The flat faces bred into bulldogs can cause a "lifetime of suffering" and vets are urging people not to buy one.
The bulldog has twice the health risks of other dogs, a study has found.
Urgent action is needed to reshape the breed and stop the UK joining the list of countries where the dog is banned, say Royal Veterinary College experts.
They want people to stop buying English bulldogs and two other popular breeds - the French bulldog and the pug - until breeding issues are addressed.
They're also calling on the public to stop "promoting" the dog on social media by posting and liking pictures.
The bulldog has soared in popularity over the past decade.
The study, published in the journal of Canine Medicine and Genetics, compared the health of thousands of English bulldogs kept as pets with that of other dog breeds. It found English bulldogs were twice as likely to have one or more disorders in a single year than other dogs.
The commonest health complaints were infections in skin folds (38 times more likely than in other dogs), an eye disorder known as cherry eye (26 times more likely), protrusion of the lower jaw (24 times more likely) and breathing problems (19 times more likely).
