Owners urged to ‘stop and think’ before buying as English bulldogs are twice as likely to have a health problem
New study from the Å·²©ÓÎÏ·µÇ¼ƽ̨ suggests urgent action is required to reduce many serious health issues of English Bulldogs associated with exaggerated features.
New research from the Å·²©ÓÎÏ·µÇ¼ƽ̨ (Å·²©ÓÎÏ·µÇ¼ƽ̨) has revealed that English Bulldogs in the UK have lower health overall and are more likely to suffer from certain health conditions, particularly those related to being flat-faced, than other dogs. As such, the breed remains compromised by major health issues that have been recognised in Bulldogs for more than a century. The findings indicate that urgent action is required to reduce the high rate of health issues related to extreme body shape currently seen in English Bulldogs if the future of the breed is to be protected. It is hoped that the results of this research will discourage breeding and purchasing of animals with extreme conformations and instead promote a shift towards acceptance by the public of more moderate conformation with improved natural (innate) health.
The English Bulldog has risen sharply in popularity in the UK over the past decade. However, its distinctive and exaggerated short muzzle, protruding lower jaw and stocky body shape has been linked with several serious health and welfare issues, including breathing problems, skin and ear diseases and eye disorders. 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 Å·²©ÓÎÏ·µÇ¼ƽ̨’s VetCompass programme compared the health of random samples of 2,662 English Bulldogs and 22,039 dogs that are not English Bulldogs to extract information on all disorders recorded in each dog over a single year. Overall, English Bulldogs were found to be more than twice as likely to have one or more disorders in a single year than other dogs.
A list of the 43 most common disorders found across both groups of dogs was compiled with English Bulldogs identified to be at a higher risk of suffering from 24 out of the 43 (55.8%) disorders and a lower risk of just six out of the 43 (14%), with no difference in risk for the remainder. This demonstrates a much higher risk of health issues in English Bulldogs than in other dogs.
Other key findings included:
- The average age of English Bulldogs assessed in the study (2.7 years) was younger than for dogs that were not English Bulldogs (4.42 years). Only 9.7% of the English Bulldogs assessed in the study were aged over 8 years compared with 25.4% of dogs that were not English Bulldogs.
- Top disorders with highest risk in English Bulldog included: skin fold dermatitis (x38.1); cherry eye (x26.8); protruding lower jaw (x24.3); brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome BOAS (x19.2); cyst between the toes (x13.0); dry eye (x12.2); rolled inward eyelids (x11.6); mange (x8.0); foot infections (x4.7); skin infection (x 3.5); wet dermatitis (x 3.5); and dermatitis (x 3.1).
- The disorders with the lowest risk in English Bulldogs included: retained baby teeth (x0.02), fatty lumps (x0.06) and dental disease (x0.23).
Despite substantial recent efforts by members of the UK Brachycephalic Working Group (BWG) to discourage extreme exaggerations, these new findings suggest further progress is needed to reduce the high rate of health issues in the overall UK population of English Bulldogs.
This new VetCompass evidence supports widespread calls to the public to follow the example of progressive breeders, and to support moving the English Bulldog away from its current extreme body shape. In the future, the English Bulldog should become recognised and loved for having a longer face, smaller head and non-wrinkled skin, representing a more moderate and healthier conformation. With an estimated 70% of UK dogs not registered with The Kennel Club and only a tiny proportion (2%) ever attending dog shows, the real power for change rests with the public who can demand and purchase only those types of dogs with moderate and healthier c