PETA Files Suit Against American Kennel Club for Designing, Promoting, and Profiting Off Deformed Dogs

For Immediate Release:
July 9, 2025

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

 PETA has filed a lawsuit in New York state court against the American Kennel Club (AKC), alleging that it requires certain breeds like French Bulldogs to exhibit physical traits that cause the dogs crippling pain, suffocation, and untimely deaths—despite its bylaws that profess to “advance canine health and well-being.” The breeds include Bulldogs, Pugs, Dachshunds, Chinese Shar-Peis, and French Bulldogs—the AKC’s most registered dog breed for the past three years.

Some AKC breed requirements that lead to health problems, as outlined in PETA’s lawsuit, include:

·        Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, and Pugs (like other breathing-impaired breeds) must have “extremely short” noses and “massive” heads. Combined with their narrow hips, these requirements make it nearly impossible for them to give birth naturally because their birth canals cannot safely accommodate puppies with large skulls. As a result, Bulldogs almost always need surgery (cesarean section) to deliver their puppies.

·        Dachshunds must be “low to ground, long in body and short of leg,” which can cause painful intervertebral disc disease, including paralysis, elbow dysplasia, and other excruciatingly painful back problems.

·        Chinese Shar-Peis must have a head that is “covered with profuse wrinkles” and “extremely small, rather thick” ears that “lie flat against the head”—all of which predisposes them to chronic skin and ear infections. The genes that cause wrinkly skin also cause autoinflammatory disease, which can result in pain, high fever, and kidney failure.

PETA notes that breed standards—which are used to judge purebred dogs at Westminster and other dog shows—are designed to drive demand for dogs, not promote healthy dogs. Registration fees for purebred dogs are a primary source of revenue for the AKC. The group generated nearly $38 million on registration fees for dogs and litters of puppies in 2023.

“The AKC is profiting from requiring breed standards that result in deliberately deformed dogs who often suffer miserably before dying young,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA’s lawsuit seeks to stop the AKC from imposing standards that harm dogs and cause heartbreak for the humans who love them.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits for people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.