Selective breeding for extreme physical traits has created inherited health conditions causing lifelong welfare problems for millions of dogs globally.
Breed-specific welfare challenges represent a systemic failure in which aesthetic preferences, reinforced by breed standards that reward extreme traits, have resulted in millions of dogs living with preventable, often painful, chronic conditions. Brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome causes laboured breathing throughout life, exercise intolerance, chronic sleep disturbance, and in severe cases collapse and death. Yet these breeds are acquired in unprecedented numbers, often by buyers who mistake laboured breathing for normal. Reform requires action at multiple levels: kennel club breed standard revision, veterinary pre-purchase advice, advertising restrictions, and breeder education. Some countries have begun legal restrictions on importing the most severely affected breeds.