PETA Statement: Shameful ‘Best in Show Choice’ Celebrates Deliberately Deformed Dogs

Below, please find a statement from PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman in response to the “Best in Show” winner at the 2024 National Dog Show, a pug—a breathing-impaired breed (BIB)—from Chapel Hill, North Carolina:

It’s bad enough to glorify breeding more dogs when shelters are bursting at the seams with homeless ones, but naming a breathing-impaired breed – busily being banned in countries including the U.S. –   as “Best in Show” celebrates deliberately creating mutant animals with debilitating deformities that leave them struggling for every breath. Condemning animals to a lifetime of suffering simply so that they look cute to you is cruel, and PETA urges everyone to boycott the breeders dooming these animals by never buying any dog and adopting from a local shelter.

PETA notes that pugs are 54 times more likely than other breeds to suffer from Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome (BOAS), and according to a recent veterinary study, BIBs can no longer be classified as “normal dogs” because of their health irregularities. A number of countries—including Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway—have banned or restricted the breeding of some or all BIBs.