In the run-up to the publication of A Street Dog Named Pup on the 1st April 2021, meet some of the dogs and find out why I wrote them into the story –
I wanted the story to explore our relationship with our canine companions.
Reynard the foxhound – A dog is for life, not just for Christmas – unless it’s a foxhound.
Fox hunting is a ‘traditional sport’ in which hunters, usually on horseback, follow a pack of hunting dogs to pick up the scent of a fox, chase it and kill it. Fox hunting is illegal in England and Wales (Hunting Act 2004) and Scotland (Protection of Wild Mammals Act 2002). There is overwhelming evidence to suggest that hunts are regularly breaking the law. An explosive expose aired on ITV November 2020 showed senior figures within the Master of the Fox Hounds Association and the Countryside Alliance caught on camera admitting that trail hunting is a ‘smokescreen’ for the chasing and killing of foxes.
Foxes suffer a cruel and vicious death.
But it is not just the foxes that suffer.
Foxhounds are disposable items to the foxhunts.
If a foxhound doesn’t hunt, or becomes too old or incapacitated to hunt, it is killed.
Usually shot. A bullet in the head.
The Countryside Alliance admitted that about 3000 foxhounds are killed each year. Animal welfare groups think this number is actually a lot higher. Foxhounds rarely make it beyond the age of eight before they are killed. For most pet dogs this is a comfortable middle age where they are still very active, with years ahead of them.
Hunters profess to love their hounds. But I don’t believe they can love their hounds. They love the tradition of foxhunting.
Yet, to me, the truth about the fate of these hounds doesn’t seem to hit the headlines. We are (or so we are told) a nation of animal lovers. Even if hunters were obeying the law and not hunting foxes, the casual killing of foxhounds would continue. It is the unspoken truth. Those who joins hunts turn a blind eye to the annual mass slaughter of dogs.
In A Street Dog Named Pup, Reynard is a young foxhound who has escaped from the hunt kennels, following the foxes into the city. Reynard is chased by the dark memories of his time in the hunt kennels. He is always seeking the dark places where the Huntsman can’t find him.
In exploring our relationship with our canine companions, I wanted A Street Dog Named Pup to expose some of the best and worst in human nature.
With foxhunting, human nature is scraping the bottom of a very bloody barrel.
A Street Dog Named Pup (cover Levi Pinfold)
Pup and his boy are inseparable. But both their worlds change forever when Pup is cruelly taken away and abandoned in Dead Dog Alley. With nowhere else to turn, Pup joins a pack of misfit street dogs who help him learn to fight for survival on the streets. Pup holds onto the hope of one day being reunited with his boy. But as hope shrinks with every passing day, Pup begins to wonder if their bond is irreversibly broken….
Michael Morpurgo “I’m not sure I’ll ever look at a dog the same way again. Unforgettable.”
Lauren St John “A masterpiece. Gill Lewis does for Pup what Anna Sewell did for horses in Black Beauty. A wise, brave book, steeped in kindness.”
What’s a dog? Returnable item? Fashion accessory? or Lifelong friend?
In the run-up to the publication of A Street Dog Named Pup on the 1st April 2021, meet some of the dogs and find out why I wrote them into the story –
Merle and Lady Fifi
Merle is a border collie
Anyone who owns a border collie will know how loyal, active and fun they are, but perhaps most importantly intelligent. These are not one-walk-a-day dogs that like to lounge about for the rest of the day. These are really active dogs that love a job to do. They are happiest when mentally and physically stimulated. In many, their herding instinct is so embedded into their DNA that they will attempt to herd anything.
Our own dog, Ned, as an 8-week-old pup trotted around our four chickens and herded them back to us. Ned is a bit poultry obsessed. We now have ducks, and he will while away the hours following them and rounding them up if they get out of line. He was the inspiration for Star in my series for younger children Puppy Academy Star on Stormy Mountain where Star’s attempt at herding ducks doesn’t go well.
In A Street Dog Named Pup, Merle has been abandoned because her owners dumped her when they didn’t have time for her. When she was left alone for long hours, her boundless energy was turned to destructive behaviour in the house.
But it isn’t just border collies that need time and attention.
All dogs do.
Lady Fifi was bought because her owner saw her as an accessory to fashion with celebrity endorsement. A handbag dog. A whim, as discardable as a handbag or pair of shoes.
Many have seen lockdown as the right time to get that long awaited pup in their lives. For those who have put the time and thought into this, prepared to give the new pup the time and attention and the necessary socialization within the constraints of lockdown, these people will be rewarded with a well-trained and well-balanced dog for a lifetime of fun and a great friend in their lives. Their lives will immeasurably be changed for the better.
