Jack the bulldog is still adorable, though.

If you went to Georgetown or have been to any of its sporting events, you’ve likely seen Jack, the adorable bulldog that has served as the university’s official mascot since 1962. (To my knowledge, he’s the only real-life animal mascot in the city, unless Howard has a real bison on campus.) Well, Jack might be out of commission for the months to come—he’s injured.

The D.C. Sports Bog reports that the eight-year-old dog may have injured himself from jumping onto a couch. His keeper’s tweets are below, as is a short video clip from The Hoya of Jack limping along.

Should this come as a surprise? Maybe not. The New York Times magazine published a long piece in November detailing how generations of in-breeding has left many bulldogs with genetic defects, maladies and injuries:

Brenda Bonnett, a consulting veterinary epidemiologist and a speaker at the conference, outlined the results of her study of Swedish dog-insurance data from 1995 to 2006. She told conference attendees that bulldogs are significantly more likely than other dogs to suffer from a wide range of health issues, including ear and eye problems, skin infections, respiratory issues, immunological and neurological problems and locomotor challenges. (Statistics released in 2010 by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals revealed that bulldogs have the highest rate of hip dysplasia of any breed.)

A few months after the Humane Society conference, The Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine published a study of breed-related causes of death in American dogs. Researchers found that bulldogs are the most likely to die from respiratory illness and the second-most likely to die from congenital disease.

Regardless, here’s to a speedy recovery for Jack.

Filed Under: bulldog, georgetown university, hoyas, injury, jack, surgery,