Brachy Breed Registrations Plummet

From VetTimes >> https://www.vettimes.com/news/vet-nursing/small-animal-vets/is-message-finally-hitting-home-brachy-dog-registrations-plummet

Fresh figures show that registrations of English bulldogs, pugs and French bulldogs have plummeted in the past year.

The UK Brachycephalic Working Group (BWG) welcomed newly released data from the Royal Kennel Club (RKC) showing registration of the three key brachycephalic breeds respectively declined by 30%, 37% and 44% between 2024 and 2025.

The drop is well above the underlying reduction in overall RKC registrations in that time – which fell 15% from 187,772 to 158,901 – said to indicate a disproportionate reduction in their popularity within the registered population.

Amid extensive BWG campaigning to raise awareness of the health issues caused by extreme conformations including flat faces, excessive skin folds, spinal abnormalities and congenital short tails, RKC figures also demonstrated a decade-long fall in registrations of the three breeds.

The RKC revealed a 92% drop in pug registrations between 2016 and 2025 (10,408 to 834), while French bulldog registrations fell by 64% from 21,470 to 7,750 and English bulldog registrations dropped by 65% from 7,785 to 2,711.

The decreases are said to have continued year-on-year over that period.

BWG chair and RVC professor of companion animal epidemiology Dan O’Neill said: ‘After a decade of BWG campaigning, it is heartening to see signs that the British public as a nation of animal lovers are recognising and taking action to ensure no dog suffers due to selective breeding for a flat-faced look.

We urge the British public to continue to ‘Stop and think before buying a flat-faced dog’ whether RKC registered or not.’

Last year, Prof O’Neill co-authored a study that indicated public preference for less extreme body shapes among brachycephalic dogs.

But veterinary and animal welfare organisations insist there is still more work to be done, with a ‘new normal’ emerging among younger owners driven by social media.

BVA senior vice-president Elizabeth Mullineaux added: ‘These new figures are an encouraging sign that campaigns such as BVA’s #BreedToBreathe and collaborative work by the BWG are beginning to have a positive impact on demand.”

“Of course, we know that there’s a large population of flat-faced dogs who aren’t RKC registered who’re being bred and brought across the UK, or being imported from abroad, so there’s still work to be done to tackle irresponsible breeding and to improve the overall welfare of these breeds.

“Our advice to anyone looking to get a puppy continues to be to prioritise health over looks.

Battersea recently launched a new ‘Cost of Cute’ campaign seeking to raise awareness of the significant financial, emotional and welfare tolls that extreme physical aesthetics can carry with them for owners and their pets.

Caroline Jenkins, Battersea’s head of campaigns, said: “The registration data is a promising sign that the public demand for flat-faced dogs may be decreasing; however, among younger owners our research shows that expectations of how animals should look, behave and be treated are changing with a ‘new normal’ emerging.

“‘Pets that have exaggerated features remain incredibly popular on social media and online sales platforms – yet our social media feeds rarely show the full picture.”

New From F-Elon Musk?

My New Business Venture

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Two Truths and AI

Racist Oregon

“The Oregon black exclusion laws were a series of measures enacted in the 19th century to prevent black people from settling within the borders of the settlement and eventual U.S. state of Oregon. The first such law took effect in 1844, when the Provisional Government of Oregon voted to exclude black settlers from Oregon's borders. The law authorized a punishment for any Black settler remaining in the territory to be whipped with "not less than twenty nor more than thirty-nine stripes" for every six months they remained. Although the 1844 law authorized whipping as a penalty for Black residents who remained in Oregon beyond the prescribed period, there are no documented cases of anyone being whipped under the law. The whipping provision was replaced later in 1844, before the prescribed removal periods had resulted in its enforcement. 

“Additional laws aimed at African Americans entering Oregon were ratified in 1849 and 1857. The last of these laws was repealed in 1926. The laws, born of anti-slavery and anti-black beliefs, were often justified as a reaction to fears of black people instigating Native American uprisings.”

See >> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon_black_exclusion_laws

The Radical Notion of Direct Consequences.

You Pay More So They Don’t Pay At All

Fines Are Permission for the Rich

Trust, Built Over Years, Is Shattered In An Instance

No Small Thing

Election Work

This is what Tuesday was about for my wife and I — 17 hours as poll workers and judges. Democracy is a participatory sport. Thanks to all who participated.

You Get More of Whatever You Tolerate

One Giant Leap for Mankind

Attack of the Killer Monkeys

The only thing more absurd that women’s magazines are men’s magazines

It seems “monkeys on a raft” was a  popular cover story for men's pulp magazines in the 1950s for some reason. 

Calling Sigmund Freud!

Of course, for all I know this may be the very few times there is a small element of truth behind the story (perhaps a sinking boat with a load of monkeys for the laboratory and pet store trade?), and so it was picked up and repeated by the pulp magazine purveyors of shlock and fantasy.  

Call Dr. Jung too.  This may be a TWO psychiatrist situation!

——-

And no, *none of us* want our daughter to marry an American… but what are you gonna do? 

Space, the Final Frontier

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Big Mushroom On Top of Beehive

Two Truths and AI

Oregon’s Shameful History

From Wikipedia (link):

“The Oregon black exclusion laws were a series of measures enacted in the 19th century to prevent black people from settling within the borders of the settlement and eventual U.S. state of Oregon. The first such law took effect in 1844, when the Provisional Government of Oregon voted to exclude black settlers from Oregon's borders. The law authorized a punishment for any Black settler remaining in the territory to be whipped with ‘not less than twenty nor more than thirty-nine stripes’ for every six months they remained. Although the 1844 law authorized whipping as a penalty for Black residents who remained in Oregon beyond the prescribed period, there are no documented cases of anyone being whipped under the law. The whipping provision was replaced later in 1844, before the prescribed removal periods had resulted in its enforcement. 

“Additional laws aimed at African Americans entering Oregon were ratified in 1849 and 1857. The last of these laws was repealed in 1926. The laws, born of anti-slavery and anti-black beliefs, were often justified as a reaction to fears of black people instigating Native American uprisings.”

Not Careless… Sociopathic Predators

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Whiter Shade of Pale

Every Halloween I dress up as a serial killer.  They look just like everyone else – only whiter.