‘Frenchies’ on Oxygen to Warn Dog Show Attendees That Flat-Faced Breeds Suffer for Life

For Immediate Release:
May 15, 2025

Contact:
Nicole Perreira 202-483-7382

Attendees of the “OnlyFrenchies” event at the National Orange Show Event Center on Saturday will be met by a pack of PETA supporters rallying outside while wearing bulldog masks and carrying oxygen tanks to call out the greedy people who intentionally breed French bulldogs to have such flat faces that their distorted airways shorten their lives, and cause them to pant, snort, wheeze, and struggle for air.

PETA notes that an undercover video released by PETA showed an employee of a pricey pet store admitting that the business provided no lifetime warranties on breathing-impaired breeds (BIBs) like French bulldogs because they would inevitably have health problems. And breeding any dog exacerbates the homeless companion animal crisis at a time when San Bernardino animal shelters, like all shelters nationwide, are overflowing with homeless dogs and cats.  

In 2024, Ojai, California, became the first city in the U.S. to ban the breeding of French Bulldogs and other breathing-impaired dogs and cats. Several countries—including Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway—have also banned or restricted the breeding of some or all BIBs, a practice they refer to as “torture breeding.”

Where:           Outside the National Orange Show Event Center, 689 S E St., San Bernardino

When:             Saturday, May 17 at 11 a.m.

“This shameful event celebrates deliberately deformed dogs and the breeders who doom them to a lifetime of gasping for air,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to stop the cycle of suffering by never buying a breathing-impaired dog and to adopt only from a local shelter.”

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.