Is It Ethical To Buy A French Bulldog?

Are you considering purchasing a French Bulldog puppy? If the thought is on your mind, you are not alone. This breed, despite the high price, has quickly become one of the most popular dog breeds in the country. And this is for good reason, with their cute bat like ears, miniature size and loving temperament. But with all of the good that surrounds the French Bulldog, there is also an ethical dilemma.

Is it ethical to purchase a French Bulldog? You might be surprised, but many people would answer this question with a resounding no. Let’s dive in a bit and find out why some people would never purchase this breed for ethical reasons.

The Ethics Problem With Frenchies

If you are reading this statement for the first time, you probably think that the ethical problems behind buying a French Bulldog are the same once with all full bred dogs. Why should you buy a full bred dog from a for profit breeder when there are so many dogs wasting away in shelters and at rescues?

While it is true that adopting a pet is often a better choice, we are not going to fault someone for wanting a pure breed. It is not necessarily evil to want a full blooded dog so that you can experience all that is wonderful about them. A Great Dane mix, for example, is not quite the same as a full blood Dane. No, the problem with French Bulldogs is not an issue with wanting a perfect specimen, the issues runs deeper.

Bred To Be Cute

All of those things that make French Bulldogs so desirable have been bred into them.

That flat face, for example, has been bred into them and that can cause some severe problems for French Bulldogs. The breed is a Brachycephalic  breed meaning that they have short snouts by nature. This can cause breathing problems and when breeders accentuate this feature to make them more popular, they make the problem much worse. French Bulldogs can have severe difficulty breathing and many of them can not function like other dogs. They are limited in both the ability to exercise and their tolerance to warm climates.

The rest of the body that breeders have “cultivated” can be just as problematic. That small body with the big head might seem cute but it cripples the dogs. French Bulldogs typically must be artificially inseminated because they can not breed on their own. They must also give birth exclusively through Cesarean Section because their heads can not fit through the tiny hips of their mothers. What you have is a dog that can not breed by themselves, can not give birth by themselves and can barely walk around without aid. They are entirely dependent on humans to survive.

To top everything off, you have the problem of over-breeding and inbreeding. Whenever you have a dog that fetches top dollar and that has small litter sizes, you will have the temptation to over-breed. This can be tough on the females who often spend the majority of their life pregnant. Additionally, breeders turn to inbreeding to preserve the traits that they have induced. The risk of outside genes to them is too great which leads to inbreeding and the genetic problems that come with it.

Summing It Up

So is it ethical to purchase a French Bulldog from a breeder? That is something that you need to decide for yourself. Whatever the choice, listen to your heart.