Fixation on flat faces, jutting jaws and loose skin has put UK on road to breeding ban, finds study
English bulldogs must be bred with less extreme features to improve their health and to prevent breeding from being banned in the UK on welfare grounds, veterinarians have said.
“The issues with English bulldogs are really issues with humans and what we deem cute and what we deem acceptable,” said Dr Dan O’Neill, a senior author on the study at the Royal Veterinary College. “We need people to view dogs not from a human perspective, where short noses and wrinkled skin are considered cute, but from the dog’s perspective, where good innate health is cute.”
Many of the problems the bulldogs developed were directly linked to features that some breeders encourage due to their popularity with buyers. Compared with other breeds, English bulldogs were 38 times more likely to have skin fold dermatitis, 27 times more likely to have “cherry eye” – a prolapsed eyelid gland – and 19 times more at risk of particular airway abnormalities caused by their shortened skulls.