I was scrolling through pictures of cute dogs on the internet and came across a new designer dog breed that to this date has been the only dog to make me feel physically nauseous, which is the Toadline Exotic Bulldog. Reading more, I learned that these Toadline bulldogs are being sold for millions of dollars.
Designer dog breeds have, as a whole, taken our society by storm, with it feeling as though every other person describes their dog as some kind of “doodle.” However, unlike other media for design, dogs are living breathing things and I never thought I would have to say this, but we cannot forget that. Dog breeding undoubtedly requires a great deal of creativity to both conform to breed standards (which can also be problematic, but that is a topic for another discussion) and be healthy animals. The latter constraint is necessary because disregarding it is cruelty and abuse. Breeding dogs to make a bully dog with the greatest bone size in the smallest dog possible because “they would look like a toad,” as in the case of the Toadline Exotic Bulldog, is morally wrong. Art is important, but as artists, we must remember that morality is infinitely more so.
