Dogs ears being cut / modified

[Afcg]

With all this talk about the Bully XL breed in the news, WIBU to think that more should be done to stop the horrendous and unecessary practice of lopping off most of their ears?! I'm pretty sure it's illegal, so I don't know why people are going out and about quite shamelessly when it's clear that their dog's been mutilated. Dogs' ears are really important to them for communicating, so if they are unable to do this it will obviously affect their well-being. Not to mention the pain of having someone who's unqualified "operating" on them, without anaesthesia. It's not the vets doing it, it's just randoms!!

I just don't understand why this is so commonplace / normalised.

Yes 100% . I was at dog fest last year and this guy was walking around bold as brass within the event with his dog who had freshly cropped ears. The dog still has the stitches and little bandages on. everyone was talking about it. I emailed dogfest after to say I was disgusted that he had been allowed in as the entrance was well manned. never got a reply. 😔

And if you asked them, they would tell you they love their dog.

There are plenty of celebrities who have dogs like this and post photos of them on sm - proof that fame and good morals rarely go hand in hand.

Regardless of how they got the dog posting glam photos is shitty behaviour. Especially without accompanying text to explain and condemn the cropping, if the dog was cut before they got it.

Ear Cropping has been a criminal offence for a LONG time, much longer than 2 decades, more like since 1895 when the RSPCA won a case against ear cropping, and the Kennel Club banned it however there was no specific legislation at that point, it came under the general animal cruelty laws of the time.

We've had that specific legislation since 2006.

What we do not have, because the current government threw out the Kept Animals Bill recently, is a ban on importing cropped dogs.

This means as its legal to buy a cropped dog, import one, keep one - that all anyone need do is hide a dog until it is of an age to have legally been imported, and then say 'oh I bought it like that, its an import' or 'oh I rescued it like that...'

We need the importation of cropped dogs banned.

The purchase of a dog with cropped ears or ownership of a dog with cropped ears controlled - for example an exemption certificate from a vet who has to remove tumours from an ear leather, or certification from a reputable or somehow licenced rescue that the dog was rehomed this way (because right now anyone can call themselves a rescue, something else that needs to change!).

Ahh that's nice he got a good home with you ❤🐶

Given the frequency I see dogs like this and the amount of people who go on MN there has to be someone who's had it done to their dog or they know someone who has.

Anyone also want to volunteer as to why they got their cat declawed too?

Sorry - wasn't suggesting you were. Absolutely gutting they won't do anything and also that poor little puppy 😔

This is what I love about Mumsnet 😊 so much interesting trivia.

I only found out about this rescue thing recently, when I was looking to adopt a rabbit. I had naively thought it would be highly regulated.

@MartinChuzzlewit , apparently it’s common in the US. ‘Well, you have to, to stop them scratching the furniture’, was the reason a dd was once given across the pond.

I was reading a very heated thread on Instagram regarding this yesterday. I have a young Doberman (carefully chosen because I don’t especially like small dogs, I like short coated dogs, dogs who will come running every day with me, don’t much like hunting breeds as we have so many pheasants and deer where we live, and I have had Doberman’s before and they are such easy, lovely and fun dogs) and she has normal ears and a normal tail. So many people are vehemently against this and would argue their right to mutilate their dogs ears to the ends of the earth, yet I’ve never seen a single reason for doing this that makes any sense. It’s purely for aesthetics (although personally I cannot see why, they look awful).
People can be so disappointing. If you want a big dog with pointy ears get a GSD (I have one of those too but she’s always getting grass seeds in her ears).

@Afcg eek! No need for apologies, I found no offence in your reply to me and I meant none in my reply to you

@MaureenSowerbuttts it was a young Dobie
That I saw the first time in the pet store, with his little ears splinted with what looked like lollypop sticks sticking out of the top, I felt so sad for it, Dobies look soo much better with their ears intact. I'm glad your dog still has hers.

Or just doing it themselves.