However, the pandemic has seen people buy puppies on a whim.
The pandemic has seen the demand for puppies soar.
The prices for puppies has soared too – most now into the thousands of pounds.
Now there are very genuine reasons why some people have to give up their dogs, but for many, the idea of owning a cute bouncy bundle of puppy is more alluring that the reality of the hours of training, clearing up wee and poop and having the house destroyed by a puppy exploring its world with its mouth.
Rescue centres are already seeing the influx of older puppies that have become too problematic, handed over by frustrated owners who haven’t fully taken the time to understand what dog ownership means – a dog is for life.
But many people are asking for the original price so they don’t lose the money they paid.
A quick search through a popular dog selling internet site for pups of 4-12 months shows many, many older puppies for sale with the reasons/ excuses in rough order of top reasons:
No time for pup as going back to work.
2. House is too small
3. My daughter/son/aunt/granny/second cousin twice removed/ long-dead uncle has developed an allergy to the dog
4. My other dog doesn’t like the pup.
This idea that somehow dogs are commodities, to be bought and sold without forethought and research, is selfish.
In A Street Dog Named Pup, I wanted to tell the dogs’ story. I wondered what it would be like to be a mother dog, to have a litter of puppies, that were taken from you, not knowing their futures. It made me think that as prospective dogs owners, when we hold that new pup in our hands, we take on that responsibility of another life. It is our choice to get a pup, and with that choice comes that huge responsibility.
And so in A Street Dog Named Pup I decided to have a dog-story that each mother dog will tell their new-born pups to try to keep them safe: A story to try to navigate the world of man.
A Street Dog Named Pup – Cover Levi Pinfold, internal illustrations by Gill Lewis
Pup and his boy are inseparable. But both their worlds change forever when Pup is cruelly taken away and abandoned in Dead Dog Alley. With Nowhere else to turn, Pup joins a pack of misfit street dogs who help him learn to fight for survival on the streets. Pup holds onto the hope of one day being reunited with his boy. But as hope shrinks with every passing day, Pup begins to wonder if their bond is irreversibly broken….
Michael Morpurgo “I’m not sure I’ll ever look at a dog the same way again. Unforgettable.”
Lauren St John “A masterpiece. Gill Lewis does for Pup what Anna Sewell did for horses in Black Beauty. A wise, brave book, steeped in kindness.”
The recent exponential rise in the demand for brachycephalic (flat-faced) dog breeds, is accompanied by the parallel rise in the number of health conditions associated with these breeds, fuelling a health and welfare crisis in the UK.
Many veterinary and animal welfare organisations are calling for companies to stop using these breeds in advertising to reduce the demand for these breeds and prevent the normalisation of health issues. Welfare must come before profit.
Images of short nosed breeds are very popular in children’s literature.
Is it time for the children’s publishing world to catch up with this current massive welfare issue, take a stance and stop using images of brachycephalic breeds?
We see images of brachycephalic dogs in advertising, marketing and social media, further increasing popularity of these breeds. Many people are influenced in their choice of dogs by copying celebrities who own these breeds and post pictures of them on their social media accounts.
The Breed to Breathe campaign by the British Veterinary Association states that; “society as a whole, including veterinary professionals, dog owners, breeders, registering bodies, breeds clubs, academics, animals charities and those with a commercial interest in use of dogs and their images have a moral and social responsibility to work together towards avoiding imagery of brachycephalic breeds in advertising, marketing materials and social media campaigns to reduce the demand, and prevent the normalisation of their associated health issues.”
So, my question is:
Given the huge health and welfare crisis related to the popularity of brachycephalic breeds and their inherent health problems, should we avoid the imagery and representation of brachycephalic breeds in children’s literature?
Pugs and Frenchis are cute, right? And they kind of look like cute kids, with their button noses, big eyes and flat faces. So what does it matter?
Many might roll their eyes and tell me to ‘give it a break. It’s only a story!’
But I think it does matter.
It matters a lot.
As a children’s author I’m aware of the power of words and images upon readers, and as a vet I feel that the welfare of animals is paramount and that should be reflected in the stories that we write. Children are capable of great empathy with animals, and that empathy comes from awareness, education and understanding of animal welfare issues. It is never too early to address those issues.
