Alas, poor Lassie: The number of shaggy collie breeds from the movie legend plummet to a record low as they fall out of favor with Britain’s pet owners
- The breed has recently fallen dramatically out of favor with British pet owners
- Kennel Club recorded 8,000 registrations in the year Lassie came out in 1979
- But only 500 were registered in 2022, putting the breed in a vulnerable position
For more than 80 years, the heroic collie Lassie has come to the rescue of her accident-prone human companions.
But now it’s the dog herself – or rather her breed – that may need to be rescued, as shaggy collies have fallen dramatically out of favor with UK pet owners.
Experts fear the breed could disappear from the UK as the number of new puppies registered has fallen by 94 per cent since 1979, the year after the film The Magic Of Lassie was released.
The Kennel Club recorded about 8,000 registrations that year, compared to just 500 in 2022. If that trend continues, the rough collie will be placed on the organisation’s list of vulnerable native breeds.
The decline is believed to be due to fashion trends — including the lack of celebrity owners — and the fact that more people live in urban rental properties, unsuitable for larger dogs.
Lassie was created by author Eric Knight for his 1940 novel Lassie Come Home, which spawned 12 movies and a TV series with 591 episodes over 19 years from 1954.
The Kennel Club registered around 8,000 registrations that year, compared to just 500 for the breed in 2022
Originally bred to herd sheep in Scotland, the rough collie isn’t the only one of the country’s 221 purebred dog breeds considered at risk.
Last year, the Kennel Club registered more vulnerable native breeds than ever before – 34 in total – with both the bearded collie and miniature bull terrier included on the list.
Three in ten dogs in the UK now come from just ten breeds, including the labrador, French bulldog and dachshund.
Kennel Club spokesperson Bill Lambert said: ‘The shaggy collie is such a historic and recognizable breed and it is disturbing to see their numbers dwindling.
“We are urging the British public to learn more about the lesser known breeds, especially those that are in danger of disappearing.
“We have such a rich diversity of breeds but if people don’t look beyond the most popular choices there is a danger of losing them forever, leaving puppy owners with less choice and therefore unlikely to find their perfect match in the future.’
Breeds are placed on the Kennel Club’s ‘at watch’ list if fewer than 450 puppies are registered in a year, or the vulnerable list if there are fewer than 300 new registrations.
Other breeds considered vulnerable include the English Setter, Irish Wolfhound, King Charles Spaniel and Greyhound.