BOAS affects millions of flat-faced dogs globally, causing chronic oxygen deprivation, exercise intolerance, and sleep disruption that has been normalized but constitutes significant ongoing welfare harm.
BOAS represents normalized suffering at industrial scale. Millions of French Bulldogs, Pugs, and English Bulldogs live with chronic respiratory compromise that they cannot escape because it is structural - written into their anatomy by selective breeding for extreme flat faces. The constant effort of breathing through anatomically obstructed airways, the interrupted sleep from apnea, and the dangerous heat vulnerability are not minor inconveniences but fundamental welfare deficits experienced every minute of every day. The popularity surge of French Bulldogs has created a welfare emergency.