Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Plight of a dying breed
SAVING THE BRITISH BULLDOG BBC1, 9pm
CATHERINE Tate is rolling around on the floor with a litter of bulldog puppies, trying and failing to finish what she’s saying. “They are the cutest things I’ve ever seen,” she exclaims.
Aside from being an actress and comedian, Catherine is also an animal lover, passionate about their welfare and, of course, a dog owner. She’s completely besotted with her Chihuahua Brussels Griffon cross called Twinkle.
“I love dogs much more than people,” she confesses.
And so, with her credentials all checked out, we discover she plans to investigate the serious health problems affecting the British bulldog and what we can do to save it.
The breed, a symbol of courage and stoic Britishness for 200 years, is one of our top 10 favourites, but it is in crisis.
Health defects from breathing difficulties to spinal diseases cause them huge problems, and they need to be crossbred in order to stop them dying out.
“It’s a loved, iconic breed, but in its current form it isn’t fit for life,” says one expert in this rather sombre, but interesting documentary. Catherine discovers that, despite all the health problems, some people just want a true British bulldog.
Demand is so high their numbers have quadrupled over the last 15 years. And, perhaps not surprisingly, there’s even a black market for smuggling bulldog puppies in from Eastern Europe.
As Catherine meets breeders, owners, vets and scientists, she realises that saving the bulldog might be harder than she first thought.