Are humans bonkers? Bad breeding creates ugliest dog and then we give the owner an award!
There is so much that is crappy about this example of human behaviour in relation to pets. Bad breeding of both cats and dogs can produce some pretty distressing anatomical distortions. For cats Persians get the accolade: overshot jaws and bulging eyeballs. A nine-year-old bulldog, Zsa Zsa, shown below won this years World’s Ugliest Dog contest in San Francisco Bay area. The owner received $1,500.

Badly bred English bulldog wins ugliest dog award. Photo © Catalyst.
Dr Becker on Healthy Pets writes that the English bulldog is known for bad breeding practices.
“The English Bulldog is the “poster dog” for bad breeding practices that destroy the health of the breed”
The dog suffers from a host of unhealthy characteristics due to extreme breeding. This is positively not something to be celebrated and make jokes about. It is not something that should earn the owner $1,500.
Humans should be ashamed of themselves. They should hang their heads in shame and go and hide not stand on stage and laugh and celebrate their champion ugliest dog. The poor dog. Can he breath properly? How does he feel? Why do the authorities allow this to happen?
The English bulldog is ‘plagued by serious respiratory problems because they are brachycephalic. They die at a median age of a little over 8 years of age’. Shocking. Domestic cats live to 18. Extreme Persians are the cat equivalent, also with brachycephalic heads and poor breathing.
There is a long and distressing list of health problems associated with the English bulldog. It is horrible. Please, this is not something to celebrate. When are humans going to get their act together in respect of domestic animal breeding practices? The breeders associations must step in and stop it once and for all. I’d advocate government intervention and legislation. Ban the whole seedy mess.
P.S. New legislation prohibits extreme dog breeding in the UK but of cats.
P.P.S. This is extreme selective breeding for appearance at the expense of health.