Loaded Potato. Sin Piggy. Mr Henry Wrinkler. Curly Croissant. These are just a few of the names Gary Baker and Peter Roach call their prized 30-kilogram, almost three-year-old, British bulldog, Fonzie.
Fonzie is one of over 100 bulldogs of all shapes, sizes and shades, squishing, snorting and slobbering at Elsternwick Park in weather that could not have been much better for a Sunday in Melbourne mid-May. They’re here to raise money for Mini’s Bulldog Rescue Club, a not-for-profit organisation that rescue, rehabilitate and re-home bulldogs in need. Absolutely no one is eating their snags from the sizzle in any peace. And there’s nothing mini about it, having raised $2,850 by day’s end.
“I don’t think Elsternwick Park has ever experienced so much heavy breathing at one time,” said Chet Foong.
Foong is the founder of a bulldog group affectionally known as ‘Bayside Bullies’. The group started around five years ago with just a handful of bulldogs as a way for bulldog owners to “meet up, get advice, and let their bullies have a wrestle”.
“We have over 500 members now, which blows my mind.”
“Bully meets” happen every Saturday and Sunday morning at Elsternwick Park and Foong says the turnout is generally pretty solid. The support on May 15 though – “just phenomenal”.
These squishy faces many think only-a-mother-could-love are known to suffer from costly health issues relating to their breathing, tail pockets and skin allergies. Animal Justice Party MP, Emma Hurst, put forward a motion earlier this month to ban the breeding of French bulldogs, pugs, Boston terriers and British bulldogs because of the “cruelty”.
“There are dogs that can hardly breathe. They are being bred for a specific appearance that will cause them to suffer.”
The motion was blocked in NSW parliament.
Foong knows the nuances involved in caring for the breed. Along with Bayside Bullies, a day job, and RepYourPack, a side hustle creating cool merchandise for pet lovers with a focus on custom designs, Foong is also fur-dad to 31-kilogram Basko, aged six, who he’s had since a puppy, and 23-kilogram Xena, aged five, who joined the Foong family when she was around three years old.
Trying to ban specific breeds “isn’t the solution”, says Foong.
“It will just drive breeding underground.”
“The focus needs to be around education and better regulations.”
Fonzie’s fur parents stay on top of Mr Henry Wrinkler’s health and wellbeing, having recently bought a baby bath to bathe his paws in Epsom salts.
“People think you’re crazy. You just don’t get it unless you own a bulldog.”
“It’s not a dog. It’s a lifestyle.”
Naturally, Fonzie has his own Instagram account.
“He’s a content machine,” says Baker.
