The Gold Coast Bulletin

SOLLY THE FACE OF OUR PUPPY LOVE

- AMANDA ROBBEMOND

THIS is the tragic face of backyard breeding.

Solly the British bulldog is riddled with health problems at just nine years of age after appearing to have spent years as a breeding machine.

The purebred dog came to the Animal Welfare League of Queensland as a stray through Gold Coast City pound after her owners failed to pick her up.

Shelter manager Nicole Cannon said Solly came into the shelter in a very sorry state.

“It is evident she has had an excessive amount of litters and in addition, has a number of medical conditions including arthritis and joint problems, an enlarged heart and dry eye,” she said.

Dr Richard Seymour of the Vet Collective said irresponsi­ble breeding meant he regularly saw puppies come in with hereditary issues to his Miami practice.

”Bulldogs, Frenchies, pugs, they all have squishy faces and people are breeding them because they are cute but ... you get extreme variations,” he said.

“We see conditions we know are hereditary and people continue to breed these animals.”

Dr Seymour said Gold Coast City Council had introduced measures to make backyard breeding harder, but buying puppies off Gumtree as opposed to a reputable breeder or adopting was still common.

And while Solly may have not had the best start to life, she will be the first dog to go through the shelter’s new Palliative Care Program.

The program aims to give specialise­d care to animals in a permanent foster home environmen­t that are unsuitable for adoption.

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