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If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Docking/ ear cropping your views?

34 replies

ineedsomeinspiration · 17/01/2014 22:42

My cousin has moved to America and has posted on facebook a pic of two dobbies saying she is getting one of their puppies.
Now I know I shouldn't have said anything but I hate the way Americans crop their dogs ears so I asked whether she would be able to get a puppy without their ears cropped. She replied no she likes it and thinks it looks nice.
Her husband who is American replied that the dogs look Awesome with cropped ears and docked tails and that it prevents future injury.Shock
I have taken myself away now as don't want to upset anyone but do people still think it's ok to do this to Dogs purely because it looks awesome?Sad

OP posts:
MissMilbanke · 19/01/2014 10:46

Our cocker is docked. This was done within 24 hours of being born. I had emailed the breeder who is a gamekeeper to say not to but it was already done.

It's about 12 cm long so not a stump and she can wag it still.

A few people comment but I just shrug.

Ears and claws and bark wtf ? Why don't people just buy a soft toy instead ???

Floralnomad · 19/01/2014 10:50

My Patterdale x is docked ,but like needs he has about 4.5 inches of tail and has no problems wagging . I wouldn't choose to dock personally but I must admit I think my dogs looks lovely ,his tail gets a little tuft of hair growing on the end which depending on how big the tuft is is how I tell when he needs to go for a haircut .

bakewelltartandcustard · 19/01/2014 22:07

Working dogs are a tiny proportion of the dog population. Many owners of docked pets don't even realise their dog was not born that way. It's barbaric and illegal but noone ever gets prosecuted for it.
Refuse to buy a puppy that's been mutilated.

MissMilbanke · 19/01/2014 22:14

Your wrong bakewell.

It's perfectly legal in the uk as long as you have a license to

cashewfrenzy · 19/01/2014 23:03

It is only legal in working dogs in England. Nothing to do with licences. It must be performed by a vet.

www.dogstrust.org.uk/az/d/docking/#.Ut4meqhFCaw

ErrolTheDragon · 20/01/2014 08:13

Keatsiepie - in this context 'working dog' means gundogs and terriers which are going to be used in shooting or vermin control.

Although yesterday we met a dog who its owner described as an 'ex-working dog' ... our minds boggled as it was a very pretty miniature dachshund. Turned out he had worked in filmsGrin (and no, obviously he hadn't been docked or cropped!).

KeatsiePie · 20/01/2014 18:10

Ahhh, thanks. How interesting about the vermin control, I had no idea dogs were ever used for that. I can imagine some dogs would actually love that job.

Perfect that the dachshund had been in films, they can be rather self-important dogs!

Skinheadmermaid · 21/01/2014 22:25

I hate it, completely unnesscary and barbaric practice. It looks bloody ugly too, hate seeing pits with sliced up ears and dobes in particular look ridiculous robbed of their shiny silky ears- like bats!
If you want a dog with pointy ears bloody buy a pointy eared breed- there are enough dog breeds contorted into weird and wonderful shapes without further multilating them!

Frettchen · 23/01/2014 11:33

I would never get a docked dog if buying from a breeder (but then I would never get a dog from a breeder) - I don't know enough about working injuries to pass informed judgment on the docking of working dogs as long as there is enough tail left for the dog to wag (reasons for that in a bit).

Ear cropping, in my opinion, is something which could never be justified. It has been perpetuated in fighting dogs; a dog with hacked up ears has one less part for its opponent to grab hold of.

(There's a line on Wikipedia, which may or may not be fact, but if it's true it's utterly terrifying;
"American veterinary schools do not generally teach cropping and docking, and thus veterinarians who perform the practice have to learn on the job.")

The way I see it, dogs use their tails and their ears in the way they communicate. Things like mood, discomfort, fear etc are displayed through wagging/tucked in tail and upright/folded back ears. Even looking past the unnecessary risk of infection with the actual procedure (especially if done by the breeder and not a trained vet) the resulting product is a dog who cannot express itself the same way as other dogs. That's hugely wrong.

Whilst we're talking about America, animals, and terrible practices. A bit off-topic, but I keep ferrets, and hear tales about Marshalls ferret farms - an organisation who breed ferrets to send them out to pet stores around parts of the US. These ferrets are 'desexed' and 'descented' at 6 weeks. Yup, weeks. Here in the UK vets won't neuter ferrets until about 6 months (sometimes a little earlier; but generally the later the better.) As a result, American ferrets have an expected life span of 4-5 years. British ferrets live twice that, with an expected life-span of 8-10 years.

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