Our wonderful supporters were rightly outraged at the condition of Fred and Barney who came in after being found abandoned on Coity Common.

 

Fred

Fred, who appears to have been deliberately bred to be hairless, arrived with dreadfully itchy and sore skin, and open wounds on his neck and back. He immediately started treatment, including medicated baths, and moved to one of our dedicated foster homes.

 

We are incredibly pleased with his progress so far and he is feeling much more comfortable. His foster family say he has been an absolute delight!

 

Sadly, it is likely Fred will need lifelong medication for his skin and will need BOAS surgery to improve his ability to breathe normally in the coming weeks.

 

Barney

Sadly, Barney's story does not have the same happy ending as Fred’s.

 

We were extremely concerned about Barney from the moment he came through our door. It was clear he had some severe issues with his conformation (shape and structure), loud crackly breathing, a red and inflamed nose rope, and was underweight and dehydrated.

 

It quickly became obvious that he was unable to keep even a small amount of food and water down and was regularly regurgitating.

He began a special diet, feeding regime, and medication but this sadly didn't make a difference.

 

Barney's BOAS was so severe that he could only eat elevated and had to sleep with his head up to be able to breathe.

Whilst extensive surgery would have been an option to try to improve this, Barney also had issues with his hips, spine, hind legs and elbows.

After discussions with our vet and Barney's foster home, it was agreed that there were no viable treatment options which would give Barney even a reasonable quality of life, and the difficult decision was made to put him to sleep on welfare grounds.

 

We are so grateful to his amazing foster home for giving him the best possible care.

Angry, upset, and tired 

Right now, we are angry, upset, and tired of continually having to pick up the pieces from backyard breeders.

Angry that they continue to churn out inherently deformed dogs, bred for a life of suffering purely for profit.

Upset at the suffering these poor dogs go through, especially when, sometimes, there is nothing we can do to ease that suffering. Tired of the emotional and financial burden it puts on our wonderful team.

 

Has the time now come to stop the breeding of French Bulldogs? We genuinely feel it’s impossible to stop their continued exploitation and to breed them responsibly.