ArticleThe Veterinary record2025
Beauty versus the beast: The UK public prefers less-extreme body shapes in brachycephalic dog breeds.
Article in The Veterinary record, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Giant dog breeds under primary veterinary care in the UK: demography, common disorders and mortality.Companion animal health and genetics · 2026Article
- A solution right under our nose? Crossbreeding extreme brachycephalic dogs results in better health outcomes while preserving behavioural profiles and dog-owner relationship quality.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2026Article
- Article
- Quantitative genetic analysis of respiratory function and related traits in Bulldogs, French Bulldogs and Pugs.PloS one · 2026Article
- Beauty versus the beast: The UK public prefers less-extreme body shapes in brachycephalic dog breeds.The Veterinary record · 2025Article
- Owner Awareness, Motivation and Ethical Considerations in the Choice of Brachycephalic Breeds: Evidence from an Italian Veterinary Teaching Hospital Survey.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundBrachycephalic dog breeds often exhibit a suite of extreme conformations linked with several severe and long-term disorders. Despite this, ownership levels of brachycephalic breeds remain high internationally, with physical appearance being an important driver in their acquisition. Moving these breeds away from conformational extremes is necessary to protect canine welfare. This study aimed to explore how a range of extreme conformations in common brachycephalic breeds are perceived by the UK public.
methodsAn online questionnaire used images generated by artificial intelligence of typical, less extreme and super extreme versions of three common brachycephalic breeds (French Bulldog, Pug and English Bulldog) to assess preferences among the UK general public for varying degrees of conformational extremes of muzzle length, eye size/shape, skin wrinkling and tail length.
resultsThe survey included results from 4899 participants. The less extreme versions of all three breeds were rated significantly higher by the public, including owners of purebred brachycephalic dogs, for attractiveness, perceived health, how happy they made the participant feel, ethics of breeding and how much the participant would like to own that dog (p < 0.001). LIMITATIONS: The participants were UK-based only and largely female, restricting generalisability.
conclusionIf given a choice, the UK public prefers less extreme body shapes in brachycephalic dog breeds. This presents major welfare opportunities to reverse the current normalisation of extreme body shapes in some currently popular brachycephalic dog breeds.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.