My puppy is now four weeks old so it's about a month away from the "ideal" cropping age (as if there was any ideal age to do it, what a load of bunk), I'm having to fight harder and harder to talk my mother and sister out of cropping Baby Z's ears. Mark my words, it's not happening on my watch. I've already laid down the law that I'm not paying for it and quite frankly the dog is gone if they choose to do it (I'm not owning a crop-eared dog, I refuse), and they will be gone too (I pay the mortgage, this is MY house, and it was only out of the kindness of my heart and to get them out of a toxic living situation that I took them in).

Quite frankly the way I see it is simple: we don't amputate body parts that aren't injured or are otherwise healthy off of people, therefore we shouldn't do it to animals either, who are also sentient beings who have their own bodies. We do not "own" animals' bodies. We may care for them, provide for them, etc. but we do not own them. Period.

Well, the former (docking) there's not a whole lot to say in the matter, other than the fact it's done without anesthesia in the puppy stage, even when a vet is doing it. I can't imagine the sheer agony of having a toe or a finger cut off without anesthesia. I've suffered some pretty bad pain during my time (including a 5-year battle with cluster headaches, which seem to have stopped altogether), but even that thought makes me just cringe with pain.

If it's not OK to do to a human, it's not OK to do to any sentient being. Dogs feel pain just the same as we do, except for that they're more helpless to stop it than we are. We can protest and tell people it hurts. They can't, so we just don't realize it in our sheer ignorance.

Though as gruesome as docking may be, it's over pretty quick. Not so with ear cropping, which is a LONG, DRAWN-OUT process. A lot of people are completely ignorant as to what ear cropping entails. Most people seem to think you cut the ear and it stands immediately, and that couldn't be farther from the truth. Here's an excerpt from from The Doberman Club's website (link):

For the first 7 days after ear cropping, your pup will remain in his rack (or cup), with sutures holding the edges closed. Between 7 and 10 days after cropping, the sutures will be removed, the cup changed. Again, for 7 to 10 days the pup will remain in his cup with the ears taped erect until all the cut edges are healed. Having the puppy’s ears up in a cup makes it very easy for you to keep the edges clean. Use peroxide to clean the edges of the ears and then dust the edges with BFI Powder to help dry them out. BFI Powder is also used for Athlete’s Foot and is readily available at most drugstores. If this is not available, just use the juice of an Aloe Leaf (or an ointment) to help heal the edges.

.......

Ears should not be taped until most of the scabs from the surgery have healed. If there are only 1 or 2 scabs left, you can cover those with cotton and a little antibiotic powder and then tape over them.

There is no set amount of time it takes before a puppy’s ears will stand; the average time for taping is approximately 4-5 months. Most pups have their ears up by the age of 6 - 7 months. That said, it isn't unusual for some ears not to stand until the pup is a year old. And some puppies have poor ear leather, which means that the ears won't ever stand perfectly or the tips will curl inward. These problems can also be the result of a poor ear crop.

When I read that I almost threw up in my mouth. You have to tape that poor pup's ears for several months to "train" them to stand. Unbelievable. How an anyone, and I mean ANYONE with any sort of conscience subject a dog to that? Never mind the probable ear infections that come from having the ears taped, not to mention incessant itching that probably comes from it. And all because some sick, twisted fuck-up decided it looks better? That's what makes it worse.

As I said earlier, there's a damn good reason these procedures are illegal in several countries. There's just no reason for it, and it's torture. There's also some speculation that ear cropping in particular can cause phantom pains and as a result, behavioral problems. I'm not surprised, as this is common with many amputative surgeries. Of course, don't tell that to the AKC who thinks butchering dogs for the show ring should be a requirement. That's what's the sickest of all.

I don't know what I'd do if they went and cut poor Baby Z's ears. For all I know, if it happens I may just have him euthanized to save him the pain and anguish that'll come along with it. After putting so much time and energy into his well being (bottle feeding, cuddling, playing, I've even taken him to work with me when neither mom or my sister were home so I could watch him, where he laid and slept comfortably between myself and the other pilot up in the cockpit). I've put too much time and energy into it to see it happen. I couldn't handle the thought of him suffering for cosmetic reasons.

*sigh* What a complicated situation, and one that would be alleviated by setting into place and enforcing proper legal ramifications for useless cosmetic surgery. Mexico, US, Canada, etc., get your asses on the ball and protect our furry friends! Thank you.

If it's one thing that's a sore spot for me when it comes to dogs, it's tail docking and ear cropping. I am adamantly against both. They are nothing but cosmetic surgeries that really do not have any medical value whatosever, even though a lot of people tend to tout bogus "health benefits" from the procedures. Hmmm, sounds kind of like circumcision in humans, doesn't it?

Well, we acquired a newborn doberman two days old after its mother died of a ruptured uterus. Myself, my mother, and my sister have now poured countless hours into raising that dog. He's almost 4 weeks old now and looking healthy and happy as ever, but dobies are one of those breeds that supposedly "require" plastic surgery.

The "breed standards" for doberman dogs call for docked tails and cropped ears both, and to my knowledge you can't show dogs that have NOT had both of these procedures done. So you know, you can thank groups like the AKC and other dog show groups that "register" purebreds for the continuation of these cruel and disgusting practices, all in the name of meeting "breed standards."

Tail docking and ear cropping are unethical practices as far as I'm concerned, and there's good reason it's banned in many countries. There are no real benefits to either procedure, and they're done either to A) meet breed standards, or B) because the owner prefers the look. Really? So we have the right to alter our pets to suit our aesthetic desires? Oh HELL FUCKING NO!!!!

We do not own our pets' bodies any more than Republicans own women's bodies. They are NOT our bodies and we do NOT have the right to surgically alter them for cosmetic purposes. Whereas they might be our pets, that doesn't make them our "property" so to speak. They are independent, sentient life forms and should be treated as such. If you don't believe that, well, you're speciesist. Sorry, I can't think of a nicer way to put that.

At any rate, we all agreed to not dock or crop our baby dobie at the outset. That didn't go much of anywhere. The vet docked our baby against our wishes, and we are currently in legal proceedings over that thing. But now my sister got to looking online (it is pretty much her dog, since she wanted one and we didn't have one already) and she decides Baby Z just has to have a show crop (the longest ear crop and the one you see in dog shows). Uh, not if I have anything to say about it. It may be her dog but I've done more to raise that dog than she has! She's bottle fed him maybe once or twice. I do so on a daily fucking basis. As such, my opinion should carry more weight.

Quite frankly if dogs weren't supposed to have tails or floppy ears they wouldn't be born with them. Tails are for balance and floppy ears are for protecting the ear canal from impurities and the eardrum from very loud sounds. Besides, if we're talking from an aesthetic standpoint, I think docked tails and cropped ears look stupid. I much prefer the appearance of a dog with a full tail and uncropped ears, and a dobie is no exception. I guess people are just sick and perverted enough to prefer something in a surgically altered state? Turns my fucking stomach.

I mean, look at this:



Isn't that a perfect dog face? Compared to this:



That dog just looks mean and those artifically pointed ears are not attractive at all. I guess that's the intention of cropping? Whatever.

End rant.