I am a dog owner – here is the one breed I would NEVER buy again for health reasons

A DOG owner has warned other pet lovers about a breed they would never buy again.

Capital FM presenter Aimee Vivian appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to give her opinion on whether pugs and French bulldogs should be banned in the UK.

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While the Netherlands plans to ban Pugs and French Bulldogs, debate continues over the health complications of some of these puppies in the UK.

While their flat faces and chubby bodies have seen the dog breed become a firm favorite, research has found that it’s precisely these traits that may be behind their health issues.

Vivian says she is 100 per cent against banning pugs and French bulldogs in the UK but admits she would think twice about buying the same breed again.

She is the proud “dog mom” to her pug Eva, but has learned more about the problems that come with breeding.

“[Eva] is nine years old and i would like to say if i bought a dog now would i get a flat faced dog? No, because I’m much better informed about it.”

“In the nine years since I’ve had her, the breeding has gotten progressively worse, which is why I say…laws need to be put in place, tougher penalties.”

Aimee said her pug is healthy because she keeps fit, but PETA spokeswoman Jennifer White, who also appeared on the show, explained that Eva is likely still suffering from respiratory problems.

She said: “Even if you hear her walking, that sound, the rattling, snorting, people dismiss that as cute but they fight and gasp.

“These dogs just live miserable lives because they were bred on purpose to have these deformities, these flatter faces.

“For French bulldogs, breathing through their nose is like breathing through a straw.

“It’s not about responsible breeding, frankly, that just doesn’t exist in this situation when these animals are doing so incredibly poorly and they are born to suffer.”

New research from the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) has found that pugs are almost twice as likely to develop health problems than other breeds each year.

According to the study, pugs can no longer be considered a “typical” dog due to their health issues.

dr Dan O’Neill, associate professor of pet epidemiology at the RVC and lead author of the paper, said: “Although they are very popular as pets, we now know that several serious health problems are linked to the extreme body shape of so many pugs that people find so cute.” .

“It is now time that we focus on the dog’s health and not the owner’s whims when deciding what type of dog to own.”

Flat faced breeds now make up a whopping 20 per cent of dogs in the UK.

It comes as dog owners across the UK defended their pooches after an animal rights group vowed to ban popular flat-faced breeds.

The Blue Cross has accused some owners of a “vicious cycle of overbreeding” that they say has triggered a dangerous health crisis in flat-nosed mutts.

Founded in 1897, the charity called for both legislative and non-legislative action to eradicate “poor breeding” that causes serious health problems in popular breeds like English bulldogs.

The calls could lead to the drafting of new legislation that will significantly affect the emergence and availability of brachycephalic (flat-faced) breeds in the UK.

Health problems of the popular pugs and French bulldogs include eye diseases, skin diseases, respiratory difficulties and spinal deformities.

The charity exclusively told The Sun Online that this is now unacceptable and such breeds “do not lead full and happy lives”.

They added that the explosion of her popularity in the UK – aided by “cute” advertising and social media proliferation – hasn’t helped the problem of poor breeding.

Becky Thwaites, head of public affairs at Blue Cross, told The Sun Online how the charity has begun extensive lobbying by UK MPs to end what they have dubbed a “welfare crisis”.

She said: “We have already started contacting MPs.