Brachycephalic breeds including bulldogs, French bulldogs, and pugs face severe welfare compromise from extreme skull flattening, with 2025 seeing growing regulatory and veterinary action.
Extreme brachycephalic dogs breathe with ongoing difficulty equivalent to breathing through a straw while healthy. Sleep apnoea disrupts rest and recovery. Exercise causes rapid oxygen desaturation. Heat regulation is severely compromised. These welfare harms are not side-effects of the breed but inherent features of the extreme skull shortening that breeders and buyers select for. The welfare compromise is lifelong and severe.