plastic surgery on animals
By nietske
@nietske (199)
Belgium
March 31, 2007 1:49pm CST
I saw a horrifying documentary on television last week. It was about people who had plastic surgery performed on their pet animals. One of those procedures was debarking. A woman decided that her daxon made too much noise and his vocal cords were cut. In Belgium, my home counry, this is illegal, and I think rightly so. I was wondering if this is the case in other countries and what the general feeling is about plastic surgery on animals. Is it okay to just modify your dog, cat or ferret if he doesn't suit you?
1 person likes this
2 responses
@Strawberry_chaos (302)
• Australia
31 Mar 07
How terrible!
I live in australia. I know that de-barking is legal here, but I don't know what other kinds of things that can be done to animals or if they're legal or not. I met a poor doggy who'd been de-barked. It was a little maltese, and it was trying to bark, but all it could make was this horrible wheezing noise, like a dying old man or something! I feel so sorry when that's happened to an animal. Barking as a natural part of being a dog- it's not ok to take that away from it!
@nietske (199)
• Belgium
31 Mar 07
You wouldn't believe what else was in this horrible report of horror. Some people got their dogs ears clipped (because this is beautiful apparently?), other people had their cats declawed. I mean, the cats owner knew that having a cat declawed is the human eqiuvalent of having a piece of your finger removed, but she just didn't like her cat getting in her new curtains, so she did it anyway. It was awful!
1 person likes this
@Strawberry_chaos (302)
• Australia
31 Mar 07
that's so mean! I think de-clawing is legal here. I'd never do that to my kitty! And clipping a puppy's ears? that's sooo wrong! What could be more beautiful than the dog in it's natural state?
@speedmouse (133)
• United States
23 Oct 07
Debarking, ear cropping, tail docking, removal of dewclaws, and declawing of cats are all legal in the US. Most must be done by a vet, of course.
I believe the removal of dewclaws is OK because many dogs are injured when they catch the dewclaw on something. Removal as a puppy is nearly painless (I've seen it done) but removal on an adult dog who has been injured is significant surgery. Tail docking, well, I've seen that done too (worked in a vet's office a bit) and it seems to be relatively painless as well when done on a three-day-old puppy. Hunting dogs with very long tails have theirs docked because the tip is easily injured and it's hard to heal. So there can be good reasons for that.
I personally dislike declawing cats, although I understand in some cases the owners must make a decision between declawing and no longer keeping their cat because he is too destructive. I'll never crop a dog's ears - I've seen it done and it's horrible for them to recover from. I understand why some people feel they must debark (apartment dwellers with very noisy dogs who have tried everything else) but I don't particularly like it myself.
Well, that's a long winded answer! :)
