Dog breeds are a weird artifact. I don't view it as a bad thing that so many of these human-created breeds are going "extinct". Actually, they go pseudoextinct. The animals do fine, they interbreed with the general canine population and their descendants are mutts. If you've ever met a dog, they're quite OK with that. They have no concept of "breed" as far as we can tell and, if they do, they probably find mixed-breed animals more attractive (not that dogs are selective in that regard). We should be OK with it, too. Mutts live 2-3 years longer and are, unless you're after a specific aesthetic or breed profile, generally better dogs.
I wouldn't mind, honestly, if the practice of breeding animals for profit went extinct. We have too many good animals who are killed in shelters for no good reason. (We should stop that too, preferring TNR, but one issue at a time.) That's far more heartbreaking than the possibility that some weird-looking creature that wouldn't exist in nature and requires almost cruel human interventions (see: English Bulldogs, who now require C-sections) will not have descendants, or will have descendants of a more hybrid nature (pseudoextinction).
I think that dog breed is such a thing because of confirmation bias. So many people say, "oh, I got a French Bulldog and she's the sweetest thing ever" or "my Golden is smarter than I am" and I'm sure that they do have great dogs... but I have awesome cats and they're just regular mutt cats. As long as the animal is properly socialized, mixed-breed is best if you're just looking for a good pet.
I wouldn't mind, honestly, if the practice of breeding animals for profit went extinct. We have too many good animals who are killed in shelters for no good reason. (We should stop that too, preferring TNR, but one issue at a time.) That's far more heartbreaking than the possibility that some weird-looking creature that wouldn't exist in nature and requires almost cruel human interventions (see: English Bulldogs, who now require C-sections) will not have descendants, or will have descendants of a more hybrid nature (pseudoextinction).
I think that dog breed is such a thing because of confirmation bias. So many people say, "oh, I got a French Bulldog and she's the sweetest thing ever" or "my Golden is smarter than I am" and I'm sure that they do have great dogs... but I have awesome cats and they're just regular mutt cats. As long as the animal is properly socialized, mixed-breed is best if you're just looking for a good pet.