The petition was set up by veterinary surgeon and journalist Pete Wedderburn, after discussion with colleagues, in response to an open letter to the profession from Jemima Harrison, producer of the Pedigree Dogs Exposed documentary broadcast in 2008.
In the letter, Jemima notes that Kennel club registrations of Pugs rose from 2,000 in 2005 to 10,000 last year. Over the same period Bulldog registrations more than doubled to 7,000 and the number of French Bulldogs increased 4000% to 14,607.
All vets do, she says, is 'organise CPD days on how to manage the increasing numbers of creatures that turn up at your practice doors gasping for air', 'refer clients on to soft-tissue specialists who do their best to remedy the deformity that has been bred into them', and 'section that Bulldog and say nothing to the breeder about how wrong it is that the dogs are no longer capable of birthing their own pups'.
She argues that there is 'institutional kow-towing to the Kennel Club and a reluctance to do anything other than accept their platitudes that they have to take things slowly or risk "losing" the breeders'.
In response, Pete's blog and petition calls for a working party to develop concrete proposals to tackle the issues as a matter of urgency: 'Despite the evident appeal of short-nosed pets to many of our clients, it is our duty as vets to not just treat these animals, but also to lobby for reform in the way they are bred – in particular the 'extreme' brachycephalics such as Pugs, Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and flat-faced Persian cats'.
The Dog Breeding Reform Group has welcomed the petition. Chris Laurence MBE, DBRG Trustee and former veterinary director of the Dogs Trust who has signed the petition, says: "Vets in companion animal practice see dogs with inherited breathing difficulty almost every day and are frustrated that there seems to be no end to the daily suffering of these breeds. The DBRG is delighted that vets are now getting together to highlight the issue and to plead with breeders to stop producing puppies with such malformed heads that they are unable to breathe easily."
The petition, which has already gathered nearly 1000 signatures, can only be signed by veterinary surgeons and nurses. You can sign it here.
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You have forgotten to mention the Exposure keratitis trichiasis and dry eyes that finance lots of Ophthalmologists retirement funds . Oh and the skin disasters , hemi vertibrae and luxating patellas . These creatures generate a lot of turnover and if we do not fix them someone else will .The owners and breeders are going to have these animals whether we like it or not so the best we can do as a profession is to make sure we have the ability to fix their problems as well as we can. It is interesting how awkward the breeders and owners can get when you perform radical appearance changing surgery on the rhinarium ,opening it out to allow normal airflow, All they are concerned about is seeing the pink bits and not looking like a pug anymore and when will it go black again ? The fact that it can now function like a JRT is irrelevant to them . The problem is that owners and breeders are always going to think like Tards while veterinarians are always going to act in the individual animals best interests on the day .
I don't think many vets would object to "losing the breeders". They create nothing but headaches for clinics with ridiculous advice to owners, petulent demands on care, reluctance to commit to necessary procedures. For this privilege many expect a discount from the clinic if they bother to pay their bill at all.
The notion that there are "good" or "responsible" breeders is absolutely laughable given that there's a financial incentive sitting behind blatant compromise of animal welfare. Vets are complicit, usually by neglect, but if we are ever going to shed the public perception that we are money grabbing quacks that we need to stop cashing in breeding related diseases.