Designer dog clinics on the rise despite illegal birth warnings
IVF clinics which create “designer dogs” from breeds that can no longer mate or give birth naturally are on the rise and may be acting illegally, vets have warned.
In 2015 there was just one canine fertility practice in Britain, but the number of practices has now leapt to 37, fuelled by the celebrity trend of owning breeds such as French bulldogs and pugs.
Animal welfare experts have called for an end to the breeding of brachycephalic dogs, which have short noses and flat faces, and consequently struggle to breathe. But most of the new clinics are offering to carry out assisted reproduction for brachycephalic breeds, which vets claim is not only unethical, but possibly illegal.
Animals such as French bulldogs are now so poorly bred that they can no longer give birth naturally because they have narrow hips and large heads, and usually need to be delivered by caesarean section.
Yet the new research by The Kennel Club and Vet Record found that many clinics did not have vets registered on their staff, and so may be performing caesareans illegally.
Madeleine Campbell, a specialist in reproduction and European diplomate in animal welfare from the Royal Veterinary College, said: “If artificial insemination is being used to achieve pregnancies in animals which for heritable anatomical reasons are not capable of either breeding or giving birth naturally, then that has negative welfare implications and is of ethical concern.
“Furthermore, if Vet Record’s investigations imply that non-vets may be undertaking acts of veterinary surgery such as caesarean sections, then that is obviously worrying, and would be illegal. Concerns about non-vets undertaking acts of veterinary surgery should be reported to trading standards and the police.” Beloved by celebrities such as the Beckhams, Holly Willoughby and Millie Mackintosh, the French bulldog took over from labradors as Britain’s most popular breed in 2018, despite concerns about their welfare.
Between 2009 and
2018, there was a 153 per cent increase in the number of English bulldogs registered with the
Kennel Club and a 3,000 per cent-plus increase in the number of French bulldogs.
Kennel Club data also show that in the past three years at least 1,604 puppies were born using artificial insemination (AI) compared with 1,153 during the 17-year period from 1998 to 2015.
The number of AI births is also rising year on year from 434 in 2017 to 577 in 2018 and 593 in 2019, the investigation showed.
And the authors say the problem may be far worse, as most puppies are not registered with the Kennel Club. Rescue charities have also seen a huge rise in brachycephalic breeds, which often have a string of health conditions that their owners cannot afford to correct.
The latest investigation also found that two clinics were also advertising canine surgical artificial insemination, which is a banned procedure. And some of these clinics appeared to advocate “self-whelping” – whereby the mother is not taken to the vet in order to give birth, even where this might be advisable
– as well as raw feeding.