Pet shop admits some dogs are bound to suffer: Not an 'if' but 'when' and 'how often' – New York Post

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Some of the most popular dog breeds are doomed to suffer — and pet shop owners wish more potential puppy parents knew that.
Animal advocates recently went undercover at a pet store in Chantilly, Virginia, to reveal that several dog breeds — including bulldogs and pugs — won’t be covered by insurance due to inhumane breeding tactics that have all but guaranteed the pets will die from horrific diseases.
Dogs with flat faces have come out on top of the American dog show circuit this past year — including Star, the English bulldog who took home best in show at the American Kennel Club National Championship Monday.
However, some animal advocates have called the win “tragic,” arguing that those dogs — and especially their breeders — aren’t worthy of admiration because of the “inhumane” breeding practices that helped make the dogs what they are today.
“It’s not an ‘if’ — it’s more of a ‘when’ and ‘how often’ are they gonna have problems with the sinuses,” according to a dog salesman at My Next Puppy, who was filmed recently speaking to an investigator with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The man, who was anonymous in PETA’s covert footage, was referring to breathing-impaired breeds (BIBs), such as French bulldogs, English bulldogs and pugs. Defined by their flattened (brachycephalic) faces, those dogs struggle to breathe normally because of their short snouts — a result of generations of human-led inbreeding. Thus, the activities that bring joy to most dogs — going for a walk, chasing a ball and running around with playmates — are a chore for BIBs.
The dogs “don’t get the lifetime warranty” offered by some pet stores and breeders, the shop employee continued to explain, “because of their known sinus issues.”
Impaired respiratory function is a leading cause of death among those dogs, which are twice as likely to suffer from heatstroke than other breeds because of an inability to self-regulate their internal temperature through panting.
And it’s not just a downer at playtime.
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“Everybody wants a bulldog, but what they don’t understand is how much it costs to breed a bulldog, how much it costs to birth a bulldog,” the pet store associate said of the nearly $10,000 price tag on one of their French bulldogs.
One reason the breeds are so expensive to buy is that females must be artificially inseminated, as inbreeding has made their legs too short for sex. In addition, they must then give birth via Caesarian section since their hips are too narrow for natural birth.
A recent veterinary study concluded that pugs can no longer be classified as “typical dogs” due to such health irregularities. Similar research has shown that four of the most well-known BIBs — French bulldogs, English bulldogs, American bulldogs and pugs — “showed the shortest life expectanc[ies],” with Frenchies, in particular, averaging just 4.5 years.
Organizations for dogs worldwide have begun to recognize the inviability of BIBs, such as in Germany, the Netherlands and Norway, where animal welfare laws have restricted the breeding and sale of flat-faced dogs.
In the US, BIBs continue to rank as some of the most revered dogs. Besides AKC’s newly crowned favorite Star, a French bulldog named Winston also took top honors at the National Dog Show on Thanksgiving last year.
“It’s a huge deal for bulldogs,” Star’s owner, Natalie Mason, told The Post of her recent win. “Bulldogs are so underrated. A lot of people have this stigma in their mind that they are panting and unhealthy and lazy. We are breeding for healthy and good standards.”
However, the definition of “good standards” remains under scrutiny in the US. Animal rights advocates, including the Humane Society Veterinary Medical Association and the International Partnership for Dogs, have called on the pet community to ditch flattened faces in favor of healthier breeding. Over time, that could help reshape the snouts of bulldog breeds to be more pronounced and, thus, better at breathing. Still, there remains no regulatory body to ensure such guidelines would be met, so it is seemingly up to consumers to set the trend.
In a report by the UK’s Royal Veterinary College, experts urged “urgent action” to reduce these health problems — at the expense of aesthetics.
“Sadly, many of the breed’s problematic characteristics such as a very flat face, deep facial skin folds and noisy breathing are still often perceived by many people as ‘normal’ or even ‘desirable’ novelties rather than major welfare issues,” the group said.
RVC associate professor Dan O’Neill, lead author of the June 2022 study, insisted that “every dog deserves to be born with equal and good innate health” in a statement, and that the public has a “huge role to play.”
Pleaded O’Neill, “Prospective owners should stop and think before buying a flat-faced dog.”

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