To think Claire's should not be piercing the ears of a hysterical 13 month old whilst she is held down?

[ScottishG]

I was in Claire's Accessories with dd today. A small child was crying hysterically. I looked around to see what was going on and was horrified to see a baby being forced to have her ears pierced. She was being firmly held on an adult 's knee (? mum) surrounded by 3 or 4 men who seemed to be with her and the assistant doing the piercing. Her ears were held by the adults whilst they were pierced. It was horrible. She was so upset it was distressing to see.
I have no clue why anyone would put their baby through this and think it is wrong to hurt your child in this way. However, I also felt Claire's were wrong to go ahead with the piercing when the child was so very distressed. Surely they could have refused to continue? I can't get the scene out of my head and Dr(13) was upset too.

Just confirmed the age. I had my ears pearced when i was about two weeks old. However, it was done (a standard) by the doctor. Not by some random person in establishment like Claire's🙄 That's bloody dangerous.
(Did not grow up in the uk)
It didn't do any harm to any of us who had it done as a baby. If the person doesn't want earings later, the hole can kind of dissapear.
It's just a quick pinch and you honestly don't remember it.
And to whoewer compared it to FGM... F* off. It's incomparable!