Inherited disorders in responsible breeding of companion animals

The AVMA encourages veterinarians, breeders, and breed associations to carefully consider the health and welfare implications of breed standards, breeding decisions, and the responsibilities involved with breeding, selecting, or owning companion animals. Since some companion animals have known genetic and inherited features that negatively impact the long-term health and welfare of the animal, the AVMA encourages veterinarians to advise the public and potential companion animal owners about the medical, behavioral, welfare, and financial concerns associated with ownership of these animals. To improve quality of life of companion animals, the AVMA discourages breeding companion animals with deleterious characteristics, since these features often require surgical correction or life-long medical or behavioral management. The AVMA supports research in genetic traits and deleterious physical and behavioral features to better educate the profession and breeders so as to optimize the health and welfare of companion animals.