Benoit Denizet-Lewis’ cover story in the New York Times Magazine looks at bulldogs. The breed suffers from an array of serious health problems as a result of breeding for extreme traits. Can the bulldog be saved?
One veterinary anesthesiologist highlights a unique trait:
[Dr. Lisa Moses] added that unlike other breeds, bulldogs don’t try to spit out the breathing tube after waking up from surgery. “Some look around, happy as can be,” she said. “It’s almost like they’re saying, ‘Finally, I can breathe!’ ”
Let that sink in. Bulldogs tolerate having a ventilator tube shoved down their throat into their lungs because their respiratory systems don’t allow them to breathe enough air to power their body.
Some people who should care the most about their welfare are indifferent to it. Sandra Sawchuk is the chief of primary-care services at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. She discourages people from adopting bulldogs because of their health problems. Nonetheless, she has two and buys them from from breeders. She knows they are unhealthy but doesn’t care:
They have goofy and lovable personalities that are incredibly endearing … Even as adults, bulldogs look almost infantile — like plump little babies … Their flattened faces definitely make them look more human, and I think people probably respond to that in ways they aren’t aware of.
This exchange with a breeder says it all:
I asked [breeder] Chambers what she liked most about the look of a bulldog. “I like the short face,” she said. “Their cute, fat faces and bodies.”
“But what if the bulldog’s cute, short face isn’t good for its health?” I asked.
“If you change the look of this dog, it’s not going to look like a bulldog,” she countered.
The subject of the piece is bulldogs but it’s also about narcissism, moral agency, and the unlimited human capacity for cruelty. Denizet-Lewis earns lots of credit for refusing to turn a blind eye to the suffering of bulldogs and human responsibility for causing it. It’s one of the best pieces of writing I have read, of any kind.