Would you consider this Plastic Surgery? (On Animals)

moomies · December 1st, 2005, 03:54 PM

It got me thinking that some pets do get cosmetic surgeries.
The first one that I was thinking about was once I saw a collie puppy that had his ears pinned upwards. The owner was telling me he was gonna be a show dog...
Another one that came to my mind was that some large breeds of dogs get their tails chopped off (so you just see a short stubby thing on their butt). I heard that this is done so they won't knock off things when they wiggle their tail.
Most dogs get their thumb toes cut off when they are puppies for aesthetic reasons (my SIL's dog had a thumb toe that wasn't properly removed and it looked all weird, I look at my dog's paws and he doesn't have the thumb toes, I didn't get his removed though, he came that way from the breeder...)

Your thoughts?

muchlove · December 1st, 2005, 04:36 PM

I don't believe in any of that garbage. Tail docking is completely unnecessary, ear clipping is sometimes supposedly for ear-health reasons, but I still think it's wrong unless the dog has serious chronic problems with them. I've never even HEARD of the thumb toe removal... I learn something new every day. That's also completely unnecessary. What is wrong with people? Leave your damn dog alone and let it be a dog.

Whew.

WickedHo · December 1st, 2005, 04:45 PM

It may not be plastic surgery, but it's cosmetic and unnecessary!

msdobie · December 2nd, 2005, 07:17 AM

I have a Doberman Pinscher so I know what you're talking about. My Dobiegirl has natural ears which I prefer. By the way, the original reason that Doberman's ears were cut was to make them 1. look more mean, and 2. so there's less to grab onto if someone's trying to stop the dog. It's NOT for health reasons, that's just a bunch of crap when people tell you that. If the dog's ears are *designed* to flap over, then *that* is for health reasons. To clip the ears to stand up denies the dog the usefullness of the ear flap, which is to keep the ears clean! Duh, such stupid people! Also by the way, in some US states, clipping the ears is now illegal. And it's been illegal in many European countries for a long time now, at least with Dobes.
The tail thing - well, I'm not sure why they do this.

Tenaj · December 2nd, 2005, 07:25 AM

My German Shepherd is a pedigree and he still has his dew claws and I'm happy about that. I think it's wrong to tamper with whats natural in the name of 'fashion', they don't have a choice about what they have done.

I know with showing German Shepherds ( I don't wish to it strikes me as pageant mommish) its essential for their ears to stand upright, if they don't then it is a flaw. I've read stories about how you can tape sticks in their ears to keep them upright and then the ears get used to being that way. The whole thing especially with cutting tails and ears knocks me sick

*trina* · December 2nd, 2005, 07:35 AM

Unless it is a risk to the animals health I don't believe anything should be clipped or chopped off!

Tiara · December 2nd, 2005, 07:53 AM

I heard that those Sharpe (sp?) dogs have to have face lifts sometimes coz they get infections in their eyes coz the skin falls over them but thats with the animals welfair in mind so I think thats OK.

My jack Russel had his tail docked when he was a puppy before we got him. I heard they tie someting round it really tight until it just drops off

His tail is just a little stump now that wiggles when he's excited, its quite cute actually but I'd never have it done to a dog of mine. My bf's dog is a pain in the arse with its tail it knocks everything over, drinks, vases, food etc. I looked after him over the weekend and I left the gas fire on while I went the loo and when I came back I could smell singing, when I looked at the dog his tail was smoking, dosey thing had caught it in the fire!! He was fine though, just singed some hairs!!

But anyway, back to the point. I don't think owners should do anything to their pets just to make them look 'better' its cruel and unnecessary.

moocow · December 2nd, 2005, 07:58 AM

I know someone who got her greyhounds' tails docked, but what happened was they kept hitting things so hard with them, that they kept breaking their tails.

We had a doberman when I was little that had her tail docked and ears clipped before we got her - we ended up with her because the owners couldn't keep her. We later rescued a doberman mix that had the tail docked, but the ears were kept as is.

I don't know if the thumb toes you're talking about are these, but the ones that are partially up the leg? I had a former race dog that had that removed because they apparently do that with all race dogs.

deckchick · December 2nd, 2005, 11:38 AM

I have 2 Aussie Shepherds that were docked when I got them. I am a foster mom for the Aussie rescue group, I keep my fosters, so no more right now

The docking of tails and removal of dewclaws are for solid medical reasons. I have a link I will put up at the bottom if you want to learn more about it.

They now offer fake "balls" for neutered dogs. Now that is just stupid!

http://www.neuticles.com/index1.html

docking & dew claws http://www.global.net.au/~aegis/taildocking.htm

mklady · December 2nd, 2005, 12:43 PM

With some dogs you have to keep an eye on their dew claws to make sure they don't them caught on anything and tear them. The docking of tails and ears I'm not sure on. Most pure-bred animals end up with so many problems because of trying to maintain the "purity" of the breed or trying to keep them in top form with supplements and diet and all.

Personally, I have two cats that could probably stand to have some declawing because of their extra toes. They each have a claw in between their toes that shouldn't be there. But, the one stays out in our fenced yard and comes in occassionaly and the other one stays in our house and goes out occassionaly. As long as they don't have any problems with it and I keep an eye on them, they're fine. It's not an easy "snip snip" surgery for the little guys.

muchlove · December 2nd, 2005, 01:17 PM

There are people who live in apartments in the city who will get their puppy's tail docked simply because it's standard for that breed. There's nothing medical about that. I didn't see one good reason on that site for a dog (that isn't used for hunting) to have its tail docked. Hygiene is not a medical reason... there are tons of dogs with long hair that do just fine in the hygiene department, and you could always just clean your dog. You can also keep the hair clipped to avoid those problems. The same goes for ears.... keep them clean and you won't have any problems.

I can see how dew claws might be a problem, but it still seems unnecessary to me.

NawdleZouss · December 2nd, 2005, 01:20 PM

My grandparents had up to 14 Dobermans at a time at their house; from what I figured out, the ears and tail are cut for aesthetic reasons, but the original purpose (when Dobermans were bred as guard dogs) was to keep them from getting torn off in a fight. They did this to our boxers too.

muchlove · December 2nd, 2005, 01:48 PM

I had a Doberman who was natural, and she was beautiful and never had any problems.

WickedHo · December 2nd, 2005, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NawdleZouss

My grandparents had up to 14 Dobermans at a time at their house; from what I figured out, the ears and tail are cut for aesthetic reasons, but the original purpose (when Dobermans were bred as guard dogs) was to keep them from getting torn off in a fight. They did this to our boxers too.

Hm. So breeders cut the ears off to keep them from getting torn off later? Hm. That's some odd logic!

wonderina · December 2nd, 2005, 03:22 PM

My neighbor shows dogs and she actually had braces put on one of her dogs teeth because he had an underbite which is considered a flaw in the show ring.