Is breeding bulldogs cruel? Animal groups debate how to make them healthier

[Jilly_in_VA]

Wrinkled, jowly faces. Squat legs. Prominent underbite.

Bulldogs and French bulldogs are among the most popular breeds in the U.S. But according to a growing body of evidence, that distinctive bulldog look also leads to serious health problems for many dogs.

In late January, a court in Norway banned the breeding of bulldogs, after an animal welfare group argued that chronic inbreeding and an exaggerated body shape was causing suffering for many dogs. Their flattened face and shortened airway can cause respiratory issues, sometimes requiring surgery. The dogs are also prone to skin and spinal problems.

The court ruled that breeding the dogs should stop, unless it's to improve the health of the breeds or to bring in new genetic material. The ruling is being appealed currently, but it's sent shock waves across the world, including the U.S.

Some veterinary and animal rights groups argue that bulldog breeders should be required to use genetic and health testing, so dogs with serious problems aren't bred. They say breeding to change the body shape of bulldogs, like making their snouts longer, could also alleviate some health issues.

Bulldog breeding groups adamantly oppose changes, arguing that irresponsible breeders are causing health issues for dogs. Still, recent genetic studies show that bulldogs are so inbred, there may not be enough genetic diversity in the breed to eliminate some health problems. Under purebred dog rules, bulldogs can only be bred with other bulldogs, limiting the overall gene pool.

"We say that the dogs are our best friends, but we are not the bulldog's best friend at all," says Ashild Roaldset, CEO of the Norwegian Society for the Protection of Animals. "If this was your best friend, you wouldn't want it to have all these conditions. You would want it to have a better life."

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/15/1085173405/bulldogs-health-breed-ban
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I agree 100%. There is a "breed" (not "recognized&quot called the American Bulldog that is absolutely delightful and doesn't have these problems. One of my grandsons has one in his family. She's a sweetheart.

[NickB79]

1. A coworker just paid $3000 for a puppy

French bulldog. Puppies had to be conceived via artificial insemination, and born by C-section.

That kind of breed shouldn't exist, IMO.

[Coventina]

7. Ha! I just posted the exact same thing downthread.

I should have read the thread first!

[WhiskeyGrinder]

2. Yes.

[TygrBright]

3. It's not just bulldogs.

Extreme conformation standards for a good many breeds, and the inbreeding that "fixes" desired conformation into show dogs' offspring results in a whole lot of misery for the dogs.

Including the puppies who are "discarded" (i.e. euthanized) because they inherit some of the undesirable traits that result from inbreeding.

Breed conformation shows should be banned.

There are many wonderful ways to show and celebrate dogs without the cruelty of breeding them to conform with unrealistic appearance standards.

Dogs are wonderful for who they are, not for how they look.

sadly,
Bright

[brer cat]

4. +++

[robbob]

28. There's a video out there

Last edited Sun Mar 20, 2022, 09:43 AM - Edit history (1)

an animal loving friend showed me. It’s a veterinarian providing voice over commentary to the prestigious Westminster dog exhibition. The cruel breeding habits to produce the “ideal” breed characteristics are unbelievable. Rhodesian ridgebacks are actual suffering from a spinal disorder, and and puppies not displaying this deformity are euthanized. German shepherds have been breed to have a sloping back. The vet commented that this is a working dog, a farm animal, and they have been altered to the point the can barely walk. It was quite the eye opener.

[pandr32]

5. We rescued an English Bulldog last Fall

She is being adopted by nice people who really love bulldogs.
I don't get it.
She was likely a cute puppy, but her eyes are so bulgy and wide apart now. Her body is too large for the legs. Her face is so smooshed in she makes constant grunting noises. She snores worse than Grandpa did. She sheds constantly --not seasonally. She is powerful, but only uses her power to run the other dogs off when food is around. The rest of the time she lays there watching the other dogs do zoomies all over the huge yard. She can't be bothered.
She is not interested in anything other than attention and food.
I really don't get the fascination with this breed.

