All Hail the Bali Dog: move over purebreds, Bali’s pooches aren’t simple street mutts

Pugs, chihuahuas and French bulldogs are among the most popular pedigrees in the world right now, but it turns out that lovers of purebreds have been barking up the wrong tree all along. 

At the University of California Davis in the US, researchers have found that the indigenous Bali Dog could be the world’s purest breed of dog. Results from the university’s genetics laboratory showed that Bali’s native four-legged friends have some of the most unique and natural DNA known to man and the richest pool of genetics, according to Dr. Niels Pederson from the Veterinary Genetics Laboratory.

Until 2004 when Bali’s law against importing dogs to the island was temporarily lifted, Bali’s heritage dogs were the only breed to press their paws onto Balinese soil, preserving the purity of these native pooches. These dogs are believed to have lived on the island virtually unaltered for over 5,000 years, with further research suggesting their ancestry goes as far back as the last ice age, 15,000 years ago. This would mean the Bali Dog is also the oldest living breed on earth, surpassing the Australian Dingo, the New Guinea singing dog and the African wild dog. 

So how does that compare to today’s designer dogs? Well, the oldest manmade pedigrees are said to be less than a few hundred years old, including Siberian huskies, chow chows and greyhounds topping the list. But even these ‘ancient’ breeds are far from pure, as the name ‘purebred’ might suggest. They have been artificially created over generations of cross and interbreeding – that’s right, your darling Fluffy is the result of incest and genetic modification… 

 

Luckily for the Bali Dog, the lack of crossbreeding prior to 2004 left their natural DNA intact, however, more and more purebreds are now being illegally imported to the island to indulge the growing demand for designer dogs, meaning the future for the pure Bali Dog is looking rather bleak

At least Bali’s animal charities such as BAWA and BARC are on a mission to save the island’s legendary Bali Dog, urging doggie lovers island-wide to honor what is perhaps be the world’s oldest and purest breed. All hail the Bali Dog. 

Photo by Louise Newsham

MORE BALI DOGS ON COCONUTS BALI

What an ‘a-bark-able’ forced perspective shot of a Bali dog

Beware the Black Dog: it’s not racist, it’s a ‘curse’ 

Bali Dog Problems: most rabid-packed bites in Karangasem

Poor Pups: 75 Bali dogs reported rabid
 



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