Pedigree animals make up 75% of the seven million dogs in the UK and cost their owners over £10m in vets' fees each week. its remarkable to think that their are soo many pedigrees out their with magnificant lines but the cross breeds are better off health wise.
That monetary number can be really tricky, and misrepresenting the real facts about health.
If you think about it, mongrel dogs are more readily available to low income people than purebred dogs. A lot of the difference may simply be because more purebred dog owners are able to
afford medical care for their animals, since they were able to afford the purchase of the dog in the first place.
My own experience with dogs has been that mixes were about the same or less healthy than purebreds. I have personally known 4 dogs who have died of cancer. They were:
beagle/basset mix
lab/? mix
malamute/wolf mix
lab/golden mix
Then there was Seamus the staghound (mix). At 10 months old he had hip dysplasia so bad he could hardly walk, and severe allergies.
My aunt has a 12 1/2 year old german shepherd. Purebred, registered. Both parents are Sch3. She has perfect hips. Perfect elbows. Healthy heart. No arthritis or stiffness. No cancer. Her eyesight is great.
The problem with mixes is that many descend from puppymill dogs. None of the parents were OFA'd. None were screened. In many cases they have visible genetic health problems, and the mill still breeds them because dog A + dog B = $$$. These are the dogs that then go out into the world and breed to each other willy nilly. It doesn't matter if puppymill rottweiler mates with puppymill german shepherd. If both parents have hip dysplasia, the puppies will have it too even though they are mixed breed.
Then there are the well bred dogs from good breeders who do genetic health tests/x-rays/screenings before breeding sell puppies who should not be bred on spay/neuter contracts and are willing to take back any dog they produce any time, so that none of their dogs are adding to pet overpopulation or filling up shelters if they are unwanted by their owners. These are the great people who are improving the health of dogs everywhere by actually looking at the genetics and health of purebred dogs and making responsible breeding decisions. If the purebreds are healthy then the resulting mutts will be healthy as well. My aunt's German shepherd is the perfect example of the kind of good healthy dog that is produced by a responsible breeding program.
My own personal feelings about mutts vs. purebreds is kind of mixed. I love all dogs, mutts or purebred. I like that with purebreds, you have a pretty good idea of what your puppy will grow up like. It's general temperament, activity level, size, etc. These kinds of traits are very important for many people to know beforehand. Most people who give up their dogs have reasons like "He has too much energy!" or "He grew way too big and knocks my children down!". Mutts are kind of a crapshoot, but I love them and there are some wonderful surprises in the "custom blended" dog world. I don't think mutts should be bred on purpose though, unless it's to fill a specific purpose that a purebred is unable to do. Catchdogs are a good example. They are cross between a sighthound and some type of bulldog, and used to catch and hold a boar while pig hunting so that the other hounds and hunter can get it.
The search and rescue group that I sometimes work out with has only purebreds at this point in time. Mutts have been tried in the past, but something always comes up. Their temperament turns out to be completely unsuitable (aggressive, too shy, severely dog reactive, etc), or they develop early health problems that make training for 2+ years a complete waste of time and money. With a responsibly bred purebred puppy the handler has a reasonable expectation of what kind of potential their dog has, they know the health history of the dog's ancestors, they know what kind of physical characteristics the dog will have when it's grown, etc. When you are investing thousands of dollars into training, it really, really pays to know what you are starting with. The same thing goes for service dogs.
Those guys you are talking about who are knowingly breeding sick dogs is just....it's beyond words. Disgusting comes to mind. Totally irresponsible. Not what represents a good breeder at all.
In my opinion, health and temperament are to be considered before anything else when planning a breeding.