It’s the reason that I wrote the character Frenchi into A Street Dog Named Pup, because I wanted to show the other too-often unseen side of the health problems of flat-faced dog breeds. Frenchi is a French bulldog abandoned because his owners couldn’t afford to pay for the expensive veterinary treatment to help correct his breathing problems, and Frenchi suffers for the abnormal anatomy exhibited by short-nosed breeds. Put simply, Frenchi struggles to breathe.
What is a brachycephalic breed?
Brachycephalic, or flat-faced breeds include amongst others; pugs, French bulldogs, Boston terriers and English bulldogs. Their noses / muzzles look as though they have been flattened or squashed.
What’s the problem with a flattened muzzle?
Not all brachycephalic dogs will suffer with health problems relating to breeding, but a great many do.
Breeds with short noses have a compacted skeleton causing a number of malformations, including in the nasal cavities, the spine and their tails. But they have normal amounts of skin and soft tissue, making it therefore excessive for their compacted skeleton. They have excessive skin folds on their faces and bodies. There are excessive folds of soft tissue also present inside their bodies, causing narrowing of the airways, with resulting obstructive problems with breathing and eating.
The image on the CT images shows the comparison of normal and brachycephalic skulls
Health problems faced by brachycephalic breeds include: BOAS (Brachycephalic Obstructive Airway Syndrome) – breathing problems associated with the distorted and abnormal anatomy – narrowed nostrils, overlong soft palate and increased soft tissue in the back of the nose and throat obstructing normal breathing. These breeds often have smaller windpipe diameter. Swallowing problems due to excessive soft tissue at the back of the throat and inside the mouth. Heart problems – often secondary to chronic breathing problems. Skin problems – often due to deep skin folds. Dental problems – often due to poor conformation and overcrowding and poor alignment of teeth in the jaw. Eye problems – due to prominent eyes. Problems with mating and giving birth naturally
Some of the symptoms of disease are seen as endearing by owners. Eg: Excessive snoring some owners love to hear, can be a sign of airway disease. Some dogs will hold a toy in their mouths as they fall asleep to help keep the airway open, to ensure they can get decent sleep without waking up and gasping for air. It can appear cute to the owner, but this isn’t cute for the dog – it’s a lifesaving behavioural strategy.
Why do people love these breeds? The aesthetic appeal of these dogs is often the main reason why many love these breeds. They look ‘cute’ and this appeal is embedded in our innate human desire to nurture. These shortened noses resemble human infants to us. It’s their appeal.
How big is this problem?
It’s huge.
Vets are seeing brachycephalic breeds with their associated health conditions every day. There are dedicated teams at veterinary referral practices that specialise in diagnostic and corrective surgery approaches to help dogs with these problems.
Brachycephalic breeds demand huge sums well into the thousands of pounds. However, many owners aren’t aware that the ‘cute’ way they look can cause serious and often life limiting health and welfare problems.
Brachycephalic breeds have become increasingly popular in recent years. The Kennel Club has reported a 2747 per cent increase in the number of French bulldogs since 2004. This demand has also imposed further welfare problems around poor quality breeding practices and both legal and illegal importation of puppies to supply a booming UK demand. Lockdown has exacerbated this trend. Unscrupulous breeders and traders are cashing in on the high demand and farming them in huge numbers and poor conditions whether bred in the UK or imported from abroad.
For new owners, the realisation of the reality of owning one of these breeds, together with the waning novelty factor means many are handed over at rescue centres which further fuels a welfare concern. A Royal Veterinary College survey showed that 58% of owners of short nosed dogs did not recognise signs that their dog was struggling to breathe. These signs may include snoring, reduced exercise tolerance, sitting upright to sleep, or holding an object in the mouth to enable comfortable sleep.
The boom of popularity of these breeds and the boom of their associated health problems is one of the most pressing welfare issues for dogs in the UK right now.
What can we do?
The exponential rise in ownership and demand for brachycephalic breeds is not a problem which will be easily solved. Emotions run high. Commerce, the desire for cuteness, and tradition often fuel demand for ever shorter noses and the newer variety of colour patterns.
Some measures to change attitudes include:
Raising awareness of health problems of brachycephalic dogs – to persuade prospective owners not to choose a brachycephalic breed. This is the reason I included Frenchi in my story. I wanted readers to love him, but also empathise with him and decide against choosing this breed.
If prospective owners are set on buying a brachycephalic puppy breed, ensure they research puppies from reputable breeders. Reputable breeders try to reduce the associated health problems by screening dogs and selecting those which pass certain health tests. Breeders have had concern for new demand for variable colour pattens recently seen that may have linked health problems. For those wanting an adult dog, there are many that need rehoming from rescue shelters.
