Can I Haz Air?

Tech XX

This English Bulldog is was the mascot of Louisiana Tech University. The 20th in a line of Bulldog mascots dating back many years, he died tragically August 1 of this year. Tech XX is was just 4 years old.

Hit by a car? No.
Accidentally ingested poison? Nope.
Killed in a dog fight? Huh uh.
Contracted a fatal disease? Nix.
Disgruntled alumnist? Thumbs down.
Trampled by an opposing football team? Nay.

Tech XX is, what's called in veterinary medicine, brachycephalic. A fancy name that means; short head. So short in fact that Tech XX has had an utterly compromised respiratory system.

Here are more maladies flowing (pardon the pun) from the size and shape of his head.

Narrow nostrils
A flapping soft palete
Narrow windpipe
Laryngeal sacs turned inside out from the effort of breathing
Inefficient panting
Inflamed and swollen airways
Eyes popping out if a leash is pulled too much
Crowded teeth leading to trapped food and periodontal disease
Protruding tongue too big for his muzzle
Skin fold infections

Was it one of these chronic conditions that killed Tech XX? How did it happen?

Tech XX died from heatstroke when he was put outside to potty.

He could not breathe in enough air to cool his body and sustain his life in 90 degree heat.

Tech XX was bred on purpose to look the way he does did, an AKC "breed standard," and it killed him.

In the case of brachycephalic breeds like Bulldogs, Pugs, Boston Terrier, Boxer and Shih Tzu, the simple act of breathing is a constant battle. Tech XIX, our boy's predecessor, was retired after he too suffered heat stroke. It's ever present in these dogs. Brachycephalic dogs are the most likely candidates.

Tech XX is yet another example of the American Kennel Club (the AKC) causing fatal harm to dogs. Through their ostentatious, self-aggrandising dog show spectacles that are nothing more than a parade of genetic mutants, by promoting irrational pursuit of a rosette, with arbitrary and whimsical breed standards having nothing what-so-ever to do with function or health, the AKC causes dogs to suffer, and die needlessly.

Please do not support the madness with your hard-earned money. Don't breed or buy AKC registered puppies or dogs ever. Want a particular breed of dog? Put the name together with the word "rescue" in your search engine, and there you go.

A quick search of "Bulldog Rescue" returned 27,000 results.

Not only will you be saving a life, you'll be sending a message to the AKC that completely preventable suffering and tragic death will no longer be allowed.