Caught on Camera: Delavan Dog Breeder Admits to Mutilating Days-Old Pug Puppies

For Immediate Release:
September 8, 2026

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

We do stuff like that for ourselves … because [veterinarians] … want to put them under and all that.” That’s how the owner of Rosewood Kennels, a dog breeding operation in Delavan, described cutting off parts of newborn puppies’ nostrils and their dewclaws without anesthesia or pain relief in a new PETA undercover investigation. In the video exposé, the owner admits that she performed the painful procedures herself and laughs as she describes cutting into the days-old puppies. She goes on to concur that breeding pugs for their short, flat noses causes breathing problems in the dogs, leading to her slicing into their nostrils to open the airway.

In response, PETA today sent letters to the Walworth County District Attorney and the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection Secretary urging them to investigate the kennel owner for cruelty to animals and practicing veterinary medicine without a license.

In the video, the kennel owner explains that they breed English bulldogs and Boston terriers but gave up breeding pugs because the dogs were “quite re*****d,” then describes symptoms such as “only [walking] left … or right”— signs of neurological issues. As she discusses cutting off puppies’ dewclaws—thumb-like toes that are attached to foot bones by tendons—she describes how the wounds “would bleed like a sieve” but that they use silver nitrate “and it just burns it closed.”

PETA points out that bulldogs, Boston terriers, and pugs are breathing-impaired breeds (BIBs), meaning they’re purposely bred for looks, creating such extremely flat faces that their snouts are pushed all the way back against their skulls, causing them to have distorted airways that leave them struggling to breathe, run, play, and do most of the things that make dogs’ lives meaningful. When asked if breeding dogs with short noses causes breathing problems, the breeder responds on video, “Always.”

“Greedy breeders like this churn out sick dogs while shelters nationwide are bursting at the seams, which is why PETA urges everyone to please, always adopt and never buy any animal from a breeder or pet store.” says PETA Vice President Daniel Paden. “Flat-faced dogs are already destined for a lifetime of breathing problems and other medical issues that cause them to suffer, but on top of that, this breeder admits subjecting puppies to crude, painful mutilations with no pain relief.”

PETA notes that BIBs also face chronic health problems; one recent study found that BIBs have the shortest life expectancies of any dogs. A professor at England’s Royal Veterinary College even recommended euthanizing BIBs rather than performing surgery to attempt to improve their breathing problems, arguing that many of them “have a life not worth living.”

Since Rosewood Kennels registers the dogs it sells with the American Kennel Club (AKC), PETA has also sent a letter to the organization urging it strip the kennel of its privileges and pointing out that the AKC’s own breed standards mandate that pugs and other BIBs be bred with short snouts and squished in faces that cause breathing problems.

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.