Question:
I am curious as to what all of you think about ear cropping and tail docking. Are they unecessary, cruel procedures? I noticed some breeders of APBT's and Am Staffs have the ears cropped. Show dogs always have their ears cropped. As for tail docking, I read the procedure is done before nerve development occurs in the pup. There are certain breeds of dogs that always have their ears cropped and tails docked for the standard of the breed.


Answer:
i don't personally care for it...don't know how cruel it is, but i'm a big naturalist and it just seems..unnatural :P


Answer:
I don't like the process of it.

I will admit, I like the look of a dobe, great dane, and APBT with it's ears cropped- I like the way they stand up like that. However, it's not something *I* would have done. If I buy an uncropped dog, it will stay uncropped.

Denise- I don't think AKC/UKC is making breeders crop APBT/Am Staff's I just saw a thread on another forum about that, and I believe they can be natural as well. I think most of the time people just like the way a cropped ear looks verses non-cropped.


Answer:
I figure if you're going to pay to have the purebred dog, want it's papers, it should look the part. If it was truly inhumane and cruel it wouldn't be done.


Answer:
Originally Posted by Pickles
I figure if you're going to pay to have the purebred dog, want it's papers, it should look the part. If it was truly inhumane and cruel it wouldn't be done.
not necessarily


Answer:
I agree... People do a lot of cruel things. There was a time when people would kill white boxers because they were white(I'm sure some still do)... Is this perfectly humane, to kill a dog because of it's color?


Answer:
I don't care for it all all and I do think its cruel. I worked for a vet when I was only 15 and I saw the surgeries firsthand (on older puppies, not newborns). I just think that slicing the ears and cutting off the tail off a puppy is so barbaric and wrong. It made me sick and sad to see the dog's tail laying on the table. I mean, why? Why is this necessary? And I know the puppies go through a lot of pain during and after the surgery. I had to "assist" with this a lot because we lived in an area that had lots and lots of pitbulls. I still feel sick even thinking about it.

I can't say anything about breeders who do it when the puppies are newborn, because I only know of what I've seen with the older puppies. I still think its cruel though.


Answer:
The breeder we plan on adopting from does crop the dog's ears. Personally, I like the way cropped ears look but if the dog is going to be in pain from the procedure, forget it. I guess that is another question to ask the breeder.


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Intersting, I have always thought floppy ears were much cuter...


Answer:
back to pickles statement, that if it was inhumane it wouldn't be done...cat declawing is perfectly legal and happens all the time, and the last thing that is, is humane