Genomic health testing and transparent health standard compliance in dog breeding programs are reducing the burden of heritable disease and improving welfare across breeds.
Heritable disease burden in companion dogs creates preventable welfare suffering across millions of individual animals — hip dysplasia causing lifelong pain, brachycephalic airway syndrome causing chronic respiratory compromise, degenerative myelopathy causing progressive paralysis. The genomic tools now available to identify carriers, screen breeding animals, and select against disease alleles make this suffering substantially preventable. The welfare case for mandatory health screening before breeding is compelling — the welfare cost of disease is borne entirely by the affected dogs, while the benefits of screening accrue to the breeding program and future puppy buyers. Systemic welfare improvement requires extending health standards beyond voluntary compliance to comprehensive regulatory requirements.