Dogs are prone to health problems due to their flattened faces. A court in Norway banned the breeding of bulldogs unless it was to improve their health.
Sarah Stier/Getty ImagesThe faces are wrinkled. The legs are squat. A prominent underbite.
A growing body of evidence shows that the distinctive bulldog look can lead to serious health problems for many dogs.
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. Respiratory issues can be caused by their flattened face and shortened airway. The dogs have skin and spine problems.
Unless it is to improve the health of the breeds or bring in new genetic material, the court ruled that breeding the dogs should stop. The ruling has sent shock waves across the world and is currently being appealed.
Dogs with serious problems should not be bred, according to some veterinary and animal rights groups. Changing the body shape of bulldogs could alleviate some health issues.
The dog breeding groups argue that irresponsible breeders are causing health issues for dogs. There may not be enough genetic diversity in the breed to eliminate some health problems, despite recent genetic studies showing that bulldogs are inbred. bulldogs can only be bred with other bulldogs, limiting the overall pool of genes.
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. You would like it to have a better life.
Colleen Thilgen has a home in Oakland dedicated to her bulldogs. There are pictures of her three bulldogs on the walls and on her social media accounts.
She says she loves the breed. Or three.
Thilgen has had six bulldogs over the course of her life. Their unique wrinkling needs daily maintenance.
bulldogs require an involved owner due to their health issues and Colleen Thilgen has three of them at her home in Oakland, Calif.
Lauren Sommer/NPRShe points out that they have to clean their ears almost daily since they get infections.
The flattened faces mean the dogs have a shortened airway, which can cause breathing problems. Dogs cool themselves by panting, which bulldogs are less efficient at, putting them at risk of heat stroke.
Thilgen says they cannot sustain heavy heat. You have to be careful because they have that airway.
Some dogs need surgery for breathing problems. One of Thilgen's dogs had a bigger nose. The vet advised against the surgery to open his airway because it would hurt his soft palate. The dog had a problem with bone in its jaw.
Some bulldog owners can be shocked by the number of health problems and vet bills. Some veterinarians say that the root cause of many problems is due to the bulldog's compact body shape.
It's like moving from a four bedroom house with all the furniture into a one bedroom apartment, but you have all the same furniture.
Olstad says he sees bulldogs with bone malformations. The majority of bulldog puppies are delivered by Cesarean section because of their broad chests and short bodies.
The breeders can justify the added costs because of the high monetary incentive. The puppies can sell for anywhere from three to six thousand dollars per puppy.
Purebred bulldogs can only breed with other bulldogs under American Kennel Club rules, limiting the overall gene pool.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty ImagesA number of studies show that dogs with long snouts are less healthy than dogs with short snouts. Respiratory, eye, skin and spine problems are among the problems that brachycephalic breeds are prone to. Flat-faced dogs are more likely to be sick than other dogs, according to a study by Nationwide insurance. Their owners are more likely to submit claims for skin cancer, pneumonia and heat stroke.
Olstad says that he looks at it from their quality of life.
The Norwegian Society for the Protection of Animals asked the courts to weigh in on whether breeding dogs was ethical under the country's strong animal welfare laws. The case focused on bulldogs and King Charles spaniels, which suffer from heart problems and head pain due to their small skull size.
The goal of bringing the case was not to eliminate the dog breeds, but to start a serious conversation about how to make them healthier. It includes using genetic testing to avoid breeding unhealthy animals, as well as potentially changing the body shape of bulldogs, like making it less compact and giving the dog a longer snout. In December, the Australian Veterinary Association released new guidance stating that dogs with short muzzles and other health issues should not be bred.
We can now discuss how to breed dogs better. What we have done so far is not good enough. We need to do better for our dogs.
Unless it is to improve the health of the breeds or bring in new genetic material, the judge ruled that breeding the dogs should stop. The ruling has sent shock waves across the world and is currently being appealed.
The push to change current breeding practices has been criticized in the U.S.
Changing the bulldog's body shape or introducing new genetic material could improve the breed's health.
Lauren Sommer/NPRThe group said in an email that it was not in favor of anti-breeder legislation or courts interfering with the efforts of breeders to improve the health of their dogs.
The look of bulldogs in the U.S. is determined by the Bulldog Club of America. It controls the breed standard, which states that bulldogs should be kind, strong and brave, as well as having a large skull and short muzzle.
The standard for a healthy, athletic dog has been maintained for 100 years, according to the president of the Bulldog Club of America.
The club has a list of health tests that it encourages breeders to use to improve the health of their bulldogs. The club sees no need to change the appearance of bulldogs.
He says that change in the standard after 100 years is not necessary. Then we get better dogs.
Recent scientific studies show that bulldogs are too inbred to eliminate health problems. Dogs lack genetic diversity because they descended from a small group of founding animals, according to researchers at UC Davis.
It is difficult for breeders to eliminate health problems without a variety of genes. A recent study found that bulldogs are more closely related to one another than if a brother and sister had offspring.
Danika Bannasch is a veterinary geneticist at UC Davis. There isn't much that they can do about the breeds themselves that are not healthy.
Under dog rules, mixing in genetic material from other breeds is not allowed. Most breeds have a closed studbook where individual dogs are registered and can only breed with other registered dogs in the same breed to maintain their purebred status.
Crossbreeding projects have helped reduce health problems in some breeds. In the 70s, a breeder crossed the dogs with pointers and then bred them with only Dalmatians because they were prone to bladder stones. The project was controversial for a long time, until the dogs were accepted.
The U.S. bulldog association has no plans to support something like that.
Improving the health of bulldogs requires making them look less exaggerated.
Is it ethical for us to control the breeding of bulldogs in such a way that they will be prone to serious illness?
In the U.K., the dog's nostrils should be open and its muzzle should be defined, according to the new standards released by the club. The Continental bulldogs were created in Switzerland to help alleviate some of the health issues of the dog. American dog clubs have not made similar changes.
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