[Jilly_in_VA]

8. I don't either

My grandson's American Bulldog is a couch potato, but she has a personality. She's also kind of an older girl, like probably around 10 now, so not as active as she used to be. She will get up and run after a ball now and then, and she'll jog with you for short distances, but she doesn't get the zoomies any more--she's a queen, and that's beneath her. Just ask her LOL. But she was a rescue and had a hard life before they got her. She was pregnant at the time, had her puppies in the normal way, was a good mom, but seemed relieved when they all went to new homes and she was queen of the house. As far as grandson's mom was able to determine, she had been used as a breeder, possibly in a dogfighting outfit as the pups appeared to be pit bull-ish more than like her. She was spayed as soon as possible after that and is a spoiled lady now. We've had a few of her kind at the shelter and they are nice dogs, generally sweet-tempered and not hyper but active enough when young.

[pandr32]

10. Sweet, but ours isn't very bright

The breed is not known for intelligence.
I am happy our rescue is going to a home where they already have another one. I feel relieved that they understand what to expect.
She is a love, though. She just melts when she gets scratches and snuggles.
I heard they are very valuable--in part because they often require surgery for births because of their large heads. People find them a status symbol. I don't get it.

[Jilly_in_VA]

11. When my parents were looking at dogs many years back

they went to shows and there was one woman they frequently encountered who had Frenchies. They were impressed then by how pleasant but incredibly dumb the little dogs were. My father would describe the trouble the woman had with them and have us all howling with laughter.

They eventually settled on a Schipperke and had three of the little black demons before their final dog, which was a rescue pug because they could no longer keep up with a Schip, those guys being a little too fast for their advanced age, late 80s.

[pandr32]

12. I had to look up 'Schipperke'

Cute dogs. Any type of sheep dog, small or large, is highly intelligent and agile.
I can see how that could be a bit much for someone of advanced years.

[Jilly_in_VA]

14. Schipperke means "little captain"

They were barge dogs in their home country of Belgium, used as ratters quite a bit. Vermin hunters. My parents' dogs would go nuts out in Colorado after the ground squirrels and gophers. Sometimes even in Tennessee after the chipmunks and whatnot. Busy little guys, very smart but not always obedient. My dad took two of the boys (all three of the ones they had were boys) to obedience school in hopes of getting at least one of them an obedience certificate, but their attitude seemed to be that having demonstrated once that they'd learned something, they saw no need to repeat it for the benefit of others. The third Schip was 11, a rescue whose owner had died, and they grew to love him just as much as the ones they'd raised from puppyhood. When he died--they all lived to be 16--they were dogless for awhile and we all saw that they were just kind of lost. My brothers and I discussed the situation at some length. I think I was the one who suggested a rescue pug, as they're relatively minimum upkeep and pretty much couch potatoes. My brother located a three year old needing a home, took Mom and Dad to visit her at her foster home, and she immediately took to Dad, climbing up in his lap. That was all it took.

[pandr32]

26. Thanks to you I've learned something

[Coventina]

6. The French Bulldog should not exist.

Females can only get pregnant through AI because the male and female parts don't match up for natural breeding.

Every litter has to be delivered via C-section as they cannot be birthed vaginally.

This is over-breeding at it's worst.

Yes, they are adorable, friendly, loving dogs. But there are plenty of other breeds that are the same.

Stop the madness!!!

[pansypoo53219]

9. the breed USED to be healthy. then stupid human tasted morphed the breed.

[cksmithy]

13. We had a rescue dog that we inherited

from our daughter, who had to basically short sale their house and move into an apartment. They tried to keep her, but Izzy just couldn't adjust to apartment life. She looked like a cross between a dachshund and a pit bull, with a huge barrel chest and weighed about 36 pounds. When she was a puppy, she had a big head, like a pit bull, then her body got huge, a little head and little stubby legs. Problems with her acls (or whatever on all four legs). She had a bark that sounded like she weighed over 100 pounds, she terrified and got rid of all unwanted visitors from our porch. About a year before she passed away, we had her dna done. She was American Bulldog and Dachshund on one side and Jack Russel and pit bull on the other. She was a great protector of her family, we loved her. Outside one a leash she was the sweetest dog to everyone, but behind our screen door she was a bad ass protectress. I agree bulldogs should not have to have c-sections to give birth. I had an acquaintance 40 years ago who just loved her two dogs and was planning on breeding them, even though she knew it would require surgery.

[Jilly_in_VA]

15. Good heavens

that is quite a combination of breeds! She sounds like a great little dog though.

