Did You Notice? These Dogs Don’t Have Noses!

PETA Sues the American Kennel Club for Promoting Heartbreakingly Deformed Dogs

“I am so sorry that you had to live your entire life like this.”

That’s the message dog guardian Heather Hanna wishes her beloved French bulldog, Arnie, could understand. Arnie has spent nearly every day of his life struggling for air – snorting and coughing even in his sleep. No, it’s not natural – it’s a struggle each squashed face dog has to live with because of deliberately being bred to look a certain way.

Heather has done everything she can to help Arnie. She flew him to Germany for advanced airway surgery, hoping to give him a chance at a normal life. But no operation could undo the harm that generations of human vanity had inflicted on his body, and Arnie’s breathing problems returned.

Heather has joined with PETA to help others understand how much breathing-impaired breeds (BIBs) suffer. Her video appeal for these beleaguered dogs echoes the grief of so many other people who have seen their dogs fight to breathe.

Oblivious Buyers, Greedy Breeders, and Deformed Dogs

For millions of flat-faced dogs, every breath is a battle – and the American Kennel Club (AKC) is the architect of their suffering. For decades, the AKC has required that certain breeds exhibit physical traits that cause the dogs crippling pain, suffocation, and untimely deaths – effectively turning gasping, wheezing, and collapsing into “breed standards.” And PETA is fighting back for the dogs’ sake.

In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit filed in New York City, PETA is accusing the AKC of promoting and profiting from cruelty by endorsing standards that make dogs miserable. These standards don’t just encourage suffering – they require it. Our lawsuit marks a new chapter in the fight against “torture breeding,” creating animals for extreme physical features that cause a lifetime of misery, including bulldogs, boxers, and pugs, who can barely breathe or sleep without choking; dachshunds, whose unnaturally long spines cause painful disk disease and paralysis; and Shar-Peis with deep skin folds that make infections inevitable.

PETA entities have taken the message directly to the heart of the dog show world, boldly protesting inside the Westminster Kennel Club show in New York and the Crufts show in the UK, where protesters faced physical assault simply for speaking the truth.

Families shattered by the loss of their dogs to these humanmade deformities often contact PETA. Among them is Love Island star Olivia Bowen, whose French bulldog died from the same distorted features that the AKC glorifies. In an emotional video she made for PETA UK, Olivia says, “Every single day was a struggle for him. … I don’t think we’ll ever not feel guilty.”

New Clothing Designs Are OK – Designer Dogs Are Not

From Boston to Bengaluru, PETA entities’ provocative videos, billboards, and demonstrations – including one in which a “dachshund” was stretched on a rack to show the absurdity of breeding dogs for exaggerated features – have reached millions. And victories are mounting: Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway are tightening restrictions – or outright banning – torture breeding.

Following input from PETA, Ojai, California, became the first city in the US to ban the practice for dogs and cats. We’re getting BIBs out of ads, too. After hearing from PETA, the marketing firm RKD Group, Rite Aid, the Ad Council, Hill Holliday, and others have dropped BIBs in advertising, greeting cards, and other consumer-facing products.