God now that is a really terrifying thought!

Cool 🙂 I saw a photo of a dobie with its original tail and ears, it looked like a totally different breed entirely 😪💔

YANBU. I would recommend cropping ears of the owner before doing it to the dog, see how they respond to that.

It can only be monsters who deprive a dog of its tail, which it needs to communicate and cut off dogs ears. Dogs look lovely with waggy tails. Cats need their claws for climbing and defence. If they are removed it hurts the cat to walk because it changes the angle of their paw on the ground. I think it's spiteful and totally unnecessary. No need to clip cats claws either. They sharpen them up themselves by scratching on trees or sratching posts. There should be fines for people in the procession of butchered animals. As for debarking wtf I'd never even heard of that.

Ear Cropping is so common in the US that there are genuinely some people who do not realise the cropped look is not natural!

I realise its a cartoon but - did you realise Scooby Doo is a great dane with cropped ears?! That normalisation for you.

My job means I talk to puppy owners around the world so this comes up fairly often - many people buy a puppy from a breeder who crops, and its not optional, if you want that puppy, it comes cropped or you don't get it.

For those that have never seen an adult with natural ears, and buying from breeders where you never get to meet the puppy, it is shipped to you (again very common in the US), many do not realise they could ask before cropping is done, or find a breeder who does not crop.

Of those who do realise its something done to the puppy, and is optional, they're told that it is necessary - to show, a natural dog will not win against cropped dogs - that its necessary for health, floppy ears supposedly being prone to infection more than upright ears... they're even told it improves hearing!

Fighting against tradition and bullshit about health, is hard - and because vets are doing it... it must be ok, if it was cruel, vets wouldn't do it, right?

It is slowly becoming less popular amongst pet owners of non-macho breeds (Schnauzers, Danes, Boxers, Griffon Bruxellois, Beauceron, Miniature Pinscher, Boston Terrier) and more US vets are refusing to do it, but that is a dilemma for them as if they refuse, they KNOW people will get it done elsewhere and may choose a non qualified person to do it illegally...

Sometimes it seems all humans ever want to do is cut bits off of animals because they find them inconvenient. Ears, tails, claws, vocal cords.

Even neutering, to an extent, is often done for our convenience. (to be clear...I am not anti neutering, but it is sometimes done to benefit the owner, not the animal).

I just googled Doberman ear cropping to see some comparison pictures. What I got was a lot of results defending ear cropping on the grounds it makes them look more like guard dogs. Horrendous.

we have a 12 week old kitten.

5 minutes with our kitten and it is easy to understand why getting cats declawed might be attractive to some.
My hands are shredded! And he is a very gentle well handled and playful kitten, in the past I have adopted semi wild kittens who were a thousand times worse.

It doesn't bother me, my sofa is well worn in (completely shredded on each corner) by our older cat and I expect to get a scratching with a kitten, but that is why people do it.

The trouble with the term "declawing" is it's dishonest. It's "cutting a cat's toe joints off" and utterly barbaric. Anyone who's all right with that should get the same treatment. Let them try to walk missing a few toe joints and in constant pain.

This is horrendous. Those poor kitties. Absolutely gutting to think it hurts them just to walk around, and for what?

Yes, if someone can't handle the thought of scratched furniture, they shouldn't have cats.

My mum rescued a dog with a stubby little tail. He is a greyhound and had 'happy tail'. I suggest you look that up before tarring all stubby tailed dog owners with the same brush.

I still can’t believe it’s legal to dock a dogs tail. I can’t begin to imagine why you’d want to have your dog’s tail cut off! It’s so important to have their tail so they can communicate with other dogs properly.

I mentioned tail docking too, I’m aware of happy tail and that’s completely different. I wouldn’t judge someone who had a dog who’d had its tail docked unless I knew the circumstances, obviously that condition and rescued dogs are a completely different situation. I’m referring to tail docking for purely cosmetic reasons.