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| Phil is "in" the paper - featuring Leesha McKenny's dog Colin. |
This week Phil’s genetic
identity was revealed in the Sydney Morning Herald in an article about DNA
testing of dogs by journalist Leesha McKenny. She was looking at the reasons
people might use DNA testing – in truth there are many. In my experience,
curiosity about a dog’s background is a common reason, but there are others: questions
about the dog’s ideal weight, questions about expected behaviour based on
breed, confirmation that the animal is a pure bred, confirmation it is not a
dangerous breed, identification of dogs for council and civil matters etc.
DNA tests do not provide
comprehensive answers to many of these questions and the tests are only as good
as the technology they employ. Read more here.
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| Phil, a maltese, with the paper and Louis - a chihuahua. Both have domed heads and big chihuahua eyes, but in Phil's case that's apparently just a coincidence. |
Whilst looking through the
paper we found some other interesting companion animal related topics, such as
the seemingly age-old question of whether native animals should be allowed as
pets (see the article here).
In fact many species already
are, but a license is generally required. Quite apart from the paperwork the
bigger issue is whether being kept in captivity is appropriate for wildlife (we
can forget that dogs and cats have been domesticated over thousands of years)
and the fact that their husbandry and dietary requirements are very different
for dogs and cats. Simply ascribing pet status to a wild animal does not
automatically guarantee good welfare – in fact it may mean the opposite in some
cases. So we need to proceed carefully. Such a move would also require
substantial re-training of humans – just as we’ve domesticated pets, they’ve
trained us.
If you were President of a
country, what changes would you make? The President of Argentina ruled that
people could carry small dogs on their laps on the national air carrier. I’m
all for pets in the cabin, but it’s interesting that the article pitches this
development against her other priorities. See what you think, the article can be found here.