Revisit breed standards – In the Netherlands, registered dogs must have a certain nose to skull length ratio, to prevent the breed standard becoming too short. This would require dog breeding and registering bodies to implement strict regulations here in the UK.
Support Lucy’s Law – ensure legal obligations that puppies are bought direct from breeders, and not through a third party and puppy farmers.
Ultimately, I believe it will be raising awareness of the health problems of the breed that will drive down the demand for these dogs.
We can only do this if we learn to see the world through a dog’s eyes. We need to walk a mile in their paws.
We need to become the dog.
Dr Dan O’Neill – Vetcompass researcher: “It’s OK to love brachycephalic dogs. This doesn’t mean you need to own one. Loving is about us. Caring is about them. Our choices and actions define our love and caring. Become the dog, then choose your breed. Owners are the real power brokers of dog welfare.”
So how do we become the dog? – we can do it through story.
Children’s literature is powerful.
Anna Sewell, the author of Black Beauty raised awareness of the welfare concerns of horses. By letting the reader into the life of a horse allows them to understand empathy for the horse. The story led to the ban of the check-rein, a cruel rein to keep the horses’ heads bent at a curved aesthetic angle, but one which puts cruel pressure on the horses’ head and neck.
As authors and illustrators, and people in the publishing industry, I believe we can have a powerful impact upon the young readers if we talk about the ethics and welfare of animals at an early age.
We should normalise the conversation about ethics and welfare, instead of normalising a welfare problem.
This problem is so great that pet food manufactures are changing the shape of their kibble (biscuit) to ensure brachycephalic dogs don’t choke whilst eating.
We shouldn’t be changing the shape of the kibble.
We should be changing the shape of the dog.
We should be changing the conversation.
Stories allow us to have empathy for another being.
So let us imagine what it is to walk a mile in dogs’ paws.
Let’s start a conversation – and begin that first step.
Not convinced? Have a look at the Breed to Breathe campaign video here
And for more info on Brachycephalic Airway Obstructive Syndrome – here
Some useful websites and literature:
Book by Rowena Packer and Dan O’Neill – Health and Welfare of Brachycephalic and Companion Animals
Pup and his boy are inseparable. But both their worlds change forever when Pup is cruelly taken away and abandoned in Dead Dog Alley. With Nowhere else to turn, Pup joins a pack of misfit street dogs who help him learn to fight for survival on the streets. Pup holds onto the hope of one day being reunited with his boy. But as hope shrinks with every passing day, Pup begins to wonder if their bond is irreversibly broken….
Michael Morpurgo “I’m not sure I’ll ever look at a dog the same way again. Unforgettable.”
Lauren St John “A masterpiece. Gill Lewis does for Pup what Anna Sewell did for horses in Black Beauty. A wise, brave book, steeped in kindness.”
In the run-up to the publication of A Street Dog Named Pup on the 1st April 2021, meet some of the dogs and find out why I wrote them into the story –
Saffy –
When Pup meets Saffy, he immediately feels safe. Saffy, a yellow Labrador, is kind and caring to all the dogs she knows. But Saffy found herself on the streets after being stolen from a family she loved. However, she never forgets the kind hands that held her, or the wind in her ears, or the sun on her back when she ran on white sand with her owners.
It is estimated that dog thefts have risen by 250% nationwide following increased demand for puppies during the pandemic.
Dog theft is one of the cruellest thefts both for the dog and the owner. The emotional turmoil of the owner looking for their dogs, is matched by the turmoil of the dog taken from the ones they love.
One of the big problems with reuniting both lost and stolen dogs with their owners is a lack of a single standard data base for microchips. Making it compulsory that dogs are always scanned on their first veterinary visit would also ensure that stolen dogs could be identified, and would prevent thefts too.
Here is a petition to ask for a single database of microchipping and also that it would be compulsory to scan cats and dogs on a first veterinary visit: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/551556
About A Street Dog Named Pup:
Pup and his boy are inseparable. But both their worlds change forever when Pup is cruelly taken away and abandoned in Dead Dog Alley. With Nowhere else to turn, Pup joins a pack of misfit street dogs who help him learn to fight for survival on the streets. Pup holds onto the hope of one day being reunited with his boy. But as hope shrinks with every passing day, Pup begins to wonder if their bond is irreversibly broken….
Michael Morpurgo “I’m not sure I’ll ever look at a dog the same way again. Unforgettable.”
Lauren St John “A masterpiece. Gill Lewis does for Pup what Anna Sewell did for horses in Black Beauty. A wise, brave book, steeped in kindness.”