[cksmithy]

17. She was a great dog,

we've had only four dogs over the past 50 years, all rescues from the spca and one stray off the streets. One, we realized was a Border Collie. We later learned that the puppies, that didn't pass their test for being a working dog, would be abandoned in the fields. This was the 1970's. She, was our first dog, and was so smart, she had a very high vocabulary. We had to spell things out so she wouldn't know, like riding in the car, if we were going some where and she couldn't go with us. They all lived between 12 to 15 years and we considered them part of our family. Thanks for responding.

[Jilly_in_VA]

18. Had a dog once

that was mostly Border Collie. He came from the SPCA. A farmer brought him in, said he'd "just showed up" on his place and been running with his cow dogs, but he didn't need another cow dog. I was married to my first husband then and we lived in the country. That dog was smart. The new landlord, who we didn't like, put a bunch of feeder pigs in one of the outbuildings and had a space heater in the building. The building caught fire one night and Sam, the dog, who'd had no training whatsoever, rounded up all those pigs and kept them together. Landlord offered us $100 for him, which was a lot back then, but we said no. I didn't like him and I didn't like how he treated animals. When we moved back to town we had to re-home Sam. He went to live with friends of the in-laws who had 5 acres in the country and 7 kids. We were told that they could tell the dog, "Go get the kids!" and he would dash around the property until he had them all rounded up.

My best dog ever was a collie mix that walked into our yard when my kids were little and never left. She had an interesting backstory, we later found out. That dog was so smart she learned that in the summertime the kids were supposed to come home when the streetlights came on and she would run around the neighborhood to get them.

[nolabear]

16. I have a French and a French-English mix

“Should” they exist? They do. Should health be paramount in breeding them? Absolutely. Am I committing a misdeed by owning and loving mine? Well…

Dachshunds tend to have back problems and Von Willibrand’s Disease, a bleeding disorder. German Shepherds can be subject to horrible hip dysplasia. Bernese Mountain Dogs are terribly cancer prone. Spaniels tend to have ear issues because of their long, “closed” ears. Pugs have eye problems. Some toy breeds have trachea collapse. And so on and so on.

I absolutely agree that breeding responsibly is vitally important and lament every badly bred dog. I’ve had many breeds over the years and have loved all but one (an Airedale and another story). My two current dogs are healthy and, though incredibly stubborn, far from dumb.

My point is, whatever dog you fall in love with, do right by them and try to discourage mills and bad breeding practices. But declare one a source of shame and you open up a PETA sized can of worms, and creating or owning any animal is wrong.

[hamsterjill]

19. Rescue, don't buy!

I’m sure there will be kickback on this. But I’m in San Antonio and I just now finished looking at the picture of the ten dogs that were just euthanized for space in the city pound. And today was a good day.

Please adopt. Don’t shop.

[Jilly_in_VA]

20. You can rescue

purebred dogs. Read some of the above posts if you haven't. Just saying.

[hamsterjill]

22. Well aware of that.

And appreciate when it’s done

Just sayin’ that this is a math equation. Meaning that there are too many dogs and cats that don’t have a home. So anything that adds to that number (breeding, refusal to spay/neuter owned pets, etc.) is contributing to the problem.

[Jilly_in_VA]

23. Of course

and don't need to be told this. I volunteer at a shelter, in the clinic and the stray cat jail. I am well aware of the people who don't spay and neuter. We spay all our critters (feline and canine) before they can be adopted. We even do abortions, although not really late-term ones--once the mom's milk has come in, the vet will not spay. It's too dangerous for the mom. And kitten season is coming, when we'll have LOTS of mamas and babies. So trust me, I know ALL about it. We even have a TNR program now, trying to control feral cat colonies.

[hamsterjill]

27. Thank you.

Doing all of the same in Texas!!!

[maxsolomon]

21. Of course. It's not a question.

They're genetic experiments that are ultimately unsustainable without fresh genes, like European Monarchies.

I've had a dog that died of genetic issues. No more dogs.

[Jilly_in_VA]

24. Why should that put you off dogs?

Go to the shelter and adopt a nice healthy mutt, aka All-American Dog.

[maxsolomon]

25. No thank you.

Dogs are a lot of work and I don't want the responsibility any more.

[leftyladyfrommo]

29. They are also incredibly expensive. The cost of veterinary

care has gone through the roof.