The outdated practice of breeders, pet owners, and veterinarians performing cosmetic surgeries on pets is harmful to animals.
Historically, humans have been modifying animals to meet their needs. They do things like docking the tails of dogs or declawing a cat. However, with our current research, there is no reason beyond cosmetics to be harming animals in this way.
According to Schwarzman Animal Medical Center, tail docking originated during the Roman Empire as a way to prevent rabies. Romans believed that dogs could not get rabies if the tip of their tail was removed. After this myth was proven false, farmers still continued the trend of tail docking to prevent work-related injuries. Now that it is widely understood that tail docking is not a necessary procedure, why are we still doing it? Tail docking has become a fashion trend. Breeders cut the tails off of their show dogs to give them a more desirable appearance. As the breeder’s primary focus is ensuring the dog has the most competitively accurate appearance, they do not consider the damage they are doing.
Many breeders who dock tails for appearance perform the procedure on their own without any medical knowledge. The common outcome of this is excessive bleeding and infection. Breeders do this to puppies with no anesthesia or any proper medical precautions under the excuse, “they won’t remember the pain.” That excuse aside, the dog carries that pain with them into their adulthood. Tail docking is proven to cause chronic pain and sensitivity and also limits the way the dog can communicate. Impaired communication can end in fights with another dog or make it so the dog cannot communicate their needs to their owner.
Similar to tail docking, ear cropping began as a precautionary procedure done on working dogs. If a dog needed to hunt as part of its ‘job,’ their ears were cropped. Big floppy ears were seen a liability as the prey animal could easily get a hold of them and tear them, causing harm to the hunting dog. Moving forward from this, having cropped ears became the standard for certain breeds of dogs for showing to make them more attractive looking, in addition to show dogs, these particular breeds of dogs being kept as household pets end up with cropped ears purely for the human gaze. Cropping ears has no benefits for the dog and almost always has a negative impact on them. Ear cropping also hinders dog-to-dog and dog-to-human communication, resulting in fear, anxiety, and potential aggression. According to the RSPCA, “As with any surgery, there are risks, and ear cropping is an incredibly painful procedure for the dog. This is especially true if carried out as a ‘DIY’ procedure without prescribed anesthetic or pain relief. The wounds can take a long time to heal, need a lot of aftercare (such as changing dressings and cleaning), and can become infected easily.”
Some people argue that there are benefits to ear cropping. Dogs with large, floppy ears are more prone to ear infections. People think that cropping their dogs’ ears allows more airflow and prevents the frequent infections, but there is no evidence to back that up, it is only theorized. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, “there is no evidence that cropping prevents or successfully treats these infections.”
Unfortunately, dogs are not the only animals subjected to cosmetic surgeries. Declawing cats became a regular practice among veterinarians in the 1970s. Declawing is a procedure done to pet cats by amputating the end bones of their phalanges, because of the way the claw develops, there is no way to declaw a cat without the amputation of the bones. Pet owners declaw their cats to prevent them from things scratching or tearing up furniture.
Cats almost always experience neuropathic pain post-surgery. In addition to phantom pains, declawing a cat changes the way its feet touch the ground, causing back pain and general discomfort. Without claws, cats have fewer tools to use to defend themselves, making them more prone to biting, which is very stressful to them; cats do not want to bite! According to Cincinnati Animal Care, “[scratching] Is a vital part of typical cat behavior. Flexing their claws helps to relieve stress, stretch the muscles, and mark their territory. When they have their claws, scratching also helps with their claw maintenance. Scratching leads to a happy cat!”
While ear docking, tail cropping, and declawing are the most common surgeries, they are not the only ones. There are several other cosmetic surgeries that are performed on pets, and none of them have benefits. We should love our pets for how they appear naturally; they are companions, there to love and be loved. They are meant to live full lives, they do not exist for viewing pleasure. Considering all the damage that comes with these cosmetic surgeries, you should think twice before going forward with them.
