Moonpig removing cards featuring Pugs and French Bulldogs after PETA say they promote breathing impaired dogs

Moonpig is to remove all cards featuring Pugs and French Bulldogs after concerns over  promoting breathing impaired dogs was raised by animal rights group PETA.
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In response to concerns raised by animal rights group PETA, Moonpig has said it is in the process of removing cards featuring Pugs and French Bulldogs from its site. The card seller will also not be producing any cards featuring the breathing impaired dog breeds in the future.

Last year, a study by the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) concluded “urgent action” is needed as many health issues of pugs are associated with their extreme body shape.” The report stated that the health of pugs in the UK is now substantially different and largely worse than other breeds, and that they are almost twice as likely to experience one or more disorders annually compared with other dogs.

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RVC concluded the pug can “no longer be considered a typical dog from a health perspective”. Peta said the dogs are bred for a particular look, resulting in shortened airways that cause an array of symptoms, including laboured breathing, snorting, gagging, and collapsing.

Peta director of corporate projects Yvonne Taylor said: "By banning images of pugs and French bulldogs, Moonpig is acting responsibly and helping put an end to the promotion of dog breeds with painful, life-threatening deformities. Peta is celebrating this compassionate first step and will keep working with Moonpig to extend this new policy to all breathing-impaired breeds, including Boston terriers, boxers, and shih tzus.”

In 2019, Moonpig pledged to stop selling cards depicting "captive great apes in unnatural situations", following a similar intervention by Peta.

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