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Summer 2010

Catalyst Comes to Gladesville Vet

There was a major public outcry in the UK last year when the BBC produced the documentary “Pedigree Dogs Exposed”, outlining the incidence of inherited diseases in purebred dogs. A major concern was the frequency of inbreeding of these dogs, claimed to be contributing to the problems.

 

The ABC screened the BBC program in September this year and decided to have an investigation on the situation in Australia done by journalists, employed by their science-based “Catalyst” program.

 

Jonica Newby, one of the journalists and herself a veterinarian, approached Max Zuber as an experienced specialist surgeon and university lecturer to be interviewed on this topic. This developed into a morning of interviews and filming of Max and some of our Gladesville patients.

 

While the inheritance issues raised in the interview were wide ranging, Max contacted several of our Gladesville dog owners whose pets had suffered from patellar (kneecap) dislocations and arranged for them to come in to be filmed.

 

Porscha the bull dog, Pato the minature poodle and Mr T the border collie all came along to be part of the show, demonstrating their mobility after undergoing corrective surgery.

 

The overall tone of the "Catalyst" show was less critical of the dog-breeding scene in Australia compared to the BBC program. Nevertheless, the problems highlighted in the UK program do exist Down Under as well.