Few bulldog owners aware of pets’ suffering

BULLDOG owners are ignoring health warnings about the risks of intensive breeding, veterinary experts warn as they reveal around a fifth of short-muzzled dogs require corrective surgery.

A Royal Veterinary College study reveals a host of problems among the increasingly popular breeds.

However, awareness among owners about the suffering faced by French and English bulldogs, as well as pugs, remains low. The academics found that while a fifth of short-muzzled dogs in this study had undergone at least one corrective surgery, only 9 per cent of owners consider their dog to be less healthy than average for their breed.

The French bulldog is now the UK’S most popular breed.

Dr Rowena Packer, research fellow at the college, said: “With the UK experiencing a brachycephalic crisis, a greater understanding of the relationships between owners and dogs of these breeds is vital.

“Emotional forces may trump rationality, with owners clearly loving their dogs but considering high levels of disease as healthy for these breeds. With the welfare of many thousands of dogs at stake, along with emotional and financial burdens on their owners, research that unravels these complex relationships is much-needed.”

The study in the journal PLOS One found that other common diagnoses among these breeds included allergies (27 per cent), corneal ulcers (15 per cent), skin fold infections (15 per cent) and blocked airways (12 per cent).

Some 17 per cent of owners reported breathing problems and 36.5 per cent overheating, while 71 per cent still considered their dog to be in “very good health” or “the best health possible”.