So-called brachycephalic (flat-faced) dogs - such as Pugs and Bulldogs - have risen dramatically in popularity in recent years, despite the fact that their distorted physique means that many suffer from health issues including difficulty breathing, needing expensive veterinary care.
In the UK, The Kennel Club's own research shows that 50 per cent of Pugs, Bulldogs and French Bulldogs have significant breathing problems, and that only 7-15 per cent of them breathe like a normal, non-brachycephalic dog.
This is caused by their narrowed, constricted airways, pinched nostrils, and shortened, squat necks, exacerbated by the obesity which is common in all three breeds.
Why can't humans design pedigree dogs to be healthier?
Poor health of pedigree dogs is a human-caused issue: dog breeds only exist because humans have chosen to create them. The obvious question that needs to be asked is this: why can't humans choose to adjust the physical appearance of flat-faced breeds so that they don't have these breathing issues?
In the past week, three contrasting approaches have been suggested to solve this animal welfare issue.
Method 1: Banning breeds with serious health issues?
First, a petition was launched in the UK which called for the banning of brachycephalic breeds: over 40,000 people have signed this. The petition signers believe that those people who breed these dogs will never agree to modify the conformation of the dogs so that they can breathe normally.
The only answer, so they say, is to stop such animals from being born in the first place. This would not be difficult to achieve: existing dogs would be allowed to live out their lives, but it would become illegal to breed from them.
The breeds would dwindle and vanish over the next fifteen years. The suffering of flat faced dogs would be consigned to history.
Method 2: Taking formal steps to improve the health of flat faced breeds?
The second answer to the brachycephalic issue was launched at an event in the UK over the weekend: the Pug Breed Council announced a Pug breed health scheme.
Five health tests are specified, on various aspects of Pug health known to be troubling.
This includes a visual inspection of their overall appearance, analysis of the knee structure and x-rays of the spine (they are prone to disabling abnormalities in these areas), a genetic test for an inherited disease called Pug Dog Encephalitis (PDE) and finally, a grading for severity of Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS).
Details of the scheme have yet to be announced but the concept seems like a much-overdue attempt to create a real change for the better in the breed. Similar schemes to help other flat-faced breeds are already in place.
Why campaigners believe neither of the above will work
Both of the above methods may look initially appealing to those who have proposed them, but each has serious faults.
First, if a breed was banned, it seems likely that individuals would find ways of circumventing the ban, just as some have done with the discredited breed-specific legislation aimed at tackling the issue of dog attacks.
If Pugs were banned, unscrupulous breeders could easily create cross-bred dogs that had Pug-like characteristics, even creating new Pug-like breeds.
Authorities would have the difficult task of trying to decide whether a dog was a banned breed. Dogs might have to be taken into custody while their fate was decided. The legal costs of time wasting court cases would be immense.
Second, if a voluntary Pug Club breed health scheme was the only action to be taken, the overall impact would be minimal. As the Kennel Club have said themselves, only 30 per cent of pure bred dogs are Kennel Club registered. And only a small proportion of those would be likely to comply with the new health scheme.
Very few of the puppy-seeking public would diligently seek out health tested Pugs. Many vets have tales of personal friends who have sought advice on how to buy a healthy dog, but who then go on to ignore the advice, buying the wrong type of dog from a dubious source because it's easier, quicker and cheaper.
A third way, combining multiple measures to improve dog health
The third approach - perhaps the most realistic way - was discussed at a symposium at the University of Surrey organised by the Dog Breeding Reform Group.
Attended by vets, vet nurses, dog breeders, dog owners and animal welfare campaigners, the meeting started with presentations outlining the wide range of inherited issues suffered by pedigree dogs.
From problems caused by the dogs' conformation (their physical shape) to those caused by genetic bottlenecks due to in-breeding, it was made clear that there are plenty of welfare problems in a number of dog breeds.
The presentations reviewed possible answers, and delegates discussed the various ways of improving dog health, including debate on the two options mentioned above.
The symposium concluded that a multi-pronged approach is needed to stop the suffering of brachycephalic dogs:
1. Education of puppy buyers
Education of potential new puppy buyers is critical: the Puppy Contract launched in the UK by the RSPCA and the Animal Welfare Foundation should be highlighted in the media. Nobody should consider buying a puppy without this.
Better education of the public was unanimously identified as the biggest factor in this situation: if the demand for dogs with poor health can be stemmed, the supply will dry up.
2. Compulsory, not voluntary, health schemes for affected breeds
It was suggested that schemes like the Pug Club Health Scheme should become mandatory for all Kennel Club Assured Breeders. While some delegates criticised aspects of the Assured Breeders scheme, it was agreed that there should be a high standard for breeders to aspire to, and puppy seekers should be guided to only choose pups from this type of source.
3. Celebrity endorsement of healthy dogs to highlight the issues
Just as celebrities have boosted the popularity of breeds like Pugs and French Bulldogs, so celebrities should be recruited to highlight the health issues linked to these breeds, and to stress the importance of buying specimens from optimal backgrounds that have been health tested.
4. Stopping the use of "cute" flat faced dogs in advertising and media
The work of CRUFFA was commended: this group of activists campaigns to dissuade advertisers from using the images of flat-faced animals in promotions, and so to gradually remove the "trendy" and"desirable" tag from these breeds. The British Veterinary Association has also endorsed this approach, as have many animal welfare charities.
5. Prosecution of breeders who knowingly produce unhealthy dogs
The symposium welcomed the announcement by DEFRA last week that breeders of puppies and kittens who knowingly produce animals with genetic defects, such as Pugs or French Bulldogs that cannot breathe properly, will be liable for prosecution under animal welfare legislation.
This effectively creates the crime of "qualzucht" or torture breeding under UK law: if breeders fear that they will be punished for breeding animals that suffer from ill health, they are likely to take more care to produce healthy individuals, or perhaps, better again, they may transfer to breeds which do not come with built-in health issues.
6. The Kennel Club must do more, including changing breed standards
Despite many positive actions taken in recent years by the Kennel Club, delegates felt that the organisation could still do much more to address the issue. Helpful steps could include:
• modifying breed standards (the written description of the desired physical appearance of breeds) to encourage only healthy specimens to be bred providing extra logistical assistance to breed clubs to improve the health of affected breeds
• training judges in the dog show ring to select the healthiest individuals as winners
While it was recognised that many unhealthy dogs are produced by breeders outwith the control of the Kennel Club, it was still felt that the organisation is seen as a key opinion leader and influencer.
Focus on good health should be the prime goal of the organisation: cosmetic details like coat colour and breed purity should be disregarded and health-improving ideas like out-crossing should become possibilities.
The consensus view: all dog lovers need to work together to force change?
The overall view was that the best way forwards is for everyone to work together to improve the welfare of these animals, with the proviso that if progress is not made, there will be a stronger case to concede to those who wish to ban certain breeds completely.
Nobody wants to say goodbye to these adorable dogs for ever, but the truth is that it's wrong to create animals that are destined to suffer. If there isn't any way to make these dogs healthy, then for their own sake, they should not be brought into existence in the first place.