In all fairness, the author is probably right that his or her clients would change vets if they told the client to stop owning brachycephalic dogs, and the client would be right to do so. People are deeply emotionally attached to their pets; it'd be a bit like a doctor setting a kid's arm telling the parent "These extra-long arms are prone to breakage; you should consider having children with someone with the genes for a stockier build."

Divorcing the general notion of a category problem from individual cases of ownership is hard, and honestly, Guardian op-eds may be the best option in the short-run.