horses has led to many horse breeds with particular performance traits. While breeding animals is common in an agricultural setting, it is also a common practice for the purpose of selling animals meant as pets, such as cats, dogs, horses, and birds, as well as less common animals, such as reptiles or some primates.

Mating animals of the same breed for maintaining such breed is referred to as purebred breeding. Opposite to the practice of mating animals of different breeds, purebred breeding aims to establish and maintain stable traits, that animals will pass to the next generation. By "breeding the best to the best", employing a certain degree of inbreeding, considerable culling, and selection for "superior" qualities, one could develop a bloodline or "breed" superior in certain respects to the original base stock.

Such animals can be recorded with a breed registry, the organization that maintains pedigrees and/or stud books. The observable phenomenon of hybrid vigor stands in contrast to the notion of breed purity. For laboratory purposes, organisms such as mice have been inbred to 100% pure lines, as offered for sale by the Jackson laboratory. But this is highly unusual and difficult to do for most organisms, in whose populations all individuals harbor recessive, deleterious gene variants (alleles).

A backyard breeder is often a substandard breeder of dogs, cats,[1] rats, birds, horses and/or any other kind of domestic companion animal, and the term is used in this sense by the Animal Welfare community, The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), larger established breeders and breed clubs in contrast to the more positive terms "reputable breeder" and "responsible breeder" that describes operations that use responsible animal husbandry and animal breeding methodologies and practices. The ASPCA's definition of a responsible breeder includes one who is mindful to breed for health and function, screens for known heritable deficiencies, breeds physically sound and behaviorally stable dogs and cats, and avoids inbreeding.

Backyard breeding implies either or both of home breeding for non-commercial reasons or a for-profit small commercial operation that does not adhere to good breeding, care and sale practices. Backyard breeders sell the offspring of their animals either to pet stores, directly to pet buyers in person or to pet buyers over the internet. Larger commercial operations of a similar type that breed dogs and/or cats are usually termed a puppy mill (especially in North America) or puppy farm for dogs and a cat mill for cats. However, as large kennels usually require licensing, many puppy mills are licensed with the USDA.

Many small breeders resent the term and its use. Some do so because they assert that they run small but high-quality "boutique" operations. Others argue that their unregistered animals are desirable as companion animals and economical for ordinary people to purchase. Many times backyard breeders choose profit over animal welfare, their animals typically do not receive proper veterinary care. Animals may seem healthy at first but later show issues like congenital eye and hip defects, parasites or even the deadly Parvovirus. The result of this poor care results in unwanted animals.

It has been suggested that backyard breeding continues because there is a market for cats and dogs, especially for those who have been denied access to pet stocks from shelters, rescues and other agencies that may have very stringent adoption or purchase requirements, such as background checks and home visits.