Dogs make our lives happier and we like to think that it’s vice versa.

Between 37 and 47 percent of America’s households own at least one dog, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. That equals to around 75 million pet dogs in the States alone. And although no one can say for sure, at least one-third of those dogs are thought to be purebred, born as a result of incest. Sadly, many of those pups suffer from a number of health problems and the overall prognosis is grim.

Dr. Louse Murray, vice president of the SPCA Animal Hospital, told The Huffington Post that the problem is people believe that purebred dogs came to existence naturally.

“Somehow there’s this misconception that dog breeds actually exist — like dachshunds are a natural thing in the world. We think, there are frogs, and there are chickens, and there are dachshunds. But of course you don’t realize until later that they’re just human constructs.”

For instance, the American Kennel Club has a set of standards for each breed. Pure dogs can appear in shows and competitions, while other pooches are deemed less worthy. Most dogs can be certified only if they can trace their lineage back to the club’s original stock dogs – the club has an idea how each breed should look like and there’s no bending the rules. The problem is that, in addition to changing the breed’s appearance, breeding for special physical traits triggers off numerous health complications.

If we want our pets to have a better quality of living, breeding needs to primarily focus on health, not physical appearance. Murray concluded that the only way to stop harming dogs is to change human consciences.

“In my ideal world, we’d just do away with dog breeds and let them be outbred, the way most cats are. So it’s not cool to have a purebred. Just a dog.”