There are calls for Australia to follow the lead of Norway and ban the breeding of certain dogs on animal welfare grounds.

But animal welfare experts say breeds like King Charles cavaliers, pugs, French bulldogs and English bulldogs will continue to exist, whether they’re legal or not.

Norway banned the breeding of Cavalier King Charles spaniels and English bulldogs at the beginning of the year due to heart issues related to cavaliers and breathing issues associated with bulldogs.

Professor Claire Wade, Chair of Computational Biology and Animal Genetics at the University of Sydney, said those looking to buy designer dogs and “pure” breeds should be more discriminatory when buying and should do their research.

“They should be asking their breeders to provide evidence they’ve actually done some functionality testing on the parents of those dogs,” she said.

“If they haven’t done that, that would be a red flag.”

Press PLAY below to hear her explain

Picture: Getty iStock