Ear cropping, please read.

skinnydipper

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British Veterinary Association 5 March 2021

Why it’s high time we put a stop to the ear cropping trend

Kirsty Withnall, a case officer with the RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit, reflects on a concerning increase in ear cropping cases and shares how the illegal procedure can lead to life-long problems for the dogs in question.

Ear cropping is a barbaric process which has been illegal since 2006 but is, worryingly, becoming increasingly popular. In the last six years, we’ve seen reports of cropping increase by 621% and, in 2020, we had a record number of calls about the practice, with 101 complaints made to our cruelty hotline.

In recent weeks, we’ve seen the conclusion of two cropping cases - investigated and taken to court by our teams - after owners allowed or arranged for their puppies’ ears to be cropped. And one of our rescue centres currently has FIVE dogs in its care, all with callously cropped ears and various related health and behaviour problems as a result of the completely unnatural mutilation they’ve suffered.

It’s shocking that something that’s been considered consigned to the past for so long now appears to be making a worrying resurgence. Cropping is illegal under Section 5 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. However, it’s still legal in some parts of the world, including the USA and some European countries. And we fear that celebrity culture, images on social media, and an increase in cropped dogs being used in advertising is normalising - and even glamorising - the look.

There have been various trends for ear cropping in the past, including in breeds such as dobermans - where ears were cropped and splinted to encourage them to grow upright - as well as cane corsos and presa canarios. Now, we’re seeing cropping surge in bull breeds, such as American bullies, which are growing in popularity in the UK. These dogs are often coming to us with the ears completely cut off and, we suspect, this procedure is often undertaken without anaesthetic or pain relief. Officers from our Special Operations Unit - a specialist unit tasked with investigating large scale and organised animal crime - have attended several bully breed shows to find almost all dogs being shown display cropped ears.

Health and welfare concerns

But why would anyone mutilate a dog in this way? There is absolutely no benefit to the dog, only pain and suffering. These procedures are being undertaken for purely cosmetic reasons; because they want to achieve a certain ‘tough’ look. But cropping a dogs’ ears can lead to serious life-long problems.

Cane corso Jess is currently being looked after by staff at one of our rehoming centres in Dorset. The two-year-old has had her ears cropped and her tail docked. She’s extremely sensitive and hates having her harness slipped over her head due to the pain memory. Behavioural problems related to the pain and trauma they have experienced are sadly common and require the ongoing support of our behavioural teams and caring staff. Jess is also very sensitive to noise, just like six-year-old cane corso Blue who arrived at one of our centres in Essex earlier this year alongside her friend, Brook. Both have cropped ears.

Cropping can have wider long-term behavioural implications. Dogs rely on their ears to communicate with people and other dogs so those with cropped ears can find it difficult to signal how they’re feeling in certain situations. Jess has found this difficult, as does Neapolitan mastiff-cross, Eton; an RSPCA rescue who was adopted by one of the staff members who took care of him. He finds it difficult to socialise with other dogs and with people after losing one of his key communication tools.

Take action

It’s illegal to crop a dogs’ ears here in the UK. But it currently isn’t illegal to import a dog who has undergone the hideous procedure abroad. We want to see this stopped and are backing the campaign calling for the closure of all legal loopholes that are allowing the trend in ear-cropped dogs to continue. We also want to crackdown on those who continue to flout the law here; but we need your help. If you suspect a breeder or owner has cropped their dogs’ ears or arranged for them to be cropped please contact our cruelty hotline on 0300 1234 999 in England and Wales. And if you work within the veterinary profession and suspect someone of cropping, you can report this to your local authority animal health and welfare team.

https://www.bva.co.uk/news-and-blog...time-we-put-a-stop-to-the-ear-cropping-trend/
 

skinnydipper

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Petition

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/574305

Stop the rising number of ear-cropped dogs in the UK

Leading veterinary and welfare bodies are concerned by the alarming rise in ear-cropped dogs in the UK. Ear cropping is illegal in the UK and an unnecessary, painful mutilation with no welfare benefit. The practice involves cutting off part of the ear flap, often without anaesthesia or pain relief.

