Hard-hitting documentary to highlight pet health issues released by RSPCA

The RSPCA has released a new documentaryto highlight the plight of pets who have been selectively bred to have exaggerated physical features.

The documentary - ‘Flawed by design: the hidden cost of the ‘perfect’ pet’ - was released on Youtube last week, fronted by reality TV personality, Olivia Bowen.

It comes as the RSPCA launches a new strategy report - The Shape of Suffering - which seeks to tackle the issue of breeding pets with exaggerated physical traits -  or ‘unnatural selection’ as one of the documentary participants describes it.

Olivia was inspired to take part in the project after losing her own French bulldog, Reggie, who had been plagued with health problems due to intentional breeding for exaggerated physical features.

Lead author of the report Ashleigh Brown, the RSPCA’s science and policy manager, said: “This is arguably the biggest welfare problem facing our pets today and it will take all of us working together to end breeding for extreme traits. This problem impacts not just dogs, but a wide variety of pets including cats, rabbits, snakes and even goldfish.

“It’s been heartbreaking to hear Olivia’s experience with her own dog, Reggie, who sadly suffered on account of his extreme features. But we’re incredibly grateful to Olivia for sharing her story publicly, and using her voice and platform to help us raise awareness of this animal welfare crisis.”

Olivia, who had to make the heart-breaking decision to euthanase Reggie on welfare grounds in 2024, said: “Reggie struggled every single day of his life because of how he’d been bred.

“Reggie really deteriorated, he couldn’t even hold his head up, there was something wrong with his spine. The vet said: ‘You cannot keep him going, he’s in such bad pain.’

“I don’t think you’re ever going to feel like you made the right decision but, at the end of the day, all we wanted for Reggie was for him to feel at peace and finally be comfortable.”

After seeing first-hand the problems that Reggie faced - including brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (when flat-faced pets struggle to breathe due to their narrow nostrils and compressed airways) and spinal issues caused by his short back and corkscrew tail - Olivia wanted to work with the RSPCA to raise awareness of the problems facing so many types of dogs, cats, rabbits, goldfish and exotic pets, because of the way they’ve been bred for aesthetics over health.

Film-makers Rob Woodward and Tobias Chapple - who both work as video producers for the RSPCA - said: “We wanted to create a bold and hard-hitting documentary that didn’t shy away from the reality of suffering that these pets are facing every single day.

“Olivia shared our passion for this issue and wanted to use her voice and her experience to influence other people, who may be thinking of taking on one of these pets, to think again.”

The documentary features a number of different pets - including flat-faced dogs, hairless cats, bubble eye goldfish, and reptiles with abnormal colour morphs- as well as multiple experts explaining the health problems these pets face on a daily basis.

Olivia added: “I want to show you how we've ended up essentially re-designing our pets to fit an aesthetic, often without us realising how this harms them.

“It’s a crisis of breeding pets with extreme traits, one that exploits our love for animals - leaving us footing the bill and our pets paying with their lives. And it needs to stop.

“When we show breeders that we want healthy pets they will have to start breeding healthy pets - until then, rescue centres are full of animals looking for loving homes.

“And for the rest of us, the next time one of those cute dogs, cats or exotic pets pops up on our feed, don’t just hit like, share or follow. Stop and think about what we’re actually rewarding because we don’t want designer pets, we want healthy ones.

“And at the end of the day, isn’t healthy the cutest thing an animal can be?”

We’ll give RSPCA Ambassador and TV vet, Dr Rory Cowlam, who also takes part in the documentary, the last word: “What would I say to someone who wants to get a brachycephalic [pet]? In a word: don’t.”