Bravo to Ojai for adopting a groundbreaking new law—an ordinance protecting companion animals from unethical breeding—making it the first U.S. city to ban “torture breeding.”
This cruel practice involves intentionally breeding animals to have distorted physical features—such as grotesquely flattened faces and disproportionately long spines—which lead to a lifetime of suffering.
Ojai’s law will ban profit-driven people from breeding breathing-impaired breeds including French bulldogs, pugs, and boxers who struggle for every breath. The ordinance will also ban breeding animals for exaggerated features, such as dachshunds that often suffer from debilitating back problems.
In light of the suffering “torture breeding” causes—as well as the staggering animal companion overpopulation crisis—producing more animals of any kind should be banned everywhere. Please, never buy animals. If you’re prepared to care for an animal for life, adopt one of the millions of homeless ones in this country.
Melissa Rae Sanger
The PETA Foundation
Norfolk, Virginia
This article appears in Nov 7-17, 2024.