The RSPCA states a 621% increase in reports of ear cropping from 2015 to 2020. We believe a rise in UK celebs sharing images of their cropped dogs on social media is helping to fuel this. While illegal to crop in the UK, it’s not illegal to sell ear-cropped dogs, import them from abroad or take dogs abroad to be cropped. These loopholes act as a smokescreen for those illegally cropping in UK. We call on the Government to close these loopholes and end the trend in ear-cropped dogs for good.


NB. Last year I posted a link to the petition "Ban the importation of dogs with cropped ears."
It closed on 6 February 2021 with 45,161 signatures.
 

Bellasophia

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Thankfully in Italy we are seeing hardly any cropped /docked cases.Some breeds such as Dobermans, boxers,etc thatwere traditionally docked are becoming a rare sight as people won’t buy the full tailed version. Very sad as they are great breeds.
My third st poodle is undocked,I absolutely love his full beautiful tail.
My schnauzer also sports her tail,it has a life of its own and I can’t imagine her without it.
I certainly would sign ,if I could.It’s a brutal ,unnecessary practice.

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Note Tagliare coda e orecchia al cane è illegale: si rischia una multa fino a 30mila euro e 18 mesi in carcere per maltrattamento di animali. ... Tagliare la coda al cane oppure le orecchie è una pratica illegale dal 2010, data in cui l'Italia ha recepito la Convenzione europea per la protezione degli animali di compagnia.

Summary..
In Italy it is illegal since 2010 to dock tails and crop ears.
..30 ooo euro fine and 18 m in prison for breeders who do .
 
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Odyssey

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Signed. It's utterly sickening that people subject dogs to this barbaric mutilation to look a certain way. Sometimes I hate the human race. ?
 

Goldenstar

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When I lived in Turkey they got a Karabash puppy to guard the grounds .
I helped him as much as could I went shopping one day and went returned they had cropped his ears with a pair of scissors It was heart breaking .
 

misst

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There is a beautiful doberman youngster walked round my way by a lady who sounds ? eastern european by her accent. She is very friendly herself and the dog is lovely but out of control. He has no tail at all it is docked to the base of his spine and his ears are cropped hard. I assume she bought him abroad but for the life of me I can't think why anyone would want to have a dog with no tail at all never mind cropped ears. She thinks he looks great....someone asked what happened to his ears and she said they were cut like that to make him handsome.
The dog leaps around on the end of the lead like a gazelle and she will soon be pulled over. I feel so sorry for it.
 

skinnydipper

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GSD Woman

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Ugh. I thought docked and cropped dogs couldn't be shown in the UK or the rest of Western Europe. I don't care for cropping at all. If it is going to be done at least use anesthesia and pain relief post op. Over here more and more agility and obedience people are leaving the dogs natural. A friend has one of the top agility Boxers in the USA. He is natural and has sired a litter. The breeder had the tails done because they may be conformation prospects. She is allowing people to opt out of cropping as soon as they know which puppy is theirs.
Another friend has a lovely young doberman that the breeder sold already cropped and docked. He plans on showing her but still...
 

Landcruiser

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Signed, it's over 56,000 now.
Our 2 yr old JRT Scout came from a litter of destined as working dogs. Luckily the breeder (country/gamekeeper family) thought I'd want possibly an undocked dog and thought to ring me. Cue a long drive at 9pm and choosing a pup at a day old, the day before the docking was due. So she's the only one of a litter of 6 that has a (very long and waggy!) tail.
We sometimes see ear clipped dogs in the vets, rescues generally. My heart breaks for them. Especially the bully ones, who's delicate inner structures are exposed to everything, even rain.
 

ponyparty

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Not just showing but any KC licensed event, so cropped dogs can’t compete in (affiliated) agility here either.

Unfortunately to kind of scum who think this "looks nice" and is acceptable, are highly unlikely to take part in showing or agility :(


I've already signed this petition as saw it via Facebook. There's really no excuse for it - importing is just exploiting the legal loophole. I know for certain breeds e.g. Dobies when Eastern European dogs/bitches are imported they likely will have cropped ears but this really should be the exception, for example breeders wanting to improve the gene pool so having to import etc.
 
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