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After months of input from PETA’s Cruelty Investigations Department, Mayor Betsy Stix and the Ojai City Council voted to adopt a groundbreaking new law that bans “torture breeding,” the purposeful breeding of animals to have deformed bodies and extreme features that cause them a lifetime of suffering.
Ojai, California, Bans ‘Torture Breeding’
The signing of the Companion Animal Protection Ordinance makes Ojai the first city in the U.S. to ban “torture breeding.” The new law will help protect breathing-impaired breeds such as French bulldogs, English bulldogs, pugs, boxers, and Boston terriers, as well as Persian cats, all of whom have been intentionally bred to have extremely flat faces and deformed skulls. The ordinance will also protect other breeds with exaggerated features, such as dachshunds, cavalier King Charles spaniels, and Scottish Fold cats who suffer from a wide array of painful and debilitating health issues like intervertebral disc disease, syringomyelia, and osteochondrodysplasia, all for the sake of looking a certain way.
The Federation of Veterinarians of Europe, the Federation of European Companion Animal Veterinary Associations, and Vets Against Brachycephalism, which collectively represent more than 25,000 veterinarians from 66 countries, have called on cities and countries to ban torture breeding, and many European nations—including Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland—have already passed similar legislation to protect dogs and cats.
French bulldogs, a chronically unhealthy breathing-impaired breed, have been the most purchased dog in the U.S. for the past two years. Greedy humans continue to produce breathing-impaired breeds despite the mounting evidence that they’re likely to suffer from a multitude of painful, debilitating health issues due to their smushed faces and distorted, restricted airways.
Never Buy a Dog, a Cat, or Any Other Animal—Breathing-Impaired or Not
Considering all the suffering caused by breeding dogs to have flat faces, why do breeders keep doing this? Because people keep buying them. As long as there is money to be made by selling animals, breeders will force more of them into the world—regardless of how much they cause animals to suffer in the process. Never buy a dog, a cat, or any other animal—when you buy an animal, you prop up the cruel breeding and pet trade industry.
If you have the time, money, patience, and love to care for an animal for life (which could be for more than 15 years), please adopt one from a shelter. If you already have a breathing-impaired dog or cat, please commit to making his or her life as fulfilling, healthy, and comfortable as you